Tropical forest resources and extraction
– in Tsaratanana forest, Midongy, Madagascar
Ellen Winberg
Degree project for Master of Science (Two Years) in
Biology
2009
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Göteborg University Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Abstract
Tropical forests are lost at an alarming rate globally. In Madagascar the forests only cover fragments of what they once used to. Conservation in the form of participatory forest management (PFM) is one of the tools that have been put in place to manage and preserve the remaining forests. In Tsaratanana forest in the south eastern part of the country PFM has been introduced by WWF. The community is taking over the management of the forest. This study aimed at looking at the extraction levels and what determines them, the utility fields of the trees and to get an estimate of the forest area that is affected by this extraction. The result shows selection for some tree species in large sizes and a high outtake of small trees. Factors that determine the outtake levels of trees are vegetation structure at the edge and distance to villages from the location in the forest.The largest utility fields are firewood and construction wood but an important compartment of the outtake is also for medicinal purposes. The study further estimates between 31 and 50% of the forest as being disturbed by this extraction. The outtake is not sustainable at the rate it is carried out today and thus needs to be lessened to guarantee the continuance of the forest. The study concludes that the exotic species Lantana camara can be beneficial for the protection of the forest as well as in easing reforestation.
Svensk sammanfattning
Skogstacket i tropikerna minskar I snabb takt. I Madagascar tacker numera skogarna bara spillror av vad de en gang gjorde. Att bevara skogarna I form av “Participatory Forest Management (PFM) ar en av strategierna som har satts in for att skota och bevara de skogar som finns kvar. I skogen Tsaratanana i sydostra delen av landet har WWF introducerat PFM for att bidra till losningen. Befolkningen i omradet kommer nu ta over skotseln av skogen. Denna studie syftar till att studera uttaget av trad och vad for faktorer som paverkar uttagsnivaerna. Aven anvandningsomradena for dessa trad studerades. En uppskattning av hur stort andel av skogen som ar paverkad av traduttaget gjordes ocksa. Resultatet visar selektion av vissa arter i deras storre diametrar och i ovrigt ett stort uttag av yngre trad. De faktorer som visade sig paverka uttagsnivaerna var strukturen av vegetationen gransande till skogen och avstandet fran bebyggelse till platsen I skogen. De viktigaste och storsta anvandningsomradena for de uttagna traden var ved och virke men en viktig del utgjordes aven av medicinalsyfte. Studien uppskattade att mellan 31 och 50% av skogen ar paverkad av detta uttag. De uttagsnivaer som tillampas idag ar inte langsiktigt hallbara utan maste minska for att garantera skogens fortlevnad. Studien kommer till slutsatsen att den exotiska arten Lantana camara kan vara av nytta for skyddet av skogen liksom for att aterskoga forlorade omraden.
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Content
Introduction ...... 5 Importance and challenges of tropical forests...... 5 Madagascar a diverse island and country...... 6 Madagascar’s ecology of international importance ...... 6 Madagascar’s forests and their declining area...... 7 Poverty, population growth and social institutions related to deforestation ...... 8 Tavy, a sustainable land use or the method of deforestation?...... 9 Edges and fragmentation affecting forests and their diversity...... 12 Introduced invasive species posing a threat to indigenous species or a way to reforest? ...... 15 Conservation the goal for forest remnants of Madagascar ...... 17 Participatory Forest Management outside Midongy du Sud National Park ...... 17 Motives to this Study...... 19 Methods ...... 21 Location and site description...... 21 Field Surveys ...... 22 Data and map analysis ...... 23 Results ...... 26 Slope and vegetation affects basal area in type I tests ...... 26 Vegetation and total accessibility affects the extraction in Type III regression test .... 26 Vegetation, village and edge distance correlate to tree extraction ...... 27 Sizes and species of tree stumps ...... 28 Different species most frequently extracted in different size classes ...... 28 High degree of endemism among extracted tree species ...... 29 Construction and firewood for people or food for lemurs ...... 30 Up to half of the forest area affected by extraction leaving fragmented core areas ... 30 Discussion ...... 32 Edge vegetation structure and distance from villages and forest edges limit the outtake of wood...... 32
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Potentially selective outtake for size can have ecological implications ...... 33 Diverse but selective outtake of tree species related to household needs but also to over exploitation...... 34 Fuel and construction wood as the largest utility fields brings implications for management...... 36 Medicinal purposes fill an important role in tree extraction in Tsaratanana...... 37 Socially unsustainable and destructive honey extraction needs to be amended...... 38 Unsustainable fruit extraction and selection for trees competing with lemurs ...... 38 Risk of increasing pressure on Tsaratanana due to creation of Midongy du Sud National Park ...... 40 Incentives for managing the forest sustainably ...... 42 Introduced invasive species a good or bad in Tsaratanana? ...... 45 A large part of the forest affected by selective tree extraction having implications for the ecosystem...... 46 Conclusions...... 48 What could have been done differently in this study and why did it turn out this way? ...... 49 More extensive social information...... 50 Satellite imagery ...... 50 Limitations in field work resources ...... 50 Acknowledgement...... 52 Abbreviations ...... 52 Reference list...... 52 Diverse...... 52 Articles ...... 52 Internet Links ...... 54 Literature...... 55 Appendix A...... 57 Appendix B...... 60 Appendix C...... 63 Appendix D...... 65 Appendix E...... 68 Appendix F ...... 70
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Introduction Importance and challenges of tropical forests Less than one tenth of the Earth’s terrestrial surface is covered with tropical forests but they host 50% or more of all terrestrial species (Harper et. al. 2007). They are important for the functioning of the planet and for maintaining life. They contribute to regulating climate systems both on a regional and local scale. Their carbon dioxide capturing properties make them important carbon sinks and they provide many human populations across the planet with vital resources and ecosystem services (Ingram et al. 2005). Deforestation is considered a threat to many tropical forest species’ survival and is continuously shrinking their habitat. When the forests are being diminished they are also increasingly being fragmented into forest pieces too small to harbor or support viable populations of both animal and plant species. With increasing fragmentation, the extent of edge effects increases. These effects are present in areas far greater than the actual deforestation itself. (Harper et. al. 2007) Fragmentation and edge effect are considered among the most deleterious processes in the tropics today (Broadbent et al. 2008).
Tropical forests are being lost with an alarming speed all across the globe, in some estimates by 5.8 million ha per year. Their loss influences global environmental change and climate which has become of a growing concern. Little is known about the regeneration rate of tropical forests. It has been estimated to be 1 million ha per annum in the humid tropics. A stable forest cover has a strong relation to strong local social institutions. (Elmqvist et al. 2007)
In tropical forests it is not uncommon with plant and primate codependency. Many primates rely on fruit trees as main or dominating food resource and the tree species in turn depend on the frugivourous primates for their seed dispersal. In Kibale National Park in Uganda it is recorded that primates are the main frugivors and that the germination of seeds increased if they were consumed by Chimpanzees. The maintenance of primate populations can thus be critical for tropical forest regeneration. Logging or extraction of non wood products can lead to a decrease in resource availability for the primates and is presumed to have negative impact on their communities. On the other hand the recruitment of trees can be negatively effected by hunting of primates. In cases where human activities influence either seed dispersal or fruit production there can be secondary effects on other interactants. Disruption of the interactions between these parties can have negative cascading effects on processes and species in the ecosystem in question. Protected areas are often considered as a solution to eliminating the pressure on forest species. But extractive reserves can turn out to pose a threat to primate populations in the cases where their food species are affected. People and primates generally have the same preferences when it comes to fruit. The species they both prefer are usually nutritious and grow in dense stands.
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There is risk of fruit tree species becoming locally extinct following extensive extraction by humans. (Chapman, C.A., Onderdonk, D.A., 1998) Primates, including humans, are thus key actors in forests in the tropics. In the area of this study there is six species of lemurs (Öberg, 2009). All but one of these species are entirely or partly frugivourous.
Madagascar a diverse island and country Madagascar is among the world’s poorest countries and also has a high population growth of 3% (World Bank, Central Intelligence Agency and International Monetary Fund, Central Intelligence Agency). The island has been inhabited by humans no longer than 2000 years, the oldest traces of people are animal bones with cut marks from tools. A campsite under a rock overhang is the oldest found settlement determined to be from A.D. 450. The number of settlements started increasing in the 9th century and today the population is more than 20,6 million mainly concentrated to the highlands of the island. (Wright and Rakotoarisoa, 2003, Central Intelligence Agency)
Madagascar’s population is composed of several ethnic groups that share the same language and culture and trace their origin to Africa, Indo-Asia, the Middle East, China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Europe (Ariey et. al, 2003). Eighty percent of Madagascar’s population is rural. The communities depend largely on the ecosystem services offered by the forests and on being able to extract construction material and wood for fuel from these. Thus the forests are keys to many livelihoods on Madagascar. (Ingram et al. 2005)
Madagascar’s ecology of international importance The island of Madagascar is home to a great number of endemic species much thanks to its isolation following the separation from India and Antarctica more than 100 million years ago and from the African continent in the late Jurassic era (Gautier and Goodman, 2003).
It has been classified as a biodiversity hotspot and the degree of endemism is high both in families and genera. The 25 biodiversity hotspots identified in the world contain the only remaining habitats to 35% of the planet’s vertebrate species and 44% of the plant species. One criterion for the classification is that the endemic plant species of a hot spot make out at least 0.5 % of all plant species found on this planet. Madagascar is home to 9,704 endemic plant species and 771 endemic vertebrates, which in turn represents 3.2 % of the global plant diversity and 2.8 % of the vertebrates globally. (Olson and Dinerstein, 2002) As noted by Gautier and Goodman (2003) in their Natural History of Madagascar the level of endemism among large shrub and tree species can be close to 96%, according to a study by Schatz from 2002.
Madagascar’s primary vegetation has been depleted to such an extent that only 9.9% of it remained in the year 2000. The island is considered to be among the “hottest
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hotspots” world wide (Myers et. al., 2000). Many of the habitat types special to Madagascar are listed among “The Global 200”, showing that its ecoregions are found to be of importance for global conservation. Madagascar’s environment and species are thus determined to be of high priority and importance for conservation of our biological heritage. (Gautier and Goodman, 2003; Olson and Dinerstein, 2002) Around 90% of the vertebrate species that are unique to Madagascar depend of forest for their living habitat which stresses the importance of preserving these forests (Dufils, 2003).
Madagascar’s forests and their declining area The island of Madagascar contains a diversity of ecosystems. It has in two similar models, one by Humbert and Cours Darne in 1965 and a more recent one by Schatz from 2000, been divided into five or six ecoregions respectively. They are defined by the different bioclimatic parameters that exist within the country. The most significant difference lies between the dry deciduous and spiny western and the moist evergreen eastern biome. Within each altitudinal zone in the eastern forest ecoregion, there is relative homogeneity within the forest from north to south; however the composition of species and the structure of the forests change considerably with changes in microclimate, relief and elevation. (Nicoll, 2003)
The picture of modern day Madagascar’s forest cover is a shadow of what it used to be. The lowland forest ecoregion defined by Schatz comprises 319 925 km² and most of the remaining forest bodies are found on steep rough slopes along a thin, non continuous band, that stretches north to south parallel of the moist east coast of Madagascar. In the southern sector the forest is still relatively continuous but severely encroached upon. The forest to the north is facing immediate risk of becoming very fragmented. In 2001 less than 9% of the forests at altitudes lower that 400 m remained and since this further forest loss has occurred. Humid forests located between 400 and 800 m still covered 35 % of its original expanse in 2001 while forests between 800 and 1200 m altitude only remained to 6 %. Of these forest habitats the large majority is located outside protected areas. (Nicoll, 2003)
During centuries the forests of Madagascar and thus its forest dwelling species have suffered huge areal losses and the level of fragmentation has increased massively. The lowland and mid-elevation forests covered an area of about 1 967 000 ha and 2 952 000 hectares respectively in 1996 in contrast to covering 4 625 000 and 3 146 000 ha respectively in 1965 (J.M Dufils, 2003). Between 1993 and 1999 the deforestation rate has been estimated to 1.6 % per year of Madagascar’s evergreen forests (J.M Dufils, 2003). Before man’s arrival to the island, approximately 90% of the island is estimated to have been covered by forest. Madagascar has lost at least 2/3 of its forests since then. From the 1950s, when only 27 % of the land was forested, up until 2000 the forest cover in Madagascar has decreased by 40%, and core forest areas (interior forest area further away than 1km from the edge of the forest) has during the
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same period decreased by 80%. Since then deforestation has been continuing. (Harper et. al. 2007) The degree of forest area affected by edge factors is high due to the degree of fragmentation in the remaining forest cover (Lehman et al. 2006).
