TY - JOUR
T1 - Nut production in Bertholletia excelsa across a logged forest mosaic: Implications for multiple forest use
AU - Rockwell, Cara A.
AU - Guariguata, Manuel R.
AU - Menton, Mary
AU - Arroyo Quispe, Eriks
AU - Quaedvlieg, Julia
AU - Warren-Thomas, Eleanor
AU - Fernandez Silva, Harol
AU - Jurado Rojas, Edwin Eduardo
AU - Kohagura Arrunategui, Jose Andres Hideki
AU - Meza Vega, Luis Alberto
AU - Revilla Vera, Olivia
AU - Quenta Hancco, Roger
AU - Valera Tito, Jonatan Frank
AU - Villarroel Panduro, Betxy Tabita
AU - Yucra Salas, Juan Jose
N1 - © 2015 Rockwell et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2015/8
Y1 - 2015/8
N2 - Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world's most economically-important NTFP species extracted almost entirely from natural forests across the Amazon Basin. An obligate out-crosser, Brazil nut flowers are pollinated by large-bodied bees, a process resulting in a hard round fruit that takes up to 14 months to mature. As many smallholders turn to the financial security provided by timber, Brazil nut fruits are increasingly being harvested in logged forests. We tested the influence of tree and stand-level covariates (distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity) on total nut production at the individual tree level in five recently logged Brazil nut concessions covering about 4000 ha of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Our field team accompanied Brazil nut harvesters during the traditional harvest period (January-April 2012 and January-April 2013) in order to collect data on fruit production. Three hundred and ninety-nine (approximately 80%) of the 499 trees included in this study were at least 100 m from the nearest cut stump, suggesting that concessionaires avoid logging near adult Brazil nut trees. Yet even for those trees on the edge of logging gaps, distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity did not have a statistically significant influence on Brazil nut production at the applied logging intensities (typically 1-2 timber trees removed per ha). In one concession where at least 4 trees ha-1 were removed, however, the logging intensity covariate resulted in a marginally significant (0.09) P value, highlighting a potential risk for a drop in nut production at higher intensities. While we do not suggest that logging activities should be completely avoided in Brazil nut rich forests, when
AB - Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world's most economically-important NTFP species extracted almost entirely from natural forests across the Amazon Basin. An obligate out-crosser, Brazil nut flowers are pollinated by large-bodied bees, a process resulting in a hard round fruit that takes up to 14 months to mature. As many smallholders turn to the financial security provided by timber, Brazil nut fruits are increasingly being harvested in logged forests. We tested the influence of tree and stand-level covariates (distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity) on total nut production at the individual tree level in five recently logged Brazil nut concessions covering about 4000 ha of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Our field team accompanied Brazil nut harvesters during the traditional harvest period (January-April 2012 and January-April 2013) in order to collect data on fruit production. Three hundred and ninety-nine (approximately 80%) of the 499 trees included in this study were at least 100 m from the nearest cut stump, suggesting that concessionaires avoid logging near adult Brazil nut trees. Yet even for those trees on the edge of logging gaps, distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity did not have a statistically significant influence on Brazil nut production at the applied logging intensities (typically 1-2 timber trees removed per ha). In one concession where at least 4 trees ha-1 were removed, however, the logging intensity covariate resulted in a marginally significant (0.09) P value, highlighting a potential risk for a drop in nut production at higher intensities. While we do not suggest that logging activities should be completely avoided in Brazil nut rich forests, when
KW - MADRE-DE-DIOS
KW - LAND-COVER CHANGE
KW - TROPICAL FORESTS
KW - BRAZILIAN AMAZON
KW - EASTERN AMAZON
KW - RAIN-FOREST
KW - SOUTHWESTERN AMAZONIA
KW - POPULATION-STRUCTURE
KW - TIMBER PRODUCTION
KW - SEED DISPERSAL
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0135464
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0135464
M3 - Article
VL - 10
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 8
M1 - 0135464
ER -