Testing liana cutting and controlled burning as silvicultural treatments for a logged forest in the eastern Amazon

Gerwing, J. 2001. Testing liana cutting and controlled burning as silvicultural treatments for a logged forest in the eastern Amazon. Journal of Applied Ecology, 38(6), 1264-1276. Blackwell Publishing Limited.

Introduction

Lianas (woody vines) are conspicuous elements oftropical forests world-wide (Gentry 1991). Althoughthey occur in all forest types and successional phases,lianas usually reach their greatest abundance in areasthat are regenerating after canopy disturbance (Hegarty& Caballé 1991). Patches of especially high liana den-sity, variously referred to as liana forest, liana tangles,cipoal and storm forest, among other names, have beenreported for forests throughout the world and areusually interpreted as evidence of past severe dis-turbance. Examples include fire in the BrazilianAmazon (Pires & Prance 1985; Balée & Campbell1990; Nelson 1994) and wind storms in Venezuela(Rollet 1971), Australia (Webb 1968; Beard 1976), theAntilles (Beard 1954) and Malaysia (Wyatt-Smith 1954).Logged forests are particularly prone to the developmentof liana tangles (Dawkins 1961; Neil 1984). Followinglogging, lianas from the crowns of felled trees can layerand grow rapidly in the gap environment, where theyare able to blanket regenerating vegetation and colonizesurrounding trees (Appanah & Putz 1984; Pinard & Putz1994). Anecdotal evidence suggests that once lianatangles become established they may persist relativelyunchanged for several decades or more (Putz 1995).Thus, the development of extensive liana tangles couldpose a significant obstacle to tropical silviculturalistsinterested in sustaining high timber yields. To begin todevelop a silvicultural strategy for these tangles, theimpact of liana cutting and controlled burning on treegrowth and regeneration in liana-dominated patchesin a logged forest in the eastern Brazilian Amazon wasinvestigated.