Poverty, population growth and social institutions related to deforestation The common explanation to the forest loss in Madagascar is encroachment, by a population which is one of the most rapidly growing populations in the world. Poverty and lack of opportunities increases the pressure on the remaining forest. Because of an increased demand of a scarce product, following the decreased size of forests and access to them, the value of timber has risen. The prognosis for Madagascar’s forests has been that they will continue to diminish and become even more fragmented. (Nicoll, 2003)
Apart from the commonly argued socioeconomic reasons for forest degradation in Madagascar, such as lack of alternative cultivation methods and poverty, there are several other reasons for the country’s high rate of deforestation. The deforestation of Madagascar accelerated in the 1980s. One explanation is the increase in migrants leaving their overexploited lands to find new land to cultivate and therefore moving into new areas. There is a strong social cohesion and structure in the original communities in Madagascar which is based on a respect for values and the production system. The land is inherited by the ancestors and the traditional land-use is respected. But when people move into new areas they disorganize the social cohesion and structure of the communities they enter and for reasons, such as the destructive or innovative activities of the newcomers, in combination with the original inhabitants increased use of the forest to state their ownership, the deforestation of the area increases. Another reason for the increase in deforestation and loss of biodiversity is the high demand of charcoal, fuel wood and construction material in the urban areas. There is a high dependency on natural forests for the provision of these resources. (Durbin et al. 2003; Nicoll, 2003)
In addition to the reasons for extraction there are also legal and political implications to consider when it comes to deforestation in Madagascar. There is not enough capacity for the forestry administration to apply the forestry legislation or carry up the monitoring and control of illegal activities in humid forests in Madagascar. Today many of the remaining forest areas remain only because they are found in inaccessible territories where the population densities are low or because they are considered taboo forests (so called Alafady) protected by the local communities. Strong social communities with respected leaders are often important factors for the protection of the forests and responsible use of its resources. (Durbin et al. 2003; Nicoll, 2003)
Apart from the reasons for forest loss in Madagascar there are also reasons to explain the forests that are left on the island and what is important to consider when aspiring protection of the remaining forests. The social institutions are determined to be
8 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009 important factors in deciding reasons for loss or regeneration of semi arid forests in southern Madagascar, and are likely to be in many of the remaining forest of the country. A study from southern Madagascar has shown that forests far from markets in an area with low population density are more prone to decrease in size while forests with an easier access to markets and with a higher population density are more stable in area. There is a higher loss of forests in areas where insecure property rights are found. Forests can even increase in size where the property rights are well defined. Spontaneous regeneration of forests has in these cases often been explained by a combination of decreasing grazing pressure, changes in rain frequency and a decreased human population pressure which might not be possible in moist forest areas where the population pressure is very high. (Elmqvist et al.2007)
For forest cover to remain intact the social institutions need to be strong and have the capability to enforce protection of the forests and prosecution in cases of transgression. In areas where the ancestral rights remain strong there is a more secure management of the forests than in areas where newcomers have entered. In the latter case there is often a competition to clear land and gain formal rights to this, with the consequence of forest loss. In areas with a strong social institution newcomers and seasonal dwellers need to gain permission from the original inhabitants with the ancestral rights to the land to be able to visit the lands for cattle grazing or to cut any trees. But at low population densities it can be difficult for the local authorities to control whether outsiders enter their areas or the behavior of these newcomers. Fady forests or taboo forests that belong to a clan or family usually have a very strong protection. The climatic factors of an area can also have an importance in whether people will persist in the area or not. This can in turn lead to a lesser degree of forest clearing in the specific area. (Elmqvist et al. 2007)
Tavy, a sustainable land use or the method of deforestation? The traditional land use in the eastern parts of Madagascar is “slash and burn" agriculture, locally known as tavy, a land use form that is considered to be sustainable at low population densities with access to abundant land. However, in Madagascar it has been declared to be unsustainable due to the rapid population growth. When practicing tavy, forest or secondary vegetation is first cut down. The field is then burned and upland rice is grown for one season. At the season for rice cultivation the people tend to move to temporary homesteads closer to the tavy fields. After this is harvested, a root crop, such as sweet potatoes or cassava, is grown. When these are finally harvested the land is left to fallow before it is cleared and burned again. (Styger et. al.2007)
The recent 150 years tavy has been the reason for extensive forest loss in Madagascar. The consequences of this intensive land use are forest and biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems, understandably critical in a biodiversity hotspot. The fallow
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periods when practicing tavy in Madagascar are reported to having decreased from a length of 8–15 years to a period of 3–5 years. The habit of frequently burning the land is benefiting the establishment of exotic and aggressive species who replace the indigenous vegetation. Grasses are favored and woody species are disfavored by the frequent fires. Finally one reaches a stage with minimum ecological and productive value.
These extensive grasslands, that Figure 1. The state of the land after several years of Tavy. What cover a large portion of Madagascar, remains is unfertile grasslands that at the most can be used for grazing of cattle. have extremely low productivity and are at most managed for cattle grazing after annual fires (see figure 1). The time it takes from rainforest till land falls into unproductive grasslands has shrunk to a time span of 20–40 years. This is five to ten times faster now than previously reported. (Styger et. al.2007)
The fallow vegetation in tavy practice changes with the fallow cropping and fallow cycle. Studies have been made that show that the fallow periods need to be extended in time with each cycle for the soils to remain at a similar productive level. The different fallows following after deforestation are characterized by their species composition, life forms, appearance of the vegetation and their agricultural potential. (Styger et. al. 2007)
The vegetation changes remarkably between the fallows and is a good indication of what state the soil is in. The fallow following directly after deforestation is in Madagascar usually dominated by the tree species; Harungana madagascariensis and Trema orientalis or the shrub Psiadia altissima and sometimes with Solanum mauritianum. The latter usually gives way to Trema orientalis after about a year of rapid growth. In the second fallow cycle a shift in species occur: shrub species almost entirely replace trees. Psiadia is now the dominating species (it was called Dinga in the study area of Tsaratanana). In the third fallow period exotic and invasive species like Lantana camara, Aframomum angustifolium and Rubus moluccanus take over and form dense single species stands. Rubus moluccanus and L. camara have similar ecological requirements, i.e., medium fertile soil, and both form dense thickets with spiny vines that are not possible to penetrate without cutting way with a machete. After the canopy has closed at 2.5–4 m height it does not grow higher. It is then difficult to tell if a fallow is 5 or 20 years of age. If R. moluccanus occurs at the same location as the other species it out competes them and impedes development of any regenerating indigenous trees. During
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this cycle ferns and grasses start to appear at lower densities. The ferns are mainly Pteridium aquilinum and Sticherus flagellaris, and the grass is Imperata cylindrica. After the fourth cycle these species become dominant and after the sixth cycle new grass species appear. (Styger et. al. 2007)
In some regions of Madagascar tavy is practiced sustainably. In the cases where it is used like a sustainable land use management it does not degrade the soils and leave the land in an infertile state. It can even be followed by secondary forests with a high biodiversity. For this sustainability to be possible one can not cut and burn the fallows in certain sensitive stages. One should avoid this to allow for the woody species to grow strong so they do not get damaged by burning or cropping. These trees are the keys to restoring agricultural productivity. Burning at this stage would open up for herbaceous plants in the next stage and the plot would drift into degradation. If the fallow is harvested as the shrubs (like Lantana camara) have reached a dark green color and a height of 2–4 m it will be sustainable tavy. However the time till the plot reaches this stage gets longer and longer the more times the land is used. It can finally require ten years or more to become mature. If the fallow is left to stand, and is not exposed to fire, it will eventually be dominated by light mediocre wood species that protect young seedlings of more precious tree species. After about 60 years the secondary forest contains trees of soft wooded species of sizes that can be used for e.g. for timber boards. In the understory at this time, the hard wood species are establishing and eventually a secondary forest will once again cover the plot. (Styger et. al. 2007)
With an increase in population pressure and a growing need of food for the day, the fallow periods tend to become shorter and shorter. The farmers rotation between their different plots become more frequent and they tend to move further up on the hillsides, cut new forest areas and eventually cultivate hilltops (see figure 2.). The hillside plots degrade more rapidly, but for a short period of time they feed the underlying plots with nutritious soils extending their production for a few more seasons. When the fields in the valleys are burnt the fire often escapes upward and destroys crops and prematurely burns fallows and spreads into forests. (Styger et. al. 2007) It all becomes problematic when the uplands are degraded, young farmers then tend to move to localities closer to the forest borders, this to convert new land into fields for Figure 2. Secondary forest on a hillsideburnt as tavy. In the beginning it agriculture. Even if the felling of trees Will give good yields of sweet potatoes, hill side rice and cassava.
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is illegal there is no enforcement of the law in these areas, and the resources are often considered to be free access. The pressure on the forests is multiplied by the fact that the population densities are the highest closer to forest areas where the land has not yet been as degraded.
Edges and fragmentation affecting forests and their diversity Tavys are often found along the edges of moist forests and show a remarkable contrast in structure and vegetation from the interior of the forest. It constitutes a sharp physical edge to the forest ecosystem. Forest edges can be both natural and anthropogenically created and have implications for the physical and biological conditions within the forest. This implies negative effects on less resilient species, which in the case of endemics and endangered species can be detrimental. With the high degree of fragmentation in Madagascar the over all edge effect in the forests of the island is likely to be extensive.
The forest habitat bordering to non-forested areas differs from them far from the forest edge. The edge is constituted by a dynamic zone, characterized by the penetration of conditions from the environment surrounding the area, the zone stretches to varying depths and with varying intensity towards the forest interior (Lehman et al. 2006). Forest areas are in other words exposed to edge effects from the surrounding matrix. Edge effect, or edge influence as some prefer to call it, are defined as “the effect of processes (both abiotic and biotic) at the edge that result in a detectable difference in composition, structure or function near the edge, as compared with the ecosystem on either side of the edge” (Harper et. al. 2005). The following description of edge influences is from Harper et al. (2005):
“Abiotic and biotic gradients near created forest edges generate a set of primary responses to edge creation. Indirect effects from these primary responses and the original edge gradient perpetuate edge influence, leading to secondary responses. Further changes in vegetation effect the edge environment, resulting in ongoing edge dynamics” (Harper et al, 2005).
Further they describe that “the magnitude and distance of edge influence are a direct function of the contrast in structure and composition between adjacent communities on either sides of the edge. Local factors such as climate, edge characteristics, stand attributes, and biotic factors affect patch contrast” (Harper et al, 2005).
Thus there ought to be a big edge influence on either party when both the communities are constituted by on the one side agricultural fields and human settlements and on the other side forests as is the case in many Malagasy regions. Forest edges are increasing in area around the world. This is due to increasing human activities such as; settling, agriculture, extraction of resources and harvesting of timber. And in turn they all may lead to degradation of the remaining forest fragments (Harper et al. 2005).
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Deforestation creates new forest edges. The direct effects of edge creation are physical disturbance of soil and vegetation; changes in the abiotic environmental gradients such as wind, moisture and light; and an increase of access for external organisms and materials (Harper et al.2005). Changes in micrometeorology, increasing wind exposure and damage, changes in fire frequency, livestock grazing and trampling, entry by non- forest animals and people who affect the forest, e.g., through hunting, are further examples of specific factors affecting forest edge ecology (Harper et. al. 2007).
The consequences following edge creation can first of all be physical damage and exchange of species or matter; as a response to this the productivity, nutrient cycling, decomposition and dispersal increases; the structural responses following this is a decline in canopy cover, tree density and biomass and an increase of fallen wood; the recruitment, growth, mortality and reproduction increases as a 2nd degree response with increasing sapling density and understory cover following nearby in time. As a final result the species composition of the edge area changes in relation to the unaffected core area. The new composition of species is typically dominated by shade–intolerant species and exotics. (Laurance et al. 2006)
With time the edge effects can decline in magnitude, but the distance of the edge effect can despite this still increase towards the forest core in some cases. In other cases where the edge is maintained, the distance of the edge effect can be found not to extend as far into the forest after some time, while the magnitude of the edge effect is still strong. This occurs in cases where a wall of dense secondary vegetation is developed and reduces the penetration of biotic and abiotic edge effects towards the interior. The edge effect distance is generally longer in cases where the edge is kept open instead of being left to seal. (Harper et al.2005) In the Amazon rain forest tree mortality has been found to be significantly higher within a 100 m distance from the edge due to desiccation stress and wind turbulence. Trees larger than 60 cm in diameter are extra vulnerable and die at a speed three times faster close to the edges than in the interior of the forest. As a consequence of the high mortality the wood biomass rapidly decreases and the forest at the edges also gets a higher degree of tree fall gaps opening up to regeneration as well as vines. (Laurance et al. 2006)
The area exposed to edge effects is relative to the forest edge and not to the size of the forest. The area that is not affected by this edge effect is referred to as core area. This is the area of interior forest not showing any edge influence and it is found outside the zone of significant edge effect (Harper et al. 2005). Fragmentation exposes more area to edge effects. Thus smaller forest fragments can even be lacking unaffected core areas. To properly assess the biodiversity impact of deforestation one apart from the actual deforested area itself, also needs to take into concern the area of edge habitat in a forest as well as its degree of isolation (Harper et al. 2007). As fragmentation increases basal area decreases and a high basal area is generally associated with
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larger old growth forest fragments both in India and Madagascar. The complexity of the matrix and the connectivity of forest fragments can be important factors in explaining the richness of tree species in these fragments, and affects the guilds structure of the forest. The forest size also has been recorded to determine the degree of human disturbance and impact in the forest e.g. the number of tree stumps and cow paths. The larger the forest is the smaller the extent of human disturbance is in turn. (Echeverría et al. 2007)
The effects from the environment surrounding a forest can have deleterious effects on the primates inhabiting the forest. In Madagascar this would be the lemurs, which are among the most threatened taxa of primates globally. (Lehman et al. 2006) This is because the vegetation of a forest changes towards its edges. A higher degree of invasive species are found and the composition of tree species is different than from the interior. The density and size of the tree species preferred by lemurs decreases near the forest edge and predation on these is also likely to be higher (Lehman et.al.2006). In the case of severe fragmentation, the biotic pollinators or dispersers can become rare or disappear and the tree species dependant on them for their gene flow will become affected (Echeverría et.al.2007).
