Towards an Ecologically-Sustainable Forestry in the Atlantic Forest
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Biological Conservation 142 (2009) 1209–1219 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon Towards an ecologically-sustainable forestry in the Atlantic Forest Carlos R. Fonseca a,b,*, Gislene Ganade a,b, Ronei Baldissera c, Carlos G. Becker a, Carlos R. Boelter a, Antonio D. Brescovit d, Lucas M. Campos a, Tomás Fleck a, Vanda S. Fonseca a, Sandra M. Hartz c, Fernando Joner a, Marcia I. Käffer a,e, Ana M. Leal-Zanchet a, Marcelo P. Marcelli f, Alex S. Mesquita a, Cláudio A. Mondin g, Claudia P. Paz a, Maria V. Petry a, Fabio N. Piovensan a, Jair Putzke h, Anamaria Stranz a, Micheline Vergara a, Emerson M. Vieira a,i a Centro 2, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, São Leopoldo, RS 93022-970, Brazil b Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN 59072-970, Brazil c Instituto de Biociências, Centro de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 91501-970, Brazil d Seção de Artrópodes Peçonhentos, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP 05503-900, Brazil e Fundação Zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90690-000, Brazil f Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo, SP 04301-902, Brazil g Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Porto Alegre, RS 90619-500, Brazil h Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul, Santa Cruz do Sul, RS 96815-900, Brazil i Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF 70919-970, Brazil article info abstract Article history: Since pristine Atlantic Forest remnants are vanishing, and biological reserves are in short, conservation of Received 15 September 2008 biodiversity will largely depend on proper management of the anthropogenic matrix. Here, we test (1) Received in revised form 9 February 2009 the effectiveness of ecologically-managed tree monocultures in maintaining Araucaria Forest biodiver- Accepted 14 February 2009 sity, (2) how this effectiveness change among taxa, and (3) we discuss management principles that Available online 20 March 2009 can be used by the forestry industry in order to contribute positively to biodiversity conservation. The study was conducted in the São Francisco de Paula National Forest, southern Brazil, an environmental Keywords: mosaic composed mostly of patches of Araucaria Forest and ecologically-managed monocultures of Arau- Araucaria caria, Pinus and Eucalyptus. Using standardized sampling methods in these four main habitats, we have Biodiversity Conservation recorded the richness and species composition of small mammals, birds, leaf-litter frogs, butterflies, gall- Eucalyptus ing insects, spiders, opiliones, flatworms, woody plants, epiphytic angiosperms, epiphytic ferns, lichens, Forestry and fruit-body producing fungi. Overall, we recorded 506 species in Araucaria Forest, 181 (36%) of which Management were exclusive of this habitat while 325 (64%) could be found in at least one monoculture. Distribution Monoculture patterns of species richness and number of records across taxonomic groups showed that a large biodi- Multi-taxa versity can be found inside ecologically-managed plantations of Araucaria, Pinus, and Eucalyptus. For all Pinus studied taxa, except for epiphytic angiosperms and fruit-body producing fungi, more than half of the Araucaria Forest species could be found living on monocultures. We discuss how the actual management practices of the forest industry can be improved to contribute positively to the conservation of the Atlan- tic Forest biodiversity. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction the Brazilian pine Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze (1898) be- gan. From 1915 to 1960, Brazil exported more than 18 million m3 Araucaria Forest, a subtropical rain forest located on the south of timber, mostly from the Atlantic Forest (Koch and Corrêa, most part of the Atlantic Forest, remained relatively untouched till 2002; Fonseca, 1985). A single British company, Lumber and Colo- the beginning of the XX century (Galindo-Leal and Câmara, 2003). nisation Comp. Ltda., extracted from Araucaria Forest more than 15 During the First World War, with the impossibility for Europe to million A. angustifolia trees (Medeiros et al., 2004). Nowadays, con- commercialize pine wood from Riga (Letonia), the exploitation of sidering the 25,379,316 ha previously occupied by Araucaria For- est, only 12.6% (3,202,134 ha) remains intact (Ribeiro et al., 2009; but see Guerra et al., 2002). * Corresponding author. Address: Departamento de Botânica, Ecologia e Zoologia, In parallel to this historical contraction of the Araucaria Forest Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN in particular, and the Atlantic Forest in general (Tabarelli et al., 59072-970, Brazil. Tel.: +55 84 32153374. E-mail address: [email protected] (C.R. Fonseca). 