Forest Management Commons^™

Pre-Logging Liana Cutting Reduces Liana Regeneration In Logging Gaps In The Eastern Brazilian Amazon, Jeffrey J. Gerwing, Christopher Uhl

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The cutting of all lianas prior to logging is a reduced-impact logging technique that is predicted to reduce liana proliferation in logging gaps. This study compares liana abundance and species composition in gaps created during conventional and reduced-impact logging in a forest of the eastern Brazilian Amazon. Logging treatments were conducted in side-by-side plots. Shortly following logging, 50-m² plots were located in the approximate centers of four single treefall and four multiple treefall gaps in each logging area. Six years following logging, there were ∼40% fewer climbing lianas in reduced-impact gaps than in conventional logging gaps. In both logging …