Over all fragmentation of forests affects the species richness and abundance. If fragmentation reaches too far the effect can be that even ecological processes are reduced. (Echeverría et al. 2007) The smaller a fragment is the faster some of the more susceptible species will decline. An increasing degree of fragmentation also increases the access for people to forest resources. Voices have been raised that there is reason to believe that the generally accepted ”intermediate disturbance hypothesis” is not applicable in tropical forests. On the one hand a small number of taxa may increase in numbers as a positive disturbance response. But on the other hand in tropical forests disturbance has been recorded to generally cause a decline in diversity as it increases the extinction probability of several species. (Cadotte, Lovett-Doust, 2007)
Cadotte and Lovett-Doust (2007) highlighted that no one has studied human disturbance measured as proximity of villages to forest fragments in cases where communities are reliant on extracting forest resources for their subsistence. Structural features can be used to indicate degree of disturbance of a forest; these features can be, e.g., number of tree stumps or coppiced individuals of trees. There are other disturbance factors that are not as easily observed, such as the removal of leaves or fruit. Measurable structural features representing both biodiversity and human impact have been inquired for to help to aid in management of forests. Stand density, diameter of stems, and size class distribution among stems are forest structural features that respond to disturbance and in turn have a relationship with the biodiversity of tropical forests. The environmental and anthropogenic factors differ widely and are often unique from location to location; this in turn complicates predictive theory. (Ingram et al. 2005)
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In this study tree stumps and basal area will be used as parameters representing the degree of edge effect in the study area.
Introduced invasive species posing a threat to indigenous species or a way to reforest? One of the obstacles likely to be limiting the human accessibility to the forest, and thus the extraction of wood, are the dense thickets of spiny Solanum species and Lantana camara.
Introduced invasive species are considered a huge threat to the world’s biodiversity but this threat has been outweighed by the impacts of erosion, deforestation and fires so far on Madagascar (Binggeli, 2003). However, some species have now been recognized as a threat to the native species on the island. (Binggeli, 2003) The invasive species introduced to Madagascar only become dominant in disturbed areas such as secondary forests, after tavy or after logging (Binggeli, 2003). This anthropogenic disturbance can have a huge impact on the native species of Madagascar. There is a risk that the native species diversity never recovers after logging as a consequence of the persistence and dominance of invasive species. Logging decreases species diversity in moist forests of Madagascar after selective as well as clear-cut logging due to the establishment of invasive species. This effect is maintained also when 150 years has passed since the area was logged. (Brown and Gurevitch, 2004). Invasive species have then after all become a threat to the internationally recognized hotspot.
Solanum mauritianum and Solanum auriculatum, both native to South America, are considered problematic invasive species in Madagascar. The former species is common in secondary forests, cultivated fields and also natural forests. It is classified as a highly invasive species that tends to become dominant or co-dominant and constitutes a threat to the native flora and ecosystem. Solanum auriculatum is reported to suppress all native vegetation and is easily spread by birds. This species is also a health threat to people. When they are clearing it from the land fine hairs containing toxins are dislodged into the air. When these are inhaled they can cause respiratory problems. (Binggeli, 2003)
Lantana camara is a species that dominates many forest edges and fields in Madagascar and typically so in the study area. This species is native to the American tropics and is also classified as a highly invasive species that tends to become dominant or co-dominant and constitutes a threat to the native flora and ecosystems (Binggeli, 2003). Lantana camara is seen as a pest in cultivated land and also in natural areas. The specie today comprises of several hybrids and cultivars. The variety that has invaded Madagascar is the prickly L. camara var. aculeata. The shrub varies in growth form; it can grow as high as 2–5 meters and forms dense, impenetrable and extensive thickets in disturbed areas. Its seeds are spread by birds but the shrub also spreads
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vegetatively. It is limited in its spread by shading but it is benefited by fire and grazing that decreases competition and increases the resource availability. Fire even stimulates a thicker regrowth of Lantana. After tavy L. camara makes out one of the main component in the secondary succession. It hasn’t yet been noted as an invasive species in the open forests in Madagascar, but it has elsewhere in the world. In Madagascar it is restricted to edges of protected areas and along foot paths, but also across open areas and it often encroaches on agricultural land. The shrub has been used for erosion control and it has occasionally been used for medicines or fuel wood. Its negative impacts for both people and the natural areas of Madagascar are important. The spines and dense thickets of the shrub hinder access to both agricultural land and natural areas. The berries can cause poisoning in livestock and has been recorded to kill children who have eaten of the unripe berries. Rats (Rattus rattus is a species introduced to Madagascar that also carry fleas that spread e.g. plague) are attracted to its massive seed production and thus the rats increase in numbers and the negative effect they have on crops and human health as well. L. camara’s large biomass also increases the susceptibility to fires. (Binggeli, 2003; Duplantier and Duchemin, 2003).
Lantana camara has playes a part in the deforestation in Madagascar at the same time as it offers possibilities of reforestation. The species has allelopathic qualities that can inhibit the growth and seed germination of natural regeneration of forest vegetation, tree species and crops. Historically there are records of people abandoning land infested by L. camara in Madagascar. They moved on to new areas clearing new forest instead of clearing the shrub and as a consequence deforestation took another giant leap. Eradication of the invasive Figure 3. Impenetrable thickets of Lantana camara species is considered impossible once it has boardering to the forest. This is the stage after established itself (see figure 3.). Its roots leaving a new tavy to fallow for a couple of years. resprout freely and seedlings recolonize and establish themselves in the area quickly. There is however a positive observation where Perrier de la Bâthie in 1928 recorded that L. camara can have a transitory existence and that under the dense shrubs a humus layer is deposited under the span of a decade. In the shade of the shrubs young native trees could in this case then establish and grow strong and eventually out shade the L. camara. Thus Bâthie had hopes for using L. camara to reforest lateritic soils in deforested moist areas of the country. This observation is however unique for Madagascar and has not been observed anywhere else in the tropics and needs further investigation before it can be considered as a method for reforestation. (Binggeli, 2003) The theory is somehow supported by the
16 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009 transition described by Styger et al. (2005) when they speak about tavy. They claim L. camara thickets to eventually develop into tertiary vegetation and eventually secondary forest.
Conservation the goal for forest remnants of Madagascar Several scientists have reached consensus on the conservation priorities of Madagascar. Among the priorities was the landscape approach to conserving Madagascar’s biodiversity. This included the importance of protection and maintaining of corridors between protected areas in order to safeguard the exchange of species and the gene flow between already fragmented populations. (Hannah et. al. 1998) As a step towards protecting Madagascar’s natural heritage many national parks have been established. The protected areas of the nation were promised to be increased three fold by the year of 2009 by president Ravalomanana at the Durban World Parks Congress in 2005 (Unesco).
As part of the work to preserve the remaining forests of the island a law has been in place since November 2002. The law stipulates that farmers that set a fire after cutting down trees can be imprisoned for up to five years. In other words tavy is forbidden but unfortunately enough there is no alternative offered to people of many regions. (Nambena, 2003) Because of the population’s high dependency on forest resources for their daily livelihoods and the high degree of poverty it must be important to find win-win solutions when conserving the remains of Madagascar’s biodiversity (Ingram et al. 2005). These solutions need to incorporate optimization of livelihood security as well as protection of the biodiversity. This demands an understanding of human use of the forests and the impacts of people on the system. This information is considered to be crucial when developing new schemes for sustainable resource management of unprotected forest areas (Ingram et al. 2005). There is much support for sustainable forest management as an alternative to protected areas to conserve biodiversity at a landscape level and a means to this is Participatory Forest Management (PFM)(Erdmann, 2003)
Participatory Forest Management outside Midongy du Sud National Park The region of Midongy Sud, where this study took place, has lost more than 50% of its forest, within a period of 10 years (WWF 2). To protect the remaining forests in the region Midongy du Sud Befotaka National Park was established in 1997. Its principal natural habitat is dense humid evergreen forest. The park is located in the south eastern part of the country and is coupled with Special Reserve of Vondrozo far north of this park. These two protected areas are linked together by a corridor of forest patches and mountain rock. In this corridor a high number of endemic flora and fauna is found just as inside the protected areas. The remaining forest patches are under pressure from the local communities who depend on the exploitation of subsistence farming and natural resources from the forest for their daily survival. (WWF 3) The extraction of forest
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products is in Madagascar usually an important complement for peoples livelihoods when food and cash crop production (e.g. bananas) is insufficient, as an example can be mentioned that weeds are collected and used as leafy vegetables. (Styger et al. 2007)
As a means to preserve forest areas outside of protected areas, PFM or Community Based Management has become a more and more often used strategy in Madagascar. The involvement of communities in the management and benefit sharing of the forest is the most important component. The local communities sign a contractual agreement with the Malagasy Forest Service. Often a third party is facilitating the process. This is usually a conservation or development organization. (Raik and Decker, 2007) In the case of the forest corridor of Midongy the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) constitutes this third party. WWF’s program for forests has two principal strategies; the sustainable use of forest resources outside of protected areas and the conservation of forests within protected areas. (Erdmann, 2003)
WWF is actively working to preserve Midongy’s remainders of forest habitat and keep the corridor intact in a manner that is sustainable for both people and the forest itself. The organization has been running the Community Forestry Project in Midongy du Sud (specified as WWF Project MG0860- Ecoregion Conservation and Community Forestry Development in the Malagasy Humid Forest) since 2003. The goal is to restore, protect and develop the forests for the benefit of the local community. The priority work is subdivided into three sectors; forest conservation; developing alternatives to tavy and gender issues. (WWF 3) Participatory community based management of a few remaining forest areas in the region has recently been implemented as part of the project. WWF and the local communities are the main stakeholders in the agreement which is then legalized by the authorities. The community is required to be organized in the form of a Grass root Community organization (a so called COBA). Traditional agreements, so called Dinas, are set up at the grass root level. The Dinas include prescriptions and measures, permissible and non-permissible acts in the different land use zones and the division of the territory. Inventories are carried out by WWF together with the COBAs to delimit the actual forest areas to be managed. Development and management schemes are set up as part of the process. The area gets subdivided into different zones for different land use and purposes, such as; a shade tolerant buffering cash crop zone, agricultural zone, protected forest area etc. The Dinas must be respected by everyone living in the territory or passing through it. In Midongy du Sud five COBAs have been established to manage their own forests and the transfer of management was finally officially handed over to the COBAs in October 2007. (WWF 4, T.K Erdmann 2003)
The participatory management in Midongy limits the numbers of tavys allowed in the forest both in number and the ways they are carried out. No new forest areas are to be
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opened up for tavy and no logging is allowed to be carried out in the forests (unless it is part of the management plan).To replace tavy and improve and diversify the livelihoods of people the project has introduced new cultivation methods in Midongy. These include new, more effective and profitable, rice cultivation methods, vegetable gardening and agro forestry. In Midongy du Sud the population is dominated by the Antaisaka clan. Among this Malagasy clan, women traditionally has had an inferior rank e.g. when it comes to decision making. They have been dependant on men even for purchasing basic necessities such as soap, salt and oil. In the WWF project, information and awareness-rising concerning the importance of involving both women and men in order to ensure economic development and wellbeing of the community and families is a key component. The project is also strengthening women’s capacities by small scale businesses such as sewing or duck farming. The activities of the community forest project in Midongy have had a very positive impact so far. Several other communities have contacted WWF with the wish to participate. Parallel with the forest project WWF has been running a project to protect the lemurs in the Midongy forests. The activities of this project are also beneficial for the forest conservation and the living conditions of the local communities. (WWF4, WWF 5 and Fara Lala RAZAFY)
Motives to this Study Rainforests are important pools for the biodiversity of this planet. Biodiversity is one of the important factors in ecosystem services that all people are reliant on for our wellbeing and survival. The importance of these ecosystem services and the preservation of biodiversity have been realized in modern times as we see the resources of our planet being over exploited and in some cases eradicated. The strategies to preserve these resources have differed just as the reasons for preserving them. Most commonly used has been the introduction of protected areas (PAs) that exclude the local populations from the area entirely. Excluding the traditional land users from the forest areas has not always been politically motivated and can lead to displacement and conflicts. Today Participatory Forest Management (PFM) has taken a leap forward in complementing PAs as ways to preserve forests. In these PFM forests the original inhabitants of the forest areas are given the rights to utilize and manage the forest in a sustainable way according to an agreement that is usually done with government or other landowners. The possibility to utilize the forest legally and benefit from its resources gives motives for the communities to take care of the forest and hand it over to their children in turn. The management of a forest that in some cases has been over utilized or targeting some species harder than others requires a well thought through management plan. This plan requires knowledge of the ecology of the species and on the number of individuals of them. Even in forests that have been well managed also before the PFM implementation, one needs to do inventories and decide outtake levels to prevent future effects on the targeted species. Along with the management monitoring is usually an important compartment as well. In the case of the study area,
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Tsaratanana, the forest has legally been handed over to the community. Before the PFM outtake from the forest was completely forbidden and with the PFM a plan on how to utilize the forest sustainably will be introduced. This requires knowledge about what species people have preference for, the utility fields of the forest products and the needs of the people. Before the PFM there was illegal logging and tavy burning in the area. Today tavy is said to have seized entirely because of the PFM agreement. However logging is still carried out in the forest and also traces of previous logging can be seen. The local population’s dependency on forest products is believed to be high and by studying their utilization of the forest something can be learnt about what needs they have. This study is exploring the effect of natural obstacles on outtake levels of wood. If there is a difference in effect on forest areas bordering obstacles and areas with more free access this study can give recommendations to consider when delineating and zoning forest areas for PFM.
