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The impact of timber harvesting on conservation biology explored at conference in Brazil Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology July 27, 2005 Below is a sampling of some timber harvesting papers submitted for the conference. All descriptions are excepts from the official "Book of Abstracts" from the meeting. More abstracts. Schlesinger, Peter; MERRY, FRANK; Nepstad, Daniel; Lefebvre, Paul. The Woods Hole Research Center P.O. Box 296, Woods Hole, MA, USA 02543 fmerry((AT))whrc.org. Forest and conservation policies in the Amazon suffer from a lack of information about costs of implementation, and of the long-term impact on production. This lack of information makes decisionmaking, whether for conservation set-asides or timber concessions, essentially related to the best guess. And, while there is some good basic information available, there is neither a dynamic model nor a comprehensive basin-wide effort. In this research we outline the structure of a Pan-Amazon logging model that forecasts where logging will occur over a 30-year period. The model, based on secondary data from the IBGE and supplemented by data from a 527-mill survey, uses a residual cost analysis that allows firms to select the least cost harvest path in 590 Municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon. Once the harvest is selected, the cost- surface variables are reformatted and the model is rerun. Using this modelXIX Annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology ABSTRACTS we simulate (1) the costs of protecting conservation areas from illegal logging and (2) how a timber concession program will affect the location of logging BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF THE LARGE TREESHREW, Tupaia tana, TO MAST FRUITING AND SELECTIVE LOGGING IN SABAH, MALAYSIA. MUNSHISOUTH, JASON; Emmons, Louise H. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA, south((AT))umd.edu (JM-S); Division of Mammals, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, National Museum of Natural History, MRC 108, Washington, DC, 20013, USA (LHE). The ability to predict the behavioral and demographic responses of species to habitat disturbance is an important goal of conservation biology. However, knowledge of responses to natural ecological disturbances are necessary to make realistic predictions. The lowland Dipterocarp rainforests of Borneo are an important reservoir of mammalian diversity, but are also one of the world's leading sources of tropical timber. These forests are characterized by supra-annual masting events during which large amounts of fruit become available to vertebrate frugivore populations. We examined the reproduction and social organization of Large Treeshrew, Tupaia tana, populations during a masting year and additional high-fruiting year in primary forest, three years of low fruitfall in primary forest, and two years in a heavily logged forest. Large Treeshrews are small (200g) frugivore-insectivores that live in socially monogamous male-female pairs on large territories that they defend against conspecifics. The T. tana population in logged forest exhibited larger body sizes, greater reproductive output, and smaller, more exclusive territories than T. tana in primary forest during the three low-fruit years. The T. tana population in primary forest during masting and high-fruit years exhibited similar reproductive and behavioral characteristics to the population in logged forest. These results indicate that mast fruiting and the increased fruitfall observed after logging in northern Borneo provide better ecological conditions for treeshrews than primary forest during typical low-fruit years. We argue that factors other than logging, such as regional climate change and conversion of forest to agriculture, may be more serious threats to treeshrews and other frugivorous species THE INFLUENCE OF LIANA COVERAGE ON THE FRUIT PRODUCTION OF A TIMBER TREE SPECIES IN EASTERN AMAZON. FONSECA, MARISA G.; Santos, Flavio A. M. Programa de Pós-graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biologia, CP 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil, marisa_fonseca((AT))yahoo.com.br. Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biologia, CP 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil. Liana cutting is a common feature of reduced impact logging operations, but its impact on tree fecundity and food availability for the fauna is unknown. We assessed the effect of liana infestation on fruit production of Chrysophyllum lucentifollium subsp. pachycarpum (Sapotaceae), a timber tree species, in Pará state, Brazil. We measured the dbh and visu ally classified liana coverage of 76 trees into three categories. Fruit production was assessed each 15 days from October 2003 until March 2004 and was considered a binary variable. The data was analyzed using logistic regression. C. lucentifollium trees not infested were 21 times more likely to produce fruits than trees with 5 to 50% of the crown infested, and were 57 times more likely to produce fruits than trees with over 50% of the crown infested. Although liana cutting might reduce resources liana species provide for the fauna, it may increases fruit production of some tree species and favor tree regeneration. (FAPESP; CNPq; IMAZON IMPACTS OF CLEARFELL LOGGING ON LITTER BEETLES: ARE RESERVE CORRIDORS EFFECTIVE? BAKER, SUE C.; Richardson, Alastair M.M.; Barmuta, Leon A. School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 05, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia. bakers((AT))utas.edu.au. Clearfell logging is changing the age structure and spatial dynamics of wet eucalypt forest in Tasmania, Australia. Litter-dwelling Coleoptera are sensitive to both coupe- and landscape-scale effects of logging, but if the logging is done according to natural disturbance principles, clearfell harvesting need not threaten their populations. Litter beetle assemblages did not differ between sites that had been either logged (clearfell, burn, and sow) or burned by wildfire 33 years previously. Landscape-scale impacts appear to be a greater conservation threat than the harvesting regime used. Litter beetle assemblages differed with the successional age of the forest, thus fragmentation of the landscape into small coupes grea tly reduces the connectivity between remaining areas of mature forest. Streamside reserves (40 — 60 m wide) and occasional m-wide wildlife habitat strips (usually riparian) preserve some older forest and provide connectivity pathways. However, the zone in which litter beetles are edge affected (up to 25—50 m) can extend as far into the riparian strip as the stream bank. An increase in the logging rotation period and/or more and wider reserves are probably required if these forests are to continue to provide timber as well as maintaining natural habitat values and conserving their dependent species. Society for Conservation Biology - Brasilia 2005 News index | RSS | News Feed Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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