Natural regeneration of some commercial timber tree species following selective logging in a semi deciduous forest in the east region of Cameroon

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/01/2018
Views (386) Download (25)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Natural regeneration of some commercial timber tree species following selective logging in a semi deciduous forest in the east region of Cameroon

Seraphine Ebenye Mokake, George, Bindeh Chuyong, Andrew Enow Egbe, Zenabou Ndiang, Blaise Njumbam
J. Bio. Env. Sci.12( 1), 22-39, January 2018.
Certificate: JBES 2018 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

A critical step in sustainable forest management is to ensure the establishment and regeneration of seedlings and sapling of exploitable tree species following logging. Since selective logging is one of the main silvicultural practices in Cameroon, a detailed understanding of regeneration following selective logging is vital. This study evaluated the natural regeneration of some commercial timber species in logged and unlogged forest types in two forest management units (FMU) in the East Region of Cameroon (FMU 10052 and 10025). Two transects of 5000 x 50m each were established in logged and unlogged forest types. Eleven commercial tree species were assessed for fruit fall, the number of seedlings established and the height increment of the established seedlings. Three of these commercial tree species fruited in both forest types. Fruit fall was significantly higher (p≤0.001)in the logged forest (492 fruits/ha)than in the unlogged forest (52 fruits/ha). Comparing species that fruited in both forest types Klainedoxa gabonensis recorded the highest number of fruit fall(84 fruits/ha) and least (0.24 fruits/ha) in the logged and unlogged forest types respectively. Seedling establishment was significantly higher (p≤0.001) in the unlogged forest (404 seedlings/ha) than in the logged forest (72 seedlings /ha). Seedling performance was better in the unlogged forest compared to the logged forest (low mortality rate). Due to the low seedling establishment and performance of these species in the logged forest, seed trees should be marked and protected prior and after logging as prescribed in the sustainable forest management.

VIEWS 47

Asner GP, Knapp DE, Broadbent EN, Oliviera PJC, Keller M, Silva JN. 2005. Selective logging in the Brazillian Amazon. Science 310, 480-482. http://dx.doi.org/10/1126/science. 1118051

Augspurger CK, Kelly CK. 1984. Pathogen mortality of tropical tree seedlings: experimental studies of the effects of dispersal distance, seedling density and light conditions. Oecologia 61(2), 211-217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00396763

Bell DT, Plummer JA, Taylor SK. 1993. Seed germination ecology in Southwestern Western Australia Botanical Review 76, 24–73. https://doi.org/10;1007/BF02856612

Bonnell TR, Reyna-Hurtado R, Chapman CA. Post-logging recovery time is longer than expected in an East African tropical forest. Forest Ecology and Management 261, 855–864. http://dx.oi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.12.016

Brewer SW, Rejmanek MJ. 1999. Small rodents as significant dispersers of tree seeds in a Neotropical forest. Journal of Vegetation Science, 10(2), 165–174. http://dx.doi.org/102307/3237138

Chazdon RL, Pearcy RW, Lee DW, Fetcher N. 1996. Photosynthetic responses of tropical forest plants to contrasting light environments. In Mulkey, S.S., Chazdon, R.L, and Smith, A.P. Eds. Tropical Forest Plant Ecophysiology. New York, US. Chapman and Hall. p. 5-55.

Costa FRC, Magnusson WE. 2003. Effects of selective logging on the diversity and abundance of flowering and fruiting understory plants in Central Amazonian forest. Biotropica 35, 103–114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.17447429.2003.tb00267.x

Curran LM, Webb CO. 2000. Experimental tests of the spatiotemporal scale of seed predation in mast-fruiting Dipterocarpaceae. Ecological Monographs 70, 129–148.

Dauber E, Fredericksen TS, Pena CM. 2005. Sustainability of timber harvesting in Bolivian Tropical Forests. Forest Ecology and Management 214, 294-304.

Deckker M, de Graaf NR. 2003. Pioneer and climax tree regeneration following selective logging with silviculture in Suriname. Forest Ecology and Management, 172, 183–190.

Delissio LJ. 2000. Tree seedling dynamics and drought in Bornean rain forests. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston. 239 p.