The overall objective for this study is to contribute to the solutions for sustainable utilization of the forest in the future Participatory Forest Management by contributing to the background information needed for WWF’s set up of the Management and Conservation Plan for the forest corridor. Further the objective is to get a picture of the targeted species and their utility fields, likely to be reflecting the needs of the local population. The assumed edge effect, in terms of human disturbance, is also intended to be explored. This is to see the amount of potentially unaffected core forest area there is left that can harbor more specific and sensitive species.
The distinctive aims of the study were mainly: • To see if the outtake of trees from the forest is selective by studying what tree species and size classes are more frequently taken out of the forest for human utility. • To record what the different species are used for. • To determine if there is risk of a competitive overlap between utility species for people and food/habitat species for lemurs. • To see if edge characteristics affect the amount of removed wood from the forest and what edge characteristics in that case are more effective in hindering access to the forest. • To see how far into the forest people tend to go to remove wood and how large proportion of the forest is affected by this.
The theory of this study is that the more accessible a forest area is the more important it is for the local community to utilize for their livelihoods, and this can be considered when designing sustainable management plans for the conservation of the forest both for people and biodiversity.
Null hypothesis: There is no difference in outtake of wood products between the interior and exterior zones of the forest. Not in preferences for sizes, species or uses
20 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009 nor in the total outtake. Edge characteristics such as water, slope and vegetation degree does not affect the outtake.
Alternative hypothesis: The degree of outtake of wood products decreases with the distance from the villages or forest edge towards the forest core. It differs with the degree of accessibility by water, vegetation and slope. The tree species and size classes removed from the forest are more selective further into the forest than at the edges.
Methods
Location and site description The study was conducted in an area classified to be Moist Forest Ecoregion, by WWF, in the district of Midongy Atsimo in southeastern Madagascar (see figure 4). The habitat is classified as evergreen humid forest of low elevation but with some parts exceeding 800 m above sea level and thereby being categorized as evergreen humid forest of mid elevation (Du Puy and Moat, 2003). The elevation of the study site was between 607 and 830 meters above sea level.
The specific forest the study was conducted in was divided into two halves by a central valley. The two forest areas have irregular edges. The larger fragment is named Tsaratanana and is located to the west. The Figure 4. The forest of smaller fragment, Sambeza, is located in the east (see Tsaratanana, marked as a figure 5). From now on the whole study area will be polygone here, is located north referred to as Tsaratanana. Their cores consist of of the national park Midongy du Sud in the southeastern part of primary forests that have not previously been logged, but Madagascar. Picture from there is selective logging being carried Google Earth 2006. out at the edges. The topography is rugged with exposed peaks, forested hills, steep slopes, cultivated and forested valleys and wetlands. The main forest is approximately 6000 ha in area. Both forest fragments are considered important as corridors for species and gene flow between two major protected areas in the region. The region experiences 12 wet months per year (Wells, 2003). The region has Figure 5. The valley of Marovato encompassed by the forests of Zambeza and Tsaratanana. 21 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009 heavy rains and cyclones from December up until March sometimes with big damage to agricultural lands and forest accompanying this.
The centre of the study area is an elongated valley with Marovato as centre village. The valley is inhabited by some hundred people. They cultivate the land mainly with rice, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, coffee and beans. Especially the valley area is exposed to flooding during the rainy season and, hence, most villages lie on hill tops in the valley. Tavy has been the main agricultural method for decades, but in the beginning of the 80’s the forest in the area started declining rapidly in size. There are a number of small forest fragments, covering around a hectare each, scattered across the valley. These are taboo forests with restricted or no access, so-called Ala fady, and these could not be incorporated in the study.
The research plots were distributed in both forest patches surrounding the valley. The hillsides reaching up to the forested hilltops are covered by tavy fields, secondary vegetation, forest or Ala fady. Several of the fallowing fields in the study area had been taken over by Lantana camara thickets or by Solanum species growing large in size and quite impenetrable in density (see figure 6.). Occasionally Aframomum angustifolium and Rubus moluccanus are dominating species in the fallow fields. The specific Solanum species were not determined in the field, but field agents of WWF have confirmed that it is the introduced species Solanum Figure 6. Most of the remaining forest is located at the top of the auriculatum and Solanum mauritianum. hill sides. The hillsides are covered with L. camara or crops.
Field Surveys The field work was conducted from the beginning of October to the middle of November 2009. At about 20 locations descriptions of the forest edge and its structure was done. GPS positions were taken at the same descriptive points. This information set was at a later stage combined with Satellite imagery from Google Earth to determine the characteristics of the forest edges of the study area.
The inventory of the tree stumps was carried out using subdivided plots. The encompassing plot is 25×25m, inside this plot a 10×10m plot is located in the corner of the bigger plot, inside this one a 5×5m plot is located in the same corner.
In the 5×5 m plot the stumps with a diameter from 1 cm up to 5 cm were recorded. In the 10×10 m plot the stumps greater than 5 cm up to 10cm in diameter were recorded.
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In the 25×25 m plot the trees exceeding 10 cm in diameter were recorded. The tree stumps were only recorded if they obviously had been cut and specifically showed traces of tools.
71 plots were inventoried in total; 30 were located closer to the forest interior, 30 in the peripheral zone of the forest and 11 just inside the forest edge. The second category and the third category are however in some cases rather similar in their distance to the forest edge. GPS-data was noted for each of the inventoried plots, specifically; longitude/latitude, accuracy and altitude.
The variables measured and information recorded on the tree stumps were the following: Diameter at the location of the cut (often half a meter or more from the ground) and the vernacular name of the species (see figure 7). For all plots in the edge zone information on what the tree is used for was also recorded and whether it is a food species for lemurs or not, the same was also done using sample specimens in the village. The work with recording logged trees and Figure 7. The species, diameter and utility their use required some mutual trust between the fields of the tree stumps were measured. This researcher and the informant. There was some is Menahihy that had been cut for accessing honey. suspicion at the beginning from the villagers. This was said to be because they feared repercussions because of the logging. Just before the start of the study a number of farmers had been arrested because of the illegal logging they had been carrying out.
In 62 of the plots the basal area (BA) was measured in the plots using a relascope. This intends to give a relative comparative number of the tree density and not an absolute volume of the wood (since it is constructed for production forests).
A collection of samples from the majority of the cut species as well as a complementary number of utility species was gathered and taken to Antananarivo for determination. The determination has not to date been able to complete.
Data and map analysis The density of stumps per hectare was calculated for each plot and for each species. The average diameter of the stumps per plot was calculated.
Google Earth was used to mark the position of all the examined plots. The villages and single houses were also marked in the program. The distances from each plot to the nearest village and forest edge was then measured. Using a coordinate system the distance between all plots and all houses and villages was calculated. The accuracy of
23 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009 these distances mustn’t be considered to be exact due to the limits in accuracy of the GPS and Google Earth.
The Google image of the study area is from 14 June 2006, six months before the agreement not to create more tavy areas. A subjective classification of accessibility was set up reflecting the increased difficulty of access to each plot considering water, vegetation, topography and distance to forest edge and closest homestead respectively. The classifications for direct access were:
Topography: 1. Topographically easy uniform access, plain surface. 2. Some slope, relatively easy access. 3. Steep slope or varying terrain, demands effort for access, no foot paths. 4. Very steep slope or varying terrain where the ground is unstable and hardly supports access, no foot paths. Water: 1. No wet area to access through on the way or where plot is located. 2. Seasonally affected by water but not problematic to cross. 3. Demands crossing of water/wet areas for access, but the ground is stable. 4. Demands crossing of water/wet areas, ground unsupporting/unstable, changing water levels in season. Vegetation: 1. No vegetation barrier hindering access. 2. Demands penetration of some vegetation for access, e.g. through natural forest vegetation with lianas and wild jams. 3. Hardly accessible without crossing a lot of forest vegetation or some shrub areas. 4. Not accessible/penetrable without hard work necessary to cut open a path, through e.g. Solanum and/or Lantana camara spiny thickets.
Distance to nearest edge and to village respectively was adjusted to a continuous variable between 0 and 4 through the formula: 4* (distance for n/max distance).
After combining the grades from all the above access categories the total accessibility was found and then tested as the above categories. Excel and SAS System were used for the statistical analysis of the data. A multiple regression analysis (general linear data model) and a non parametric test; Spearman’s rank correlation were done to look for a possible effect between the different access classifications and the observed outtake in matter of stump density and BA. For the model the assumption was made that the difficulty of fetching wood increases linearly with the distance to access. The tendency to fetch wood should decrease with the distance that has to be covered to retrieve the resource. In other words the outtake should decrease linearly with the increasing
24 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
distance to villages or/and edge and with the increasing level of all other access categories.
To evaluate the size of the forest area affected by human disturbance as well as the area potentially unaffected by it a map analysis was done. The entire forest of Tsaratanana was delineated as detailed as possible, as a polygon in Google Earth. This polygon was then extracted and treated in Paint Shop Pro to get distinctive edges easy to read in the following computer analysis. An area of 150 and 300 meters respectively was measured, drawn up and extracted in the Paint Shop Pro document. These two distances were selected based on two reasons: the location of the majority of cut tree stumps in this study (the number of stumps beyond 150 m from the edge were few) and on two previous studies on edge effect, fragmentation and patch size effects on biodiversity and BA. The more recent of the two was Cristian Echeverría et al.’s study from 2007. It examines forest fragmentation, in Chile, and core area values at distances from 100-500m from the forest edge, looking at BA, biodiversity, traces of human disturbance as well as a number of other parameters. James E. M. Watson et al.’s study from 2004 investigates forest bird species in Madagascar. The littoral forest birds are discussed to be affected at a distance of 300 m from the edge. Thus, using 300 meters as one of the distances was used to give an indication of how much area is lost due to edge effects for some species. The different images of the forest, with different “edge effects”, were then analyzed using the program WINSEEDLE . The surface area of each alternative was calculated and the resulting area was then transformed to hectares.
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Results
Slope and vegetation affects basal area in type I tests The independent variables that are significant in relation to the dependent variable BA in the type I regression test are: slope and vegetation. High values of these indicate a higher basal area inside the forest edge. Water is close to significant (Sh.>F=0.059) but doesn’t show enough significance to determine BA in the forest. The distance categories show no significance. In the type III test slope is close to significant. Total accessibility shows significance in both tests. (See table 1.)
Vegetation and total accessibility affects the extraction in Type III regression test For the different stump density categories (≤5cm, 5-10 cm, >10cm, total density) vegetation is a significant predictor of outtake in the type I test. Village distance can also significantly determine the outtake, as the results from the type I regression test shows. However village distance looses influence when tested in relation to the other variables, in the type III test. Vegetation is the only significant independent variable in the type III tests. Water is close to significant in type III tests for ≤5cm density category and total stump density. Slope is close to significant for the ≤5cm density category. Total accessibility, from all access categories, is significant as predictor for all dependent variables, in both tests, and is able to determine the outtake level. (See table 1.)
Table 1. Results from regression analysis, type I and III. Accessibility categories vs. BA and outtake.
Dependant variable Test Slope Water Vegetation Village distance Edge distance F (model) Sh. >F (model) R² (model) Total accessibility R² Basal Type I Sh.>F 0.0170 0.0599 0.0249 0.6041 0.3951 3.21 0.0128 0.2229 0.0266 0.079 Area F 6.05 3.69 5.32 0.27 0.73 5.17 Type III Sh.>F 0.0677 0.1158 0.1465 0.8589 0.3951 0.0266 F 3.47 2.55 2.17 0.03 0.73 5.17 T‐test t‐value ‐1.86 1.6 1.47 ‐0.18 0.86 2.27 Stump Type I Sh.>F 0.0644 0.1561 <0.0001 0.0001 0.6776 11.74 <0.0001 0.4746 <0.0001 0.2415 density F 3.54 2.06 35.87 17.07 0.17 21.97 ≤5cm Type III Sh.>F 0.1505 0.0502 <0.0001 0.1710 0.6776 <0.0001 F 2.12 3.38 31.68 1.92 0.17 21.97 T‐test t‐value ‐1.46 2.0 ‐5.63 ‐1.38 ‐0.42 ‐4.69 Stump Type I Sh.>F 0.3033 0.9208 <0.0001 0.0008 0.2466 7.73 <0.0001 0.3727 <0.0001 0.2567 density F 1.08 0.01 23.75 12.43 1.37 23.83 5‐10 cm Type III Sh.>F 0.5664 0.8643 <0.0001 0.6572 0.2466 <0.0001 F 0.33 0.03 20.43 0.20 1.37 23.83 T‐test t‐value 4.75 0.17 ‐4.52 ‐0.45 ‐1.17 ‐4.88 Stump Type I Sh.>F 0.1102 0.8160 <0.0001 <0.0001 0.4375 9.03 <0.0001 0.4099 <0.0001 0.3101 density F 2.62 0.05 23.05 18.81 0.61 31.01 >10 cm Type III Sh.>F 0.1488 0.7836 <0.0001 0.2572 0.4375 <0.0001 F 2.13 0.08 19.44 1.31 0.61 31.01 T‐test t‐value ‐1.46 0.28 ‐4.41 ‐1.14 ‐0.78 ‐5.57 Total Type I Sh.>F 0.0638 0.2154 <0.0001 <0.0001 0.5549 12.80 <0.0001 0.4961 <0.0001 0.2681 density F 3.56 1.56 39.36 19.16 0.35 25.27 of stumps Type III Sh.>F 0.1597 0.0755 <0.0001 0.1881 0.5549 <0.0001 F 2.02 3.26 34.61 1.77 0.35 25.27 T‐test t‐value ‐1.42 1.81 ‐5.88 ‐1.33 ‐0.59 ‐5.03
26 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Vegetation, village and edge distance correlate to tree extraction Spearman’s rank correlation test shows significance for the negative relationship between vegetation, village distance, edge distance and total accessibility on the one side and average stump diameter, stump density of all size classes and total stump density on the other (see table 2).
