Reduced impact logging and post-harvesting forest management in the Atlantic Forest: Alternative approaches to enhance canopy tree growth and regeneration and to reduce the impact of invasive species

PAULA I. CAMPANELLO; LÍA MONTTI; PATRICIO MAC DONAGH; GUILLERMO GOLDSTEIN

Forest Management

Nova Science

Año: 2009; p. 39 - 59

Selective logging is the most common method of timber extraction in native tropical and subtropical forests, including the Atlantic Forest of South America. Uncontrolled conventional logging has resulted in impoverished forests that have lost much of their economical value and biodiversity. In poorly logged forests in sub-tropical Argentina, bamboos colonize felling gaps and inhibit canopy tree regeneration while lianas slow the growth rate of most canopy trees. Reduced impact logging techniques along with postharvest silvicultural treatments to enhance canopy tree growth and regeneration have been shown to be effective in the Atlantic Forest eco-region, but destructive timber mining practices nevertheless continue.