Persistent fire effect on forest dynamics and species composition of an old-growth tropical forest
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Dárlison Fernandes Carvalho de Andrade [3] ; Ademir Roberto Ruschel [4] ; João Olegário Pereira de Carvalho [1] ; Gustavo Schwartz [4] ; João-Ricardo Vasconcellos-Gama [2]
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[1] Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia
Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia
Brasil
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[2] Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará
Brasil
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[3] Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade, Brasilia.
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[4] Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, Belém.
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- Localización: Forest systems, ISSN 2171-5068, ISSN-e 2171-9845, Vol. 30, Nº. 3, 2021
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Aim of study:
To assess structure, recruitment and mortality rates of tree species over almost three decades, 14 years before and 15 years after a forest fire.
Materials and methods:
All trees ≥ 5 cm in DBH were identified and measured in 12 permanent plots (50 m x 50 m), in 1983, 1987, 1989, 1995, 2008, and 2012 of a dense ombrophilous forest in Eastern Amazon, Brazil. The analyses were carried out including all sampled species and their ecological groups: shade-tolerant, light-demanding, and pioneer species. Treatments were compared through a Linear Mixed Effect Model.
Main results:
The 15-year post-fire period is not enough for the old-growth tropical forest to recover its pre-fire conditions of recruitment and mortality rates. The post-fire recruitment and mortality rates increased, mainly the recruitment of pioneer species ( p- value < 0.05).
Research highlights:
In a period of 15 years after the occurrence of a surface fire, the old-growth tropical forest still has high recruitment rates of shade-tolerant and light-demanding species and high incidence of pioneer species, confirming the persistent fire effects on forest dynamics and species composition in this ecosystem.