2005), tree monocultures have been expanding quickly in the last 0006-3207/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.02.017 1210 C.R. Fonseca et al. / Biological Conservation 142 (2009) 1209–1219 decades (Baptista and Rudel, 2006; Bracelpa, 2007). In 2000, Brazil proach, we compared species richness among habitats and the became the sixth country in area occupied by tree monocultures, percentage of shared species between Araucaria Forest and tree mostly of Pinus and Eucalyptus exotic species, reaching a total of monocultures for thirteen taxonomic groups, including small 5 million ha (Bacha and Barros, 2004). The main responsible for mammals, birds, leaf-litter frogs, butterflies, gall-inducing insects, such an increase are the companies of cellulose, steal, and wood spiders, opiliones, terrestrial flatworms, woody plants, epiphytic crafts, besides state governments and private landowners. In the angiosperms, epiphytic ferns, lichens, and fruit-body producing near future, monocultures are expected to expand steadily due to fungi. the increasing demand for timber and energy (Bracelpa, 2007). The expansion of tree monocultures has brought about a tradi- 2. Methods tionally polarized debate between entrepreneurs and brazilian environmentalists. In one hand, foresters hold that in order to ob- 2.1. Study area tain satisfactory revenue tree plantations should be intensively managed, with the use, for instance, of exotic species, reduced The study was conducted in the São Francisco de Paula National rotation periods, high tree densities, and with the use of herbicides, Forest (29°230–29°270S, 50°230–50°250W), southern Brazil (Fig. 1). insecticides, and nutrient input. Biodiversity losses are justified in The National Forest is a conservation unit of sustainable use, form- relation to the economic and social benefits produced by their ini- ing a heterogeneous mosaic landscape constituted by remnants of tiatives. On the other hand, environmentalists argued that in order Araucaria Forest together with ecologically-managed tree mono- to maintain the local biodiversity tree monocultures should be cultures. However, the National Forest is surrounded by natural lightly managed, otherwise they are nothing but ‘‘green deserts”. grasslands used as cattle fields. The reserve encompasses This debate takes place in a biodiversity hotspot (Mittermeier 1600.77 ha with elevation ranging between 600 and 950 m above et al., 2004) with obvious limitations on the network of established see level. The climate is subtropical with mean annual temperature conservation units (Indrusiak and Monteiro, forthcoming). Today, of 18.5 °C and mean annual rainfall of 2252 mm (Backes, 1999). only 0.39% of the Araucaria Forest is effectively protected (Ribeiro The landscape was originally dominated by Araucaria Forest et al., 2009). Therefore, the long-term survival of the forest biodi- and natural grasslands (Rambo, 2000). Before the National Forest versity depends on the environmental quality of the private land. was established, part of the area was used for selective logging, The forest industry can contribute to this enterprise by embracing agriculture and cattle ranching. At the end of the 1940s, a large ecologically-sustainable management approaches that allow (a) portion of the disturbed area was replanted with the native species biodiversity to occur in more intensively managed areas, and (b) A. angustifolia. At the end of the 1960s, two exotic species of Pinus substantial economic revenue to be generated in lesser intense were introduced, the loblolly pine Pinus taeda (Elliott, 1824) and management regimes. Ecologically-sustainable practices involve, the slash pine Pinus elliotti (Engelm, 1880). Plantations of Eucalyp- for instance, the use of native species, long rotation periods, and tus saligna began around the 1970s. Today, Araucaria Forest is still low tree density allowing the development of a rich and complex the dominant element of the landscape. Ecologically-managed tree understorey (Lindenmayer and Franklin, 2002; Hartley, 2002). plantations of Araucaria, Pinus, and Eucalyptus are also important Empirical evidence supporting the notion that the forest indus- elements (Fig. 1). Other land uses include mixed plantations, plan- try may have a larger role in the solution of the forest biodiversity tations of Cupressus, besides natural grasslands, roads, lakes, wet- crisis than previously suspected can be found mostly in the tem- lands, gaps, and buildings. The National Forest is inserted in a perate