Table 2. Spearman’s Rank Correlation on accessibility categories vs. basal area, stump diameter and density.
Variable Slope Slope Water Vegetation Village distance Edgedistance Total accessibility Basal Area Total density stump Basal Area r -0,239 0,323 0,177 0,430 0,442 0,346 p 0,0609 0,0104 0,1679 0,0005 0,0003 0,0059 - Avg. stump diameter r 0,06289 0,0844 -0,249 -0,388 -0,510 -0,389 -0,287 0,723 < p 0,603 0,484 0,0365 0,0008 < 0,0001 0,0008 0,0236 0,0001 Stump density ≤5cm r -0,0962 0,139 -0,468 -0,432 -0,552 -0,506 -0,0326 < < p 0,425 0,248 0,0001 0,0002 < 0,0001 0,0001 0,8013 Stump density 5-10 cm r -0,0988 0,00086 -0,485 -0,460 -0,595 -0,574 -0,201 < < < p 0,412 0,994 0,0001 0,0001 < 0,0001 0,0001 0,118 Stump density >10 cm r -0,1734 0,04256 -0,469 -0,432 -0,571 -0,546 -0,197 < < p 0,148 0,724 0,0001 0,0002 < 0,0001 0,0001 0,124 - Total stump density r 0,00789 0,0946 -0,460 -0,499 -0,618 -0,573 -0,131 < < < P 0,513 0,433 0,0001 0,0001 < 0,0001 0,0001 0,311
In other words; more inaccessible edge vegetation, or longer distances from edge or village, gives lower numbers of stumps. Also higher vegetation obstacles give a lower average diameter of removed tree stumps. In the correlation test no significant relationship can be shown to exist between BA and edge vegetation, however distance to village and edge respectively show significance in correlation to basal area. This means that the basal area, and thus tree density, increases at further distances to villages and/or edges. Water also has a significant positive relationship with basal area. This in turn means that the more difficult water obstacles there are to reach a forest area the higher the basal area tends to be. Slope is close to significant in negatively correlating with basal area. Basal area also correlates negatively with the average diameter of the extracted trees, showing that smaller trees are extracted in an area of high BA or the reverse; that larger trees have been extracted in an area of low BA. Village and edge distance show a strong correlation (not shown in the table, with an r
27 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
value of less than 0.0001 and a correlation coefficient of 0.787) and the more influential of these two on the dependant variables is distance to village as shown in the regression analysis. This means they are highly related to each other. Thus the distance categories will be considered together. The total accessibility, emitted from the compiled values of all edge categories, shows significant correlation to all variables. The total density of stumps is positively correlated to the average stump diameter, meaning that the more stumps a site has the higher the average diameter of these is.
Sizes and species of tree stumps The size class most targeted for outtake was trees leaving a stump smaller than 5 cm in diameter. In this group, 200 observations of 56 vernacular species were made. In the medium size category, between 5 and 10 cm, 139 observations of 49 vernacular species were made. In the category of trees exceeding 10 cm in diameter 119 stumps were observed of 52 vernacular species. However these numbers are not comparable since the different size categories were observed in sub compartments of the plot. To make these comparable one needs to extrapolate them to the same area to retrieve a measure of density. The smaller size category can easily be multiplied by 25, the medium class can be multiplied by 6,25, giving comparable numbers of 5000 small tree stumps, 869 medium and 119 large tree stumps. For detailed information on density per ha of each species see appendixes A-D. There were 31 plots without any observations of cut trees.
Table 3. The number of stumps observed, their numbers after extrapolation and the number of species observed being extracted in this study. The maximum possible number of scientific species utilized in the forest, assuming that the unidentified species only consist of one scientific species. Observations are subdivided by size classes.
Category <5 cm 5-10 cm >10 cm Total
Total number of stumps, observed and after 200/5000 139/869 119/119 458/5988 extrapolation Number of vernacular species total 56 49 52 88 Maximum number of possible scientific species 154
Different species most frequently extracted in different size classes The vernacular names of the trees with the highest density of stumps in the forest across all size categories were Hazondambo (109 stumps /ha, with an average diameter of 3.5 cm), Sanira (103 stumps /ha, with the average diameter of 4.1 cm) and Rotry (92 stumps /ha, average diameter being 3.5 cm) (see appendix. A). The same species as above were the most common in the smallest size class (≤5cm) (see appendix B). The species most common in the 5-10cm size category was Hazondambo (14 stumps/ha), Taimboalavo (14 stumps/ha, in small size class position 20, average
28 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
diameter of 4.5cm) and Ranovoasahy (12 stumps/ha, in small size class position 28, 3.4cm). Rotry and Sanira are found on places 8 and 9 in this category with 7 stumps /ha. (See appendix C) The most common species in the larges size category (>10 cm shown in appendix D) were Ambora, Boboka, Vimboa and Varongy. The species found most frequently to be removed at large sizes are less frequently or not at all removed at smaller sizes. Boboka is not found at all in the other size classes but is extracted at 1 stump/ha, and has an average diameter of 43.2 cm very high in comparison with all other species. Varongy is not found in the medium size category and found only at the bottom of the smallest size category. Ambora is found in position 7 in the medium size category and in 31st position in the smallest size category. Vimboa take the 29th position in the medium class and is at the bottom of the smallest size category. The average diameters of the cut tree species are generally low. But a few species have larger average diameters due to a limited degree of small stumps among their numbers e.g. Boboka, Afokalalao, Vonoa, Vanga and Fandramana and specifically Menahihy that only was observed once as a specimen with a 120 cm trunk diameter.
High degree of endemism among extracted tree species The study shows that among the extracted tree species there are many species that are endemic to Madagascar. The vernacular names of tree species in Madagascar are often local, but sometimes shared within larger regions. The case in Tsaratanana is that a large number of names are unique for the area. This made determination of all species complicated. Among all 88 observed extracted species 21 are still undetermined. The determination of the samples collected during the field work was not possible to complete and therefore a list from the tree diversity inventories of the area has been used to see what vernacular names represent what scientific species. It is common that several species share the same vernacular name. I can not assume that species sharing the same name are equally extracted since field guides from the area reported that some of them were not used. However looking at the list of scientific species it shows that 48 species are endemic taxa, 19 are of an endemic genus and 3 are members of an endemic family. Thus this would indicate an endemism of more than 58% among utility species in the forest assuming that the extraction of all these species is equally distributed. The degree of endemism is probably higher considering the 20 unidentified vernacular species names. In the total inventory of the forest trees there was 70 species that lacked a vernacular name but could be determined to scientific names. This could indicate that they are not utility species or extraordinary in their appearance.
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Construction and firewood for people or food for lemurs The main fields of use for the extracted species are firewood and construction wood. (See figure 8.) There are other fields of use that are not as commonly reported among the extracted species. These are for example: walking sticks; bowls and mortars for removing the husk from the rice; rope; beds and medicinal use. 69 species out of the observed ones are used for construction and 44 for firewood. 29 of the species are preferred as food species by lemurs according to the field guides. Many of the species overlap in their fields of use, depending on the size of the tree or the direct need. Some species have a wide variety of utilities while others are more specifc (see Appendix E showing a list of the top 15 most extracted species and their utility fields). Rotry is used for four different utility fields (excluding food species for lemurs) while e.g. Ranovoasahy only has one utility field, apart from being a food species for lemurs. Many of the tree species that are extracted are also food species for lemurs in the area (See appendix F). A few of the species such as Kalavelo, Ravinovihazo and Andrimena are used only by people. Among the 32 most frequently cut tree species one is recorded to be used only by lemurs. Seven are used only by people and one is recorded to be used by Figure. 8. Fields of use for the extracted tree species of Tsarananana forest. neither of the two. The remaining 23 are used by both people and lemurs. The number of species that can be utilized for construction and fire wood is diverse but only a few of the most extracted species are used for tea or ropes (appendix E). There is a difference between the size categories when it comes to their utility fields. They are all used for e.g. for construction but there is less large trees used for fire wood and none of them for walking sticks or ropes. The species extracted at large sizes are the ones used for carpentry, e.g. for beds.
Up to half of the forest area affected by extraction leaving fragmented core areas The human induced edge effect, here defined as wood extraction, was limited to the edge areas of the forest. In figure 9 the estimated density of stumps/ha is plotted against distance to forest edge. Most observations were made within 100 m from the
30 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
edge. However there are still a few observations made further in than 300 m from the edge. The outtake from the forest drops to zero after 350 m but there is too few sample points located further into the forest to be able to determine this with good accuracy. There is a large area of forest affected by extraction of trees (see fig 3-6). The map analysis estimated the forest of Tsaratanana, including the forest Figure 9. Density of stumps (stumps/ha) of all size categories plotted strip that stretches down to the against distance to edge (meters). Only three plots have observations at a distance of more than 100 meters from the forest edge. Midongy road, to be approximately 7,560 ha. An estimated edge effect of 150 m around the whole forest would result in around 2,400 ha of affected forest (31,7%). An edge effect of 300m would answer to an affected area of 3,800 ha (50,2%). The core area left unaffected inside 150 m of edge would be 5,140 ha. With an edge of 300m the core forest would be 3,810 ha (see fig 10-13). This would mean that more than half of the forest area is disturbed by human activities. With an assumed edge effect of 150 m the analysis shows an increase in forest core fragments. The larger forest compartment is in that case still relatively intact in its core area but there are several smaller core areas appearing out of which three are close to 1 sq km in area. In the case of a 300 m edge effect there is mainly two core areas remaining, one of which is smaller than 1 sq km.
Figure 10‐13. Figures of edge areas with human disturbance. The first figure from the left shows an edge zone of 150 meters. The second figure shows the remaining core area in the case of 150m extractive zone along the edges. The third figure shows an edge area of 300m. The fourth figure shows the remaining forest core inside an extractive zone of 300m.
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Discussion
Edge vegetation structure and distance from villages and forest edges limit the outtake of wood In this study it was found that forest areas far away from villages or from forest edges have a lower outtake of trees than forest spaces closer to human populations. Also the diameter of the removed trees is lower far away from edges and villages. The increase in basal area with increasing distance to villages and forest edges that also is found in this study strengthens this conclusion and is in turn supported by Ingram (2005) who shows that basal area decreases with increasing accessibility.. This is likely to be because it requires more effort to carry out wood from an area far into the rugged forest or across the hilly agricultural lands back to the villages. The effort to carry large trees is bigger than the one required for carrying smaller trees. Large tree stems are also naily to carry through dense forest. The study further shows that the average diameter of the cut trees is negatively correlated to the vegetation structure of the forest edge. The more inaccessible the forest edge is the smaller the tree stumps tend to be. This can also be explained by the increased difficulty of removing larger trees through dense or thorny vegetation. Edge and village distance are possible covariates where the actual determinant seems to be the distance to village which is plausible considering the fact that that is the actual distance people need to carry the wood from the forest to home. The distance from the village to a forest area seems to be able to determine the outtake level of the site. This factor is likely to be related to the distribution of villages in the valley and that people tend to access areas closer to home or the place where the wood is to be used, thereby saving energy and time when carrying the heavy wood.
The study also shows that the outtake amounts of all size classes are highly related to the vegetation structure at the forest edge leading to the plot. A higher degree of difficulty and more challenging structure limits the access to the forest and thereby the tree extraction significantly. Vegetation structure was the single most important variable limiting the outtake of wood in both the regression and correlation tests. The number of stumps decreased significantly inside edge areas of more impenetrable vegetation. The importance of vegetation as a limiting factor for outtake of forest products is supported by Harper et al. (2005). They state that the edge influence decreases when shrubs and secondary vegetation grows up to be a protective wall at the edge of the forest. In this study, this is confirmed by the result that outtake of trees decrease inside edge areas occupied by impenetrable Lantana camara and Solanum sp. thickets. These results indicate that secondary vegetation such as Lantana camara and Solanum sp. are “good” barriers for limiting the outtake of trees from the forest. A lower degree of human disturbance and presence can avoid negative effects on sensitive species e.g. tree extraction or hunting. However, these introduced species are not all together beneficial
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for the human community or the ecosystem where they become established and there is a risk of them dominating agricultural lands or outcompeting indigenous species.
Ingram has previously showed a decrease in basal area due to increased accessibility as well as increasing disturbance pressure (Ingram et al. 2005a, Ingram et al. 2005b). This is corresponding with the results from this study. It is also documented that the stem density among smaller tree categories can increase with increasing disturbance pressure (Ingram et al. 2005). This is not possible to confirm in this study since the inventories of trees and their sizes is not available at this point. The data is however collected and could result in future analyses. In this study the degree of water obstacles correlate significantly to the basal area of the forest but not with the outtake of trees. The degree of slope is also close to significant in correlating negatively with basal area. These results can be indications of ecological factors affecting the stands of trees rather than related to outtake and will thus be left here.
