Long-term growth-mortality trade-offs of post-harvest silvicultural tending in Amazonian logging gaps
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: In tropical forests, sustainable timber yields under reduced-impact logging (RIL) remain constrained by the slow recovery of commercial stocks. We evaluated the long-term effects of post-harvest silvicultural tending in logging gaps on three commercial pioneer species (Goupia glabra, Jacaranda copaia subsp. apiculatum, and Laetia procera) using a 17-year gap-based experiment in eastern Amazonia. We quantified periodic annual increments in diameter and stem volume, assessed mortality rates and diameter-class structures, and projected the time required to reach a target diameter of 50 cm DBH under tending and control scenarios. Tending significantly increased diameter growth (+0.28 cm yr⁻¹ in G. glabra and +0.24 cm yr⁻¹ in L. procera) and stem volume accumulation while reducing mortality rates (–3.11% yr⁻¹ in G. glabra and –0.97% yr⁻¹ in L. procera). However, diameter structures remained strongly dominated by juvenile individuals, and projected recovery times to commercial size exceeded the conventional 25–35-year cutting cycles (79–400 years) even under tending. These results demonstrate that tending improves individual performance and partially shifts the growth–mortality balance for some species, however, it does not overcome the fundamental demographic constraints of low population density and episodic recruitment that characterize pioneer species. Active species-specific silviculture is therefore essential to enhance the long-term sustainability of polycyclic forest management in Amazonian production forests, potentially combined with complementary strategies such as enrichment planting to increase stem density and stabilize timber yields while maintaining ecosystem services.
Source: Forest Ecology and Management
Institutions: Universidade do Estado do Pará, Embrapa Amazônia Oriental
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,560
OpenAlex ID: W7166694384