Duah-Gyamfi A, Swaine MD, Kyere B, Agyeman VK. 2012. Natural regeneration of timber species following selective logging in a tropical moist semi-deciduous forest in Ghana. IUFRO FORNESSA Congress.

Felton A, Felton AM, Wood J, Lindenmayer DB. 2006. Vegetation structure, phenology, and regeneration in the natural and anthropogenic tree-fall gaps of a reduced-impact logged subtropical Bolivian forest. Forest Ecology and Management 235, 186–193.

Fitzpatrick M. 2002. Cameroon,” Lonely Planet West Africa, 5th ed. China: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd.

Fredericksen TS, Mostacedo B. 2000. Regeneration of timber species following selection logging in a Bolivian tropical dry forest. Forest Ecology and Management 131, 47–55.

Fredericksen TS, Pariona W. 2002. Effect of skidder disturbance on commercial tree regeneration in logging gaps in a Bolivian tropical forest. Forest Ecology Management 171, 223-230.

Ganeshaiah KN, Uma Shaanker R, 1991. Seed size optimization in a wing dispersed tree, Butea monosperma: tradeoff between seedling dispersal and pod dispersal efficiency. Oikos60, 3–6.

Gaveau D. 2014. How selective logging could help to protect Indonesia’s forest. Forest news. A CIFOR production. http://blog.cifor.org/22924/how-selective-logging-could-help-protect-indonesias-forests?fnl=en

George LO, Bazzaz FA. 1999. The fern understory as an ecological filter: emergence and establishment of canopy- tree seedlings. Ecology 80, 833–845.

Grogan J, Galva˜o J. 2006. Factors limiting post-logging seedling regeneration by big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) in Southeastern Amazonia, Brazil, and implications for sustainable management. Biotropica 38, 219–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00121.x

Guariguata M, Sa´enz G. 2001. Post-logging acorn production and oak regeneration in a tropical Montane forest, Costa Rica. Forest Ecology and Management 167, 285–293.

Hunt R. 1982. Plant growth curves. Edward Arlnold: London.

Houle A, Chapman CA, Vickery WL. 2010. Intratree vertical variation of fruit density and the nature of contest competition in frugivores. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 64, 429-441. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0859-6.

Jackson SM, Fredericksen TS,Malcolm JR. 2002. Area disturbed and residual stand damage following logging in a Bolivian tropical forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 166, 271-283.

Johns AG. 1997. Timber production and biodiversity conservation in tropical rain forests. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1997. 210 p.

Kiama D, Kiyiapi J. 2001 Shade tolerance and regeneration of some tree species of a tropical rain forest in Western Kenya. Plant ecology 156(2), 183–191.

Khurana E, Singh JS. 2001, Ecology of seed and seedling growth for conservation and restoration of tropical dry forest: a review. Journal of Environment and Conservation. 28, 39-52.

Kobe RK. 1999. Light gradient partitioning among tropical tree species through differential seedling mortality and growth. Ecology 80, 187–201.

Ky-Dembele C, Tigabu M, Bayala J, Ouédraogo SJ, Odén PC. 2007. The relative importance of different regeneration mechanisms in a selectively cut savanna-woodland in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Forest Ecology and Management 243, 28-38.

Lemmens RHMJ. 2007. Pouteria altissima (A. Chev.) Baehni. In: Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A. A. and Brink, M. (Editors). Prota 7(1): Timbers/Bois d’œuvre 1. [CD-Rom]. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Leigh EGJr, Davidar P, Dick CW,  Puyravaud JP, Terborgh J, ter Steege H,Wright SJ. 2004. Why do some tropical forests have so many species of trees. Biotropica 36, 447–473.

Lobo J, Barrantes G, Castillo M, Quesada R, Maldonado T, Fuchs EJ, Solís S,   Quesada M. 2007. Effects of selective logging on the abundance, regeneration and short-term survival of Caryocar costaricense (Caryocaceae) and Peltogyne purpurea (Caesalpinaceae), two endemic timber species of southern Central America. Forest Ecology and Management 245, 88–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.03.067

Ma LW, Zhang WH, Xue YQ, Zhou JY, Ma C. 2010. Growth characteristics and influencing factors of Quercus variabilis seedlings on the north slope of Qinling Mountains. Acta Ecologica Sinica 30(23), 6512-6520. (In Chinese with English abstract).