Potentially selective outtake for size can have ecological implications In this study it is found that the general stump diameter is rather low. The low average diameter for the selected tree species is related to the large number of small stumps. There can be several explanations to this. In cases where the regeneration is located close to the mother tree it is likely that many small individuals of the same species are cut to access the large individual, thus showing a lower average diameter. In many of the examined plots observations were made on young trees cut to access larger individuals. These small trees were not often present in the plots which show that they were removed to be used as well. The fact that people effectively use trees of all sizes is a reasonable explanation. There are many utility fields also for small trees and they do not require much effort to cut or remove from the forest. In some instances it can be found more meaningful to harvest many small individuals rather than one large. A third explanation to the high removal of young trees can be that the extraction is equal between all age classes and the high number of small tree stumps just is a reflection of the age class distribution of the forest.
This study further shows that many tree species that are extracted at large sizes are not extracted as young individuals to the same extent. This indicates a selective extraction of large individuals of these species. An example of this is Boboka that is exclusively cut down as old growth palm trees. In contrast, a few species, such as Tsatoky, are only extracted in the two smallest size categories and not at all in the largest category. This could indicate a selective outtake of small individuals, perhaps related to its field of use as flexible wood poles. In the case of Kalavelo, which is used for medicines and spiritual protection in folk belief large individuals are not required either for filling the purpose. Another explanation could be that these species are not large-growing species and that the individuals being removed are the largest existing. However, this cannot be verified without access to the actual size class distribution of these species in the forest.
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The study shows that the outtake of wood differs among size classes and tree species. Whether this is due to selective logging or only reflects the species and size composition of trees in the forest remains to be tested. An outtake that is putting an unproportionally high pressure on a certain age class or species may negatively affect the future forest in the sense that it can no longer support species depending on specific structures or host or food species for their lifecycles, e.g. some animal species or epiphytes who rely on old growth trees. Selection for large sizes could also limit the regeneration of tree species by decimating adult, seed-bearing individuals. It is important that there are no generation gaps in the tree society.
Diverse but selective outtake of tree species related to household needs but also to over exploitation In this study 88 tree species were observed to be extracted from Tsaratanana forest, these are as mentioned only represented by their vernacular names and they can correspond to +- 154 scientific species. The total number of tree species in the forest, recorded in a parallel inventory, was determined to be approximately 288 (Lovanomenjanahary, 2009). This means that the proportion of species used is 30–53% of all tree species. In previous studies in Southeast Madagascar it has been reported that 84 % of the basal area was constituted by utilitarian species, representing 58 % of the number of species (Ingram et al. 2005). The high degree of unidentified species in this study is not unique, but rather corresponds with previous reports from Malagasy rain forests in which there are various examples of observations that cannot even be identified to family level (Cadotte et al. 2002). This has important implications for the forest dependant communities. The more species they can utilize the more resilient and adaptable their communities are in the case of shocks to the species they utilize. The high degree of endemism that was observed among the extracted species in Tsaratanana needs to be weighed in carefully when considering utilization of them. The selection for specific species to fill different purposes can be related to traditions or the qualities of the wood. If the management plan will imply changes to the communitie’s extraction of trees it is important to take into consideration the qualities of the wood. If alternatives are offered from e.g. woodlots, the qualities of this wood needs to meet the requirements of the people.
The utility fields of the selected tree species in Tsaratanana correspond with and confirm previous studies done on forest resource extraction in Madagascar. The fields of use are almost exclusively for household needs. The utility field for each species is often diverse as well, just as the number of species used for each utility is diverse. This indicates good resilience of the community. The use of forest tree species by local communities has previously been examined by Ingram et al. (2005). Their study from the littoral forest in the far south east of Madagascar presented a list of species as well as recorded the use of some of these. In cases where the species coincide the utility
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fields recorded in Tsaratanana forest and in the other study are the same (e.g., Fotsikahatry (Canthium sp) and Volonakohofotsy (Homalium involucratum) used for firewood and construction). Not all species used in Tsaratanana were recorded as utility species in the other study (e.g. Andrimena (Trilepisium madagascariense) and not all species had the same utility field in Tsaratanana (e.g. Rotry (Syzygium emirnense) recorded to be used for medicinal purposes by Ingram et al. (2005) but not in this study). Although not conspecific, many species from the two studies are at least congeneric, e.g., Suregada sp., Dombeya sp., and Erythroxylum sp. and they are often used in the same way in both studies.
Tendrikazo (Mimusops salicifolia) and Reheiky (Chrysophylum boivinianium) are two species observed in this study that are within the family Sapotaceae. Tendrikazo was found to be used mainly for construction and firewood. Reheiky is used for construction material and for the bowl and mortar used to remove the husk from the rice. Their wood is confirmed by other studies to be considered as heavy duty, high quality timber for construction in many parts of the tropics. Their fruits are also often favored by mammals, especially lemurs, and birds that all are important vectors for the dispersal of the seeds. They are often considered among the top ten most important families from inventories of Malagasy forests. (Gautier, 2003) Their presence during this study is thus important both ecologically and socially. Since rice is the main food source in the region and in Madagascar as a whole, the possibility to continue to utilize wood for this purpose under the new management plan will be essential to the community unless alternatives are provided.
Two species that are observed to be extracted in Tsaratanana are Dalbergia baroni and Dalbergia orientalis, with the vernacular name Vimboa. Both of these species are classified as vulnerable in the IUCN red list. They are selectively logged and overexploitation of large individuals of the first of the above species has lead to rarity in its numbers (Labat and Moat, 2003). These species are part of the family Fabaceae or Leguminosae and as many trees in the family they have attractive qualities like hard and durable wood. Their use for construction as well as their preferred choice for fire wood, tools and furniture is confirmed also by other studies. (Labat and Moat, 2003)
Hoffmann and McPherson (2003) claim that trees of the species Euphorbiaceae “are not threatened by exploitation for commercial products such as wood, mainly because most of the tree species are too small to be logged”. However in this study the frequently felled trees Sarivoangy (Petalodiscus espèce, Cleistanthus boivinianus), Kalavelo (Suregada boiviniana) and Lampivahatra (Meineckia humbertii, Meineckia humbertiana) are all members of the Euphorbiaceae family. The first and the third are used for firewood and construction material in Marovato, and Kalavelo is used as a medicinal species and in folk belief for protection of babies against bad spirits. If this is the case in Tsaratanana it is likely to be the case also in other parts of the Midongy
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region. At least if the practice is related to the traditional use of the Antaisaka. Perhaps it can be the case for larger parts of Madagascar if this study reflects a more general use pattern. Just because a tree isn’t large in its size doesn’t mean it can not be utilized for different purposes than the commercial market. Even for the commercial market thinner wooden poles can be important, as is the case in Ethiopia where thin trees of Eucalyptus supports a large market for firewood and scaffolding (FAO, 2009). This can mean that species like Sarivoangy and Kalavelo do indeed risk over exploitation despite the statement by Hoffmann and McPherson. Also if the case is that the general lack of forest is now increasing the extraction as Nicoll (2003) claims it is reasonable to believe that more tree species, even though less commercially attractive, will become extracted and utilized when the more attractive species are missing or becoming too rare.
Also the utility fields of Coffea sp. that is frequently extracted from Tsaratanana is confirmed by previous studies in Madagascar. Coffea spp. are members of the Rubiaceae family. Their use is noted by Davis (2003) who mentions that many of the wild species of Coffea have strong and durable wood that is attractive as construction material for houses, beds and coffins.
Finally it is important to mention that there is a high outtake of some species in Tsaratanana, but it should not be forgotten that occasionally several species are lumped under a single vernacular name. Assuming that the species sharing the same vernacular name are all extracted the density of stumps for each taxon would decrease. On the other hand, many of the species sharing the same name are not utility species, according to the community informant, and some may not be extracted at all. Hence, the numbers given in the table are not exact. The utility fields of the cut tree species are recorded but there are more species known to be utilized that have not yet been observed and recorded as cut and, thus, the study should be extended further.
Fuel and construction wood as the largest utility fields brings implications for management This study shows that the wood extracted from the forest is primarily used as construction material and firewood. It shows the needs of the people of Tsaratanana and it reflects social challenges that need to be addressed in the future management plan of the forest. Firewood is normally taken from newly opened tavys or forest dead wood. Newly created tavys are generally open to anyone to gather firewood from and their use is not restricted to the one who first burnt them. The results, showing extraction of firewood also in the form of live trees from the forest, indicate that the need of fuel is likely to be larger than can be covered from the tavys. There are ways to lessen the pressure on the forest even if the need remains as high. Fuel efficient stoves can lessen the amount of fire wood consumed or alternative fuel sources can be introduced. If the latter would be the case it needs to be something that is economically and easily accessible. One fuel source that has been provided elsewhere is drying of
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cow dung. However this requires dry conditions and perhaps more cows than the poor population in Tsaratanana possess.
Despite the fact that houses built by forest wood have a relatively long durability (up to 40 years according people from the community) there is an obvious need also for more construction material from the forest. This can be related to the rapid population growth in the region, bringing with it a high proportion of young people that require homing of their own at a relatively low age. This in combination with the lack of alternative building materials in the area leads to high extraction of these materials from the forest. The effect of the extraction has not been determined in this study neither the long term sustainability of it.
The high need for building material and fuel will no doubt have implications for the new participatory management of the forest. To be able to reach the goal of preserving the forest intact, in area and diversity, the management plan needs to include guidelines for the extraction of timber and firewood. If the extraction of trees from the forest will be allowed in the management plan it needs to be determined whether the current levels are sustainable or if they need to be adjusted. The guidelines should focus on extraction methods, “no-go” sensitive areas, selection of species and age classes, time intervals and volumes. When it comes to fuel wood what usually implies in PFM plans are that only dead wood can be collected for this purpose. Extensive extraction of dead wood can also have ecological implications as they provide habitat for many species and eventually provide nutrients to the poor rainforest soil or substrate for young seedlings to settle on. So even in the case of dead wood collection there should be regulations in the management plan.
Medicinal purposes fill an important role in tree extraction in Tsaratanana This study shows that a large proportion of the extracted wood in Tsaratanana also fill medicinal purposes. The likely reasons for this harvesting are first of all the limited access to health care that can treat ailments and diseases such as pest and malaria in the valley. At present the closest clinic is located in Midongy Atsimo at least 5 hours walk from Marovato. The proportion of traditional healers to western trained doctors can be 150:1 in some African countries as pointed out in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005). Secondly, people have a limited income from their subsistence agriculture that has to cover all expenses of the family, school fees and basic necessities like soap, salt and oil and therefore can not afford paying for hospital expenses. Thus a visit to the forest or the traditional healer will be more attractive. Finally the trust and belief in the traditional medicines and knowledge is still strong as is the belief in witchcraft. There is also mistrust towards “modern” health care in some instances. By word of mouth from the WWF team this is an example to illustrate: In this area women do not access the forest unless for very special reasons. On one occasion there was a group of doctors visiting the different villages in the area with the purpose to
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give vaccines to the children. There was a fear among the people towards this and as a result women and children took their refuge to the forest to hide from the visitors and avoid the vaccine. Because of the lack of alternatives and the preserved knowledge of the community the need for traditional medicines from the forest must continually be available under the new management plan of the forest. Regulations on extraction methods might be necessary to put in place if the current methods are damaging to the trees as can be the case when whole trees are cut to access leaves, bark or fruits.
Socially unsustainable and destructive honey extraction needs to be amended In this study there were observations of honey extraction that created concern. There where a few observations in Tsaratanana where trees have been cut down to access this forest resource. Large trees had been cut to the ground the honey had been collected. The biggest tree cut exceeded 120 cm in diameter at two meters height where the cut was made approximately 2 ½ meters from the ground. It was cut down to access honey far up in a hole in the stem. The stem was still lying on the ground after what was reported to be a couple of years. The wood was strong and durable, untouched by fungi and other detrivors. The field guide said that it would take two men eight hours to cut it down. For this effort a quantity of about five liters of honey is collected, giving an income of about 800 Ariary (approximately 0.37 USD, February 2010) per liter in Midongy Atsimo. To my knowledge, in many cultures around the world, wild bee honey is usually harvested sustainably and with great care by climbing trees and taking out only a portion of the honey. Why this is not done in Tsaratanana is not known to me. Whether it is people from Marovato or visitors from outside the area who have this habit is unclear. It would be valuable to investigate honey extraction further to see if the harvesting method described above has a negative impact on pollinators and ecosystem services in the area. It would also be interesting to know for what reasons extraction of honey is done destructively by cutting trees, whether it has become more common in recent years, and whether it can be done with a smaller impact, in a sustainable way, in the future within the new management plan. In other parts of Africa traditional beehives are kept in forest trees for apiculture. This can be a more sustainable and more energy efficient alternative that also would contribute more to than affect the ecosystem services of the forest.
Unsustainable fruit extraction and selection for trees competing with lemurs In this study it was also seen how large fruiting trees were cut down to access the fruit. Fruit extraction by the means of cutting down entire fruiting trees can’t be considered to be sustainable. Fruits are nutritious and add value to poor food resources. In season they can give a good addition to the local community. Fruits are especially important for the children and as a complement to the main food sources at times when food is scarcer (MEA, 2005). Thus the importance of fruits to people must be considered and valued. However so, the ecological implications of cutting down trees to access the
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fruits can be many depending on to what extent it is done. There might be an increase in seedlings at the site of the cutting but the time before these will bear fruit will be long. If all fruiting trees are cut in the forest it could have huge impacts. There is a risk of gaps being created both in time and space for the continuity of these species, and as importantly species that are reliant on them, to be secured. There might also be a risk of outcompeting the endemic primate species in Tsaratanana. The majority of the lemur species found in Tsaratanana are partly frugivourous and red listed (see box1). Low- level alterations in the forest habitat from selective timber extraction or of non-timber forest products is said to influence the viability of lemur populations in other parts of Madagascar (Merenlender et al. 1998). An eventual loss of lemurs in the area can in turn lead to a decrease in pollination and regeneration of tree species. (Merenlender et al.1998). In the case of fruit extraction from the forest it has to be looked into more specifically whether the main food sources of the lemurs risk being diminished by harvesting and what levels of harvest can be allowed. If the extraction level of fruits in the new management plan isn’t carefully thought through it could result in an impact on the efforts made to manage the forests in a sustainable way.
