Title
Damage to Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) during selective timber harvesting in Northern Bolivia
Date Issued
20 August 2009
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Center for International Forestry Research
Center for International Forestry Research
Abstract
The success of multiple forest management systems is contingent on a variety of social, economic, biophysical, and institutional factors, including the integration of timber and non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction and management. Selective logging for timber is increasingly taking place in forests where the collection of Brazil nuts, a high-value Amazonian NTFP, also occurs. We report on logging damage to Brazil nut trees in three certified timber concessions in Northern Bolivia from which timber is harvested using reduced-impact logging (RIL) guidelines and nuts are gathered yearly from the ground by local people. Observed frequencies of logging damage to Brazil nut trees were low, likely mirroring the low intensity of timber harvesting (∼0.5 trees/ha and ∼5 m3/ha) being currently applied across the study area. Of the trees ≥10 cm in diameter at breast height about 0.1 Brazil nut trees and 0.4 timber species per hectare suffered some degree of logging damage. Crown loss was the predominant damage type for Brazil nut trees accounting for 50% of all damage. In spite of the observed low rates of tree damage, we further recommend that RIL guidelines be amended to include the pre-harvest marking of pre-reproductive Brazil nut trees along with the future crop trees of commercial timber species. Further refining directional felling to reduce crown damage to Brazil nut trees would also serve to help maintain nut yields in the long term. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Start page
788
End page
793
Volume
258
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Forestal
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-67649986014
Source
Forest Ecology and Management
ISSN of the container
03781127
Source funding
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Sponsor(s)
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union and with the technical support of IFAD. We thank Marco Antonio Albornoz and René Anzaldo for field assistance and the three concessionaires for allowing us access to their forests. Thanks are also due to Marielos Peña-Claros, Amy Duchelle, Jack Putz, Plinio Sist, and Pieter Zuidema for comments on the original text. The observations of two anonymous reviewers greatly improved a previous version and are much appreciated. The views expressed here do not reflect the official opinion of IFAD or the European Union.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción CientÃfica
Scopus