Impacto do manejo florestal comunitário no estoque de carbono da vegetação da Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável do Uatumã, AM

Abstract

Forest management can result in net losses or benefits, and assessing the impact of forestry activity is important in evaluate the sustainability of forest and resource usage as well as their effects on the environment. This study quantified the impact of community forest management conducted under the rules for Small Scale Sustainable Forest Management, which is a category of forest management plans for small managers in the State of Amazonas, Brazil. The impact was quantified by means of changes in carbon stocks, number of individuals and in carbon stocks of natural regeneration, and damage caused to the remaining trees. The work was done in the Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil. Three areas of community forest management were evaluated, one as a control plot. After harvesting, the carbon stock in live mean total, aboveground and belowground, was estimated at 161.25 ± 9.66 MgC.ha-1. Two months after the harvest reductions of 3% in management area number 1 (MA1) and 8.3% in management area number 3 (MA3) were estimated. There was a reduction in basal area in both management areas, 6.3% in MA1 and 8.4% in MA3. Per tree harvested the harvest caused damage to 12 trees in MA1 and 4 trees in MA3. The reduction in carbon stocks and in basal area and the number of trees damaged per tree harvested were lower than the reduction in areas that use machines and other experiences without machines. No significant change in carbon stocks of natural regeneration was found, but the number of individuals increased in both management areas and in the control plots.