There is a great overlap between the families that lemurs in Tsaratanana rely on for food and the families extracted from the forest by humans. Hence, there is a potential for competition between lemurs and humans, but this needs to be further investigated. In general it is important to consider possible effect on lemur communities when calculating the outtake levels of all tree species for the management plan of Tsaratanana. Cutting down trees for fruit extraction should be prohibited and zoning can be an alternative considered for fruit collection. Equipment for accessing these fruits without cutting down the trees could be an important tool for continued Figure 14. Eulemur collaris, one of the lemur harvesting of fruits in a non damaging way. species that occurs in Tsaratanana.
39 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Box.1
The lemur species found in Tsaratanana forest during inventories 2008 (Kajsa Öberg, 2009), the tree species they favor for food and their IUCN red list classification.
Observe that there are also other families of lianas, epiphytes and herbs that are part of the lemurs’ diets but they are not mentioned here. The species marked with * are trees observed as cut in Tsaratanana during this study.
Avahi laniger (folivore) food‐tree species from the following families: Annonaceae, Clusiaceae*, Erythroxylaceae, Euphorbiaceae*, Lauraceae*, Malvaceae*, Melastomataceae*, Moraceae*, Myrcinaceae*, Myrtaceae*, Ochnaceae, Pittosporaceae*, Rhizophoraceae, Rubiaceae*, Rutaceae, Sapindaceae, Sapotaceae*. (Birkinshaw and Colquhoun, 2003) Red list classification: Least concern. (IUCN)
Cheriogaleus major (frugivore‐folivore) food‐tree species from the following families: Aphloiaceae*, Apocynaceae, Araliaceae*, Clusiaceae*, Cunoniaceae*, Ebenaceae*, Ericaceae, Euphorbiaceae*, Fabaceae*, Flacourtiaceae, Lauraciae*, Loganiaceae*, Moraceae*, Myrcinaceae*, Myrtaceae*, Rubiaceae*, Sapindaceae. (Birkinshaw and Colquhoun, 2003) Red list classification: Least concern. (IUCN)
Daubentonia madagascariensis (frugivore‐graminivore) food‐tree species from the following families: Aracaceae*, Burseraceae, Combretaceae, Fabaceae*, Moraceae*, Streliziaceae*. (Birkinshaw and Colquhoun, 2003) Daubentonia madagascarensis was not observed during the inventories but is likely to occur in the area. Red list classification: Near threatened. (IUCN)
Eulemur collaris (frugivore‐folivore) food tree species from the following families: Celtidaceae, Clusiaceae*, Melastomataceae*. (Birkinshaw and Colquhoun, 2003) Red list classification: Vulnerable. (IUCN)
Hapalemur griseus (folivore‐frugivore) food‐tree species from the following families: Apocynaceae, Arecaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae*, Malvaceae*, Melastomataceae*, Moraceae*, Rubiaceae*. (Birkinshaw and Colquhoun, 2003) Red list classification: Vulnerable. (IUCN)
Microcebus rufus (frugivore‐omnivore) food‐tree species from the following families: Aphloiaceae*, Aquifoliaceae, Buddlejaceae, Clusiaceae*, Euphorbiaceae*, Fabaceae*, Gentianaceae, Loganiaceae*, Melastomataceae*, Moraceae*, Myrsinaceae*, Rubiaceae*. (Birkinshaw and Colquhoun, 2003) Red list classification: Least concern. (IUCN)
Risk of increasing pressure on Tsaratanana due to creation of Midongy du Sud National Park Reports to the study team, from the community of Tsaratanana, say that outsiders have been extracting timber and honey from the forest. This can be an indication of a possible challenge to the new management of the forest and its sustainability. The housing material in the Midongy area is almost exclusively made out of wood or other forest products. This was e.g. observed in the town Midongy Atsimo, where the house walls were often made from Boboka (see figure 15). Considering the closeness of the forest and the poor road conditions of the only road leading to the town, this construction material was likely to have been fetched from the forest nearby. This large forest fragment, that surrounds Midongy Atsimo on three sides, has now become a protected area. With the formation of Midongy du Sud National Park access to forest
40 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
resources for people in adjacent areas was probably severely limited or even cut off. The concern and possible threat is that people from Midongy Atsimo, who previous to the National Park establishment could get their construction material from that forest, now have to get their material from other forests. This could directly or indirectly constitute an increasing pressure on Tsaratanana forest, which is the closest non protected forest in the area. This in turn can put an increasing pressure on the community of Tsaratanana and thus jeopardize the sustainability of their management plan. It could lead to a weakening of the management of the COBAs or to social conflicts. The Dinas strength
depends on a mutual agreement among Figure 15. Boboka stump with a diameter of about 43 cm. community members on how to manage the forest for the benefit of this and future generations. This strength could be weakened in case outsiders take access to the area in increasing numbers. This risk is imminent considering the current road constructions taking place improving accessibility to the Midongy Atsimo district. This could increase the number of people coming from outside the region as well (e.g. mineral hunters have already been visiting the area to find potential prospect sites). The community might, if this scenario would be the case, need support from outside to strengthen their social institutions in developing coping mechanisms for this external pressure. In a worst case scenario, establishment of the National Park can lead to indifferences among people living close to the park and those of the outback, like Tsaratanana. Near the park people has the benefit of being able to earn a living on tourism but might also need to fill their household needs by accessing forests resources in more distant areas. The people in e.g. Tsaratanana, far from the park, have legal rights to utilize and manage their forest, but might suddenly face competition from neighboring communities. If the population density is still high in the area and the resources from the forest are not sufficient to offer a good livelihood it could lead to an increased wish to migrate to Midongy, to try ones luck in business with the potential tourists. The best case scenario is if the whole region could benefit from the establishment of the park, taking the opportunity to open new markets with products made from sustainably extracted forest products from Tsaratanana such as honey and medicinal plants. Ecotourism and homestead stays can also be a possible addition to incomes for the PFM communities.
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Incentives for managing the forest sustainably In this study we have seen that the reliance on forest products in the poor community of Tsaratanana is high. This will be a challenge for the new management system of the forest. The sustainabile management that is required for the continuation of the forest will be put in the hands of the community who have previously harvested its resources for survival with the effect that the forest was lost.Their access to the forest will now be lawful but restricted. How does one ensure that they manage to carry the responsibility that is put in their hands? The new management of the forest will require a lot from the community and the success is dependent on their engagement.
Traditional people often have high incentives for protecting their forests since they are dependent on the resources from it (Ingram et al. 2005). An argument that is often used is that forests generate ecosystem services which should provide incentive to protect it (MEA, 2005) The forest of Tsaratanana probably plays an important role in producing ecosystem services not only to the valley of Midongy, but also to large areas outside of the forests direct vicinity creating more stakeholders to keep in mind. Forests are in some studies believed to provide a more even flow of water over the year (MEA, 2005). Without the forest, seasonal flooding in the area is likely to be a lot more severe than it is today (Kramer et al. 1995). This in turn could affect the agriculture in the area and the livelihoods of several communities. Already today the valley of Midongy is severely flooded annually due to cyclone rains. Forests are also labelled with the property of protecting against soil erosion and landslides (MEA, 2005). These two functions together service the communities’ essential rice production by not clogging them with silt or washing away the banks separating the fields. Despite the importance of these arguments for preserving the forest they will not be enough for the community. Erdmann (2003) points out that people have known of these indirect economic forest benefits, for a long time in Madagascar and it has not yet restrained the expansion of tavy. It may be so but it is still a concern of the people of Marovato. In the study area members of the community pointed out that the importance of the forests for clean water, for themselves and future generations, was an important reason why they wanted to be part of the transition to sustainable management of the forest. There is an outspoken concern in Marovato valley about the forest loss and the possibilities of future generations to survive. The villagers themselves want to be part of the PFM project and to solve the hardships they are facing in everyday life. Their willingness to participate is an important factor for the success of the project. Richard R. Marcus (2001) reports of a similar concern coming from communities living around other national parks of Madagascar. In his case people have completely lost or been restricted in their access to the forest areas. They do want to preserve their resources and are well aware of the value of them and the fact that they are being depleted. However they believe they can’t afford conservation and that simply conserving the forest doesn’t offer a viable alternative to their present land use. Conservation issues are in their case implemented and
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sustained by external agents. Economic needs and the ability to survive are of higher priority to these people than direct conservation. (Marcus; 2001) this could well be the case in Marovato as well. If so further incentives need to be given. In Tsaratanana the WWF project offers alternative income sources and higher yields of rice due to new cultivation methods. This is likely to offer an extra economic incentive for the people to participate and will probably contribute to a success.
Eucalyptus plantations have been requested by the community, as part of the PFM in Tsaratanana. But it has not yet become clear whether there will be any put in place. Plantations or woodlots with exotic tree species like Eucalyptus sp.; Pinus sp.; Grevillea robusta and cypress sp. are sometimes introduced in PFM sites as an alternative wood source. There is a deficit in studies and results on indigenous tree species for plantation. If the quality of the fast growing Eucalyptus wood is durable and strong enough to fill the needs for construction, and whether planting Eucalyptus is an environmentally sound idea in an area with endangered endemic species remains to be decided by the stakeholders involved in the PFM in Tsaratanana. The topic is highly controversial and will not be focused on further here.
If the wood extraction allowed in the management plan is not sufficient to cover the immediate needs of the people there is a risk that the Dina will be violated. Thus, for the social and the ecological sustainability of the community, the needs and requirements of the people must to be considered and filled.
By taking care of the management and reaping the benefits from the forest the needs might be filled to some extent. But is it going to be enough to provide the livelihoods of the community? The additional resources in terms of improved rice cultivation methods and new crops will give relief in terms of food resources but the question is whether incomes of the community will increase enough to. A possible solution to examine to add economic value to the forests can be by promoting sustainable harvesting of forest products, both non-timber and timber products. The products are to be sold outside the region to generate incomes for the local communities.(Erdmann, 2003) In combination with land-use planning that includes zoning of the forest and agreements on how the zones should be used, some forest areas can still be left intact without being effected by the selective outtake of wood. What would be important to know, to implement this, would be whether the outtake levels of trees today are sustainable or not and if the amount extracted at sustainably managed levels is enough to fill both household needs, like construction, and quality wood for market apart from this. The second question is hard to answer but the first one we can get an indication of at least. There is a study from Madagascar that gives an indication of what products and outtake levels can be sustainable and add a fair income and thus expelling tavy. In the mentioned study Erdmann (2003) points out some possible obstacles for the trade in timber and non-timber forest products. The distribution of non-timber forest products
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can be scarce, e.g. palm leaves, bamboo, crayfish or medicinal plants, are often scattered over vast areas. To be able to harvest quantities large enough to be viable economically while selectively harvesting sustainable proportions, large areas comprising of several villages need to be exploited. He reports of there not being a safe market available for these products and of these not bringing revenues big enough to support a whole village and replace tavy as the favored provision for everyone.
The most lucrative forest product is reported to be timber. It is calculated that timber would generate 1400-5540 US dollars per year (in 2001) assuming a forest of 300 ha, 5 ha per year is selectively logged and the rotation time is 60 years. Erdmann (2003) estimates a removal of 14-24 stems larger than 35 cm /ha/60 years would leave the majority of the forest standing (Erdmann, 2003). In the forest of Tsaratanana this would mean a possible income of more than 28.000 dollars annually to be divided by all communities in the area, of course a very welcome addition to the income of the community. In Tsaratanana the outtake of trees exceeding 35cm in diameter was 4,73 stems/ha. The time of the study was short but assuming that the tree stems that were cut were no more that 3 years old due to decomposition, this would mean an outtake of 94 stems per hectare during a cycle of 60 years. At these levels the outtake is not sustainable. Thus a reduction of the outtake would need to be in place for this to be considered as sustainable.
If commercial extraction would be a solution to be considered in the case of Tsaratanana there are also some other issues that need to be addressed. If selective logging is to be an alternative in the new sustainable management plan, the ecology, distribution pattern, regeneration and specific growth rates of the logged tree species and their ecological importance in the system for other species, e.g. lemurs, need to be further investigated. The specific species that could be both economically motivated to harvest for markets should also be evaluated. Whether natural regeneration is sufficient or supported regeneration would be necessary should be looked into. Also, there has to be an available and fair market for selling the timber within reasonable access. The new road could in this case bring more opportunity to reach markets outside of the region, perhaps certification of the wood and non wood products can in this case be an alternative. Certification of forest coffee has created international markets and higher incomes for people in Ethiopian highlands (FAO, 2010). This is an opportunity that could be explored also in the case of Tsaratanana. Also spices and honey make out an important addition to the family income in Ethiopian PFM sites, something to consider in Tsaratanana (FAO, 2010).
The “selective” outtake carried out in the Tsaratanana forest today could in other words continue, but under lower outtake levels, and could with benefit be directed to generate an economic income for the communities. For this to work alternative sources for fire
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wood and construction material need to be found. A larger proportion of non-timber forest products should also be considered to be marketed.