Medjibe VP, Starkey M, Ndouna AA. 2011. Impacts of timber extraction on above-ground forest biomass on Monts de Cristal in Gabon. Forest Ecology and Management, 262, 1799–1806.

Ne win R, Suzuki R, Akeda ST. 2012. Effects of selective logging on the regeneration of two commercial tree species in the Kabaung Reserved Forest, Bago Mountains, Myanmar. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 24(3), 312–321.

Olander L, Bustamante M, Asner G, Telles E, Prado Z, Camargo P. 2005. Surface soil changes following selective logging in an Eastern Amazon forest.  Earth Interactions. 9(4), 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/EI135.1

Osazuwa-Peters OL, Chapman CA, Zanne AE. 2015. Selective logging: does the imprint remain on tree structure and composition after 45 years? Conservation Physiology. 3(1), 1093-1107. http://dx.doi.org/1093/conphys:cov012

Oteng-Amoako AA,Obeng EA. 2012. Klainedoxa gabonensis Pierre. In: Lemmens, R.H.M.J., Louppe, D. and Oteng-Amoako, A.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa/Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. Accessed 26 July 2017.

Pacala SW, Tilman D. 1994. Limiting similarity in mechanistic and spatial models of plant competition in heterogeneous environments. American Naturalist 143, 222–257.

Picard N, Gourlet-Fleury S, Forni E. 2012. Estimating damage from selective logging and implication for tropical forest management. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 42, 605-613.

Pinard MA, Putz FE. 1996. Retaining forest biomass by reducing logging damage. Biotropica, 28, 278-295.

Plumptre AJ, Reynold VS. 1994. The impact of selective logging on the primate populations in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda. Journal of Applied Ecology 31, 63 1-641.

Richards PW. 1996. The Tropical Rain Forest: An  Ecological Study, Cambridge University Press, p. 575.

Rincon E, Huante P. 1993. Growth responses of tropical deciduous tree seedlings to contrasting light conditions. Trees 7, 202–207.

Schnitzer SA, Bongers F. 2002. The ecology of  lianas and their role in forests. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17, 223–230.

Smith DM, Larson BC, Kelty MJ, Ashton PMS.  1997. The practice of silviculture: Applied forest ecology, 9th edition, 537 pp. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, NY.

Spigler RB, Chang SM. 2008. Effects of plant abundance on reproductive success in the biennial Sabatia angularis (Gentianaceae): spatial scale matters. Journal of Ecology 96(2), 323-333.

Spracklen BD, Lane JV, Spracklen DV, Williams N, Kunin WE. 2013. Regeneration of native broadleaved species on clear felled conifer plantations in upland Britain. Forest Ecology and Management 310, 204–212.

Tiscar PA, Linares JC. 2011. Structure and regeneration patterns of Pinus nigrasub sp. Salzmannii natural forests: a basic knowledge for adaptive management in a changing climate. Forests 2,1013- 1030.

Van Roosmalen MGM. 1985. Fruits of the Guianan Flora, Institute of Systematic Botany, Utrecht.

Vieira DLM, Scariot A. 2008. Environmental Variables and Tree Population Structures in Deciduous Forests of Central Brazil with Different Levels of Logging. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 51(2), 419-431. ISSN 1516-8913.

Vieira G. 1995. Dynamics of the remaining plant population in gaps after logging in the Amazon. Conference on Forestry and Forest Products Research 1995, 54-67.

Webb EL. 1997. Canopy removal and residual stand damage during unlogged selective logging in lowland swamp forest of northeast Costa Rica. Forest Ecology and Management 95, 117-129.

Williamson GB, Ickes K. 2002. Mast fruiting and ENSO cycles– does the cue betray a cause? Oikos 97, 459–460.

Xue Y, Zhang W, Ma C, Ma L, Zhou J. 2014. Relative importance of various regeneration recruits in different recovery stages of Quercus variabilis forest after selective logging.2014Forest Systems 23(2), 199-208. Available online at www.inia.es/forestsystems ISSN: 2171-5068. http://dx.doi.org/10.5424/fs/2014232-03263