Abstract ID: 731

LBA Contributions to Understand the Impacts of Selective Logging in the Brazilian Amazon

Selective logging is a major contributor to the social, economic and ecological dynamics of Brazilian Amazonia. Logging activities have expanded from low-volume floodplain harvests in past centuries to high-volume operations today that take about 25 million m3 of wood from the forest each year. The most common high-impact conventional and often illegal logging practices result in major collateral forest damage, with cascading effects on ecosystem processes. Initial carbon losses and forest recovery rates following timber harvest are tightly linked to initial logging intensity, which drives changes in forest gap fraction, fragmentation and the light environment. Other ecological processes affected by selective logging include nutrient cycling, hydrological function, and post-harvest disturbance such as fire. In this presentation, we will synthesizes the ecological impacts of selective logging, in the context of the recent socio-economic conditions throughout Brazilian Amazonia, as determined from field-based and remote sensing studies carried out during the LBA program. All the findings were presented in the chapter Selective Logging and its Relation to Deforestation of the upcoming LBA Book. We start with a brief history of the logging industry in Brazilian Amazon, including the pertinent aspects of the social, economic and policy drivers of logging practices. We then link this knowledge of the historical and contemporary conditions for the Amazon forest industry to recent scientific findings demonstrating the effects of logging on the ecology of the region. Throughout the chapter, we also highlight the contributions of remote sensing as a tool to understand and monitor the course and consequences of selective logging in Amazonia.

Session:  LCLUC and Human Dimensions - Sustainable forest management.

Presentation Type:  Oral