Another important factor to take into consideration in the management of the forest and when encouraging commercial forest products as an income is the social differences that appear within the community and how one can enable equal sharing of benefits between villagers. This is necessary not to magnify the inequalities within the community and weaken the community in their capacity to manage the forest. First of all poorer households that do not have the same access to rice paddies or crop fields are usually the ones who live on the frontier outside the agricultural perimeter and are more reliant on extracting resources from the forest to survive. If the management plan restricts access to the forest, these people will be hit harder than families who are already more self-sufficient. This outcome has been anticipated in Ranomafana National Park in a previous study (Ferraro, 2002). Whether this is the case in the community of Marovato has not been examined in this study, but a study of how the revenues and resources are shared within the community could be useful in the future.
Introduced invasive species a good or bad in Tsaratanana? Invasive species are generally considered to be problematic for biodiversity (MEA, 2005). This is to a certain extent also true in Marovato where they occupy formerly forested, currently agricultural land. However, it may also have some positive sides to it. Assuming the land was kept open by repeated tavy and used as agricultural land the soil would soon deteriorate completely and be useless for people for many years to come. So the fact that the invasive species are able to colonize former fields on the slopes actually means that the soil is kept from degrading in areas that are already lost to deforestation. It also means that erosion is kept at a minimum and that the water quality improves. Besides, the impenetrable shrubbery may serve as nursery for seedlings and be instrumental in reforestation. As an addition to the ecological properties of Lantana camara the plant can also be used for its medicinal properties. While leaving the Lantana camara communities can benefit from its presence by using it for medicines. This is done by the Betsimisaraka and Tanala clans in another eastern region of Madagascar (Novy, 1997). They use the tea from L. camara as a treatment of scabies (to drink or wash with), or for the treatment of colds or in combination with a steam bath to treat fevers and shakes (Novy, 1997). The juice is also used as a cicatrizant for healing of wounds (Novy, 1997). The other problematic exotic species in Tsaratanana, Solanum auriculatum, also has some medical properties as it can be used externally to treat cracked skin (Novy, 1997). As described in the introduction L. camara is not possible to eradicate in Madagascar. But if no new areas are cleared for tavys they will hopefully not pose a continued threat to the native vegetation. The plant’s allelopathic properties are however something that needs to be considered and further investigated if one will leave the L. camara fallows for forest regeneration. Caution
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needs to be exercised as endemic and endangered species are found in the forest not to commit any mistakes. Continuous monitoring of the progress of L. camara as well as the development of soils and seedlings of trees can be a carried out to find out more about the effect of leaving the thickets.
A large part of the forest affected by selective tree extraction having implications for the ecosystem This study shows clearly that human disturbance in the form of tree cuttings is an anthropogenic edge effect in Tsaratanana. The occurrence of tree stumps and pole cuttings along the forest margin implies that the structure and composition of the forest is changed. The images of the estimated edge zones (Fig. 3-6) give an idea of how big areas could be affected by the surrounding matrix. Most cuttings are located within 150 m from the edge, but the effects of these cuttings are likely to penetrate deeper into the forest. For example, the forest is struck annually by several cyclones. In 1997 a massive cyclone struck the forest with devastating effects. An eye witness from the community reports that massive quantities of trees fell and that animal life was severely affected (one species of lemur is believed to have become locally extinct). The exposure in a selectively logged forest is likely to be higher that in an intact forest. Therefore, the estimation of a 300 m edge effect could well be relevant in this case at least seasonally.
Another anthropogenic edge effect that was observed in Tsaratanana is fire. Fire constitutes a major threat to Madagascar’s biodiversity. Huge areas are being lost to fires every year when these spread from pastures and tavy areas into natural habitats.(WWF 6) Selective logging in the forest changes biophysical qualities such as the properties of aquatic systems it also creates wind and water stress which in turn can lead to a higher susceptibility to fire (Broadbent 2008). It also contributes to the fuel load, following higher tree mortality, and in combination with increased desiccation the damage is magnified further. (Cochran and, Laurance, 2002; Laurance et al., 2006) Uncontrolled fires not only have a significant edge effect but can often penetrate far into the forest interior. Therefore, control of burning tavy, especially on hillsides, and the use of firebreaks should be of high importance in the management plan.
The lower basal area at the edge which is seen in this study corresponds to the lower wood biomass that Laurence et al. (2005) has previously found in edge zones. If one would measure the age structure of trees at the edges it could be possible to strenjgthen the result further. The edge effect illustrations from this study show that small, isolated core areas are created in the edge matrix. To what degree this affects the forest species adapted to intact core areas has to be examined. It is likely is that the impact varies depending on the species. Tree species with animal vectors for seed dispersal and pollination may not be badly affected assuming that their dispersal vectors can still move through the edge zone. However, fragmentation is likely to affect the distribution of lemurs that are not prone to cross open or disturbed areas. This could
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eventually lead to a different tree species composition in the smaller forest fragments where lemurs or birds cannot distribute seeds anymore. At the same time species composition is likely to be very different due to selective logging and edge effects. There is a risk that species could become locally extinct in the smaller forest areas and in the larger fragment as well, if their habitat becomes too degraded. (Watson et.al.2004) One species that is easily affected by the disturbance in the edge zone is the fat tailed dwarf lemur, Chierogaleus major. It is known to become less frequent in the edge zone, due to lower tree diameters giving a lower fruit and liana abundance in this zone. (Lehman, 2006)
To limit the effect on sensitive species zoning is a wise practice to make in Tsaratanana’s new management plan, as has already been decided. One strategy can be to leave the more thin strips of forest between the larger islands untouched to enable movement of animals between the compartments. The plots that are considered for a selective outtake should not be located in areas preferred as habitat by sensitive species or that offer food or other resources that are of importance to their life cycle. In the planning of the zones one can with benefit take advantage of the edge factors that limit outtake, as seen in this study, to prevent access to areas that need to recover or that need to remain untouched. Zoning of the forest at the edges where some areas are to be sustainably utilized and others untouched is likely to ease the regeneration of the edge zones, and L. camara thickets can potentially ease this. In addition movement by primates and other animals need not be disturbed in these areas and seeds can be spread more easily further easing the forest recovery. It is also important to not locate utility plots in areas with difficult access since this might push people to utilizing no-go areas instead of the designated ones.
It is desired that this study is followed up by a more complete evaluation of the quality of the forest of Tsaratanana. This can be done following the remote sensing method used by Ingram et al. (2005). The method is effective in determining forest cover and structures, in this case basal area, that determine conditions and quality of forest areas that can not be inventoried due to lack of resources or time. It is combined with artificial neural networks to get coverage maps of forest quality and this in combination with other information of anthropogenically altered areas and settlements, effectively shows the degree of human accessibility. This method could show to what extent the forest is affected throughout the edge areas and in the core area. The information could be combined with more detailed analyses of the topography and the hydrology of the area as well as other factors such as successional vegetation to more accurately determine what zones of the forest are affected by selective logging and how much intact core area is actually left and what the factors limiting the selective outtake are. The remote sensing could also be used to monitor the future management of the forest area and
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see if it has the desired outcome on the forest structure and expanse or if the management needs further development efforts.
Conclusions
This study has shown that the outtake from the forest of Tsaratanana is not evenly distributed among species and size classes. The extraction gives indications of being selective both in terms of species and sizes. It is at the same time diverse in terms of species that are selected. Small trees are more frequently removed in their over all numbers but the selection for species is more clear in the large individuals. The study further shows that there is an overlap between utility species of lemurs and humans, but whether this competition has a negative impact to any of the parties is not investigated. The outtake levels today of individuals more than 35 cm in diameter is too high to be ecologically sustainable.
The study shows the largest utility fields for the extracted trees to be firewood and construction wood. This also reflects the livelihood needs of the local community. To create the best possible foundation for the restoration, protection and development of Tsaratanana, the management plan for the area has to incorporate solutions to fill the obvious needs of the community.
The study further shows that edge characteristics determine the outtake in the forest inside. These are distance to villages and the type of vegetation that occupies the edge. In the case of Tsaratanana exotic species, such as Lantana camara, are very efficient in limiting access to the forest. These species can be used in two ways as a tool in the new participatory management of the forest. They limit the outtake of trees from the forest bordering to them at the same time as they can potentially aid in the reforestation of the hillsides of the valley by offering growing grounds for indigenous species.
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What could have been done differently in this study and why did it turn out this way? This study would likely have benefited from a higher number of sample sites around the entire forest as well as in comparative sites such as the National Park. Band transects, positioned in angle from the forest edge towards its interior, distributed around the entire forest, would have been a more comprehensive and effective method to use. Preferably all environmental variables characterizing the intensity of disturbance caused by logging, fire and cattle grazing would be estimated. The previous study carried out by Vieira and Scariot in Brazil (Vieira and Scariot 2008) would be a good reference also giving some interesting insights in comparisons between Brazil and Madagascar. This was planned from the beginning but due to restrictions in capacity it could not be done. One of the initial aims was to see in what way the tree species composition and occurrence differ between areas that are more or less prone to be accessed by the local community. The data collected would optimally have included an inventory of the tree species as well as invasive species indicating edge effects. Temperature, topography, vegetation structure and canopy cover would also be measured quantitatively to see what other environmental factors can be related to the species distribution and the selective outtake. The qualities of the preferred species should also be examined. If some species are rarer than others or more sensitive to selective extraction, to what degree are they substitutable by other species? It would be interesting to look more directly at the effect on the population structure of the target species before and after selective outtake. How does the outtake affect the age distribution and phenotypes? The data on outtake of trees could be compared to data on where lemurs are observed and find patterns in their distribution in relation to where different tree species are located or extracted from, and whether there is a difference in seedling density in relation to where lemurs are observed and not. This was the intention from the beginning but the two transects used in the Lemur inventories (by Kajsa Oberg) were not sufficient for statistical analysis.
In combination with the data on sapling and tree density collected by Lovanomenjanahary my data on extracted trees and regenerating tree stumps was intended to estimate different projections on how the future forest could look.
It was not possible to compare the distribution of size classes among the cut trees and the distribution of the same species in the forest in general. Hence, is has not been possible to show whether the outtake is targeting specific size categories and could affect the age structure of the forest. If the outtake would be clearly selective for either specific sizes or species the composition and structure of the future forest could be affected. I would have liked to calculate a measure of the extracted volume of each species and for each field of use. However this was not possible since I could not access the data on height of all observations of tree species to be able to make
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estimates on diameter height relationship. This information could otherwise have been useful to understand the needs of the people in the community for the different fields of use and to look at possibilities for substitutability in case some species are exceeding sustainable outtake levels.
More extensive social information As part of the study a set of interview questions was supposed to give information on people’s use of the forest. The set of questions were included in interviews carried out by Rova RASOLONDRAMANITRA. Unfortunately it has not been possible to access the interview material since the study was made.
Satellite imagery It is said that the deforestation took a giant leap in the area in the middle of the 1980s. A detailed study of the deforestation pattern in Tsaratanana through the study of maps and satellite imagery would have been a good complement to this study and could benefit from a socio historical study on reasons for deforestation. However the Satellite images retrieved from Landssat 7 were not detailed enough to give information on the forest loss. These images could also have been used to see patterns in how the deforestation has been progressing and what areas perhaps were subject to more rapid forest loss. Properties of these areas should be recorded both through the imagery and through field study to see whether they share common characteristics explaining the deforestation speed.
Limitations in field work resources The location of the plots was not possible to determine before accessing the forest because of limited GPS positioning possibilities and lack of detailed map material. They were therefore representatively distributed by the field agents once in the field. The plots were to be located mainly in two zones, intact and degraded. It turned out that intact plots had some degree of outtake as well and therefore the classifications were not used in the analysis. Otherwise a Kruskal-Wallis test could had been used to compare the zones. The distribution of stumps was very patchy. There is a risk that the observations are either over estimated or underestimated due to this. I had to share field guide and field agent with another student conducting her study: We were not allowed to access or work in the forest without these agents and guides accompanying us and they did not arrive to work all days. Also the main language was Malagasy and secondly French and therefore I was sometimes rather dependent on the other student being able to translate communications with the agents and guides during the fieldwork. There has not been any research carried out in this area before, meaning there is no reference material to compare with. Due to time constraints the entire forest edge could not be GPS positioned. The same edge characteristics that has been recorded in this study limited our access to the forest, especially the thickets of Lantana camara sometimes this determined if we could at all access an area directly from the edge or if
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we had to access it by walking around long areas. This took a lot of time at these occasions. The detailed edge description was not always possible to do in the field because of difficulties of access and therefore they have been complemented by the study of the Google image. Water levels are highly variable through out the year in the area with flooding during the rainy season. When this study was conducted the water levels were not very high and estimations of where water levels are higher during rainy seasons had to be made that might be not corresponding with the actual accessibility.
A lot of material and data from the study was left in Madagascar and was supposed to be accessed from Sweden on return there. However due to political turmoil and other reasons the material has not been possible to access.
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Acknowledgement
Thank you to Fara LALA RAZAFY, Allan Carlson, Niklas Petterson, John Swensson at WWF for making this possible. Thank you to Bente Eriksen Molau and Kjell Wallin for good supervision.
And thank you to Kajsa Öberg, Lova, Rova, Jules, Fidele, Maxime, Roger, Thelemy, Gruel, Raholijaona and every one else at WWF Midongy and to Manakava and Raoto for the good food, to Iaben’I Piscine, Iaben’I Cassava, Iaban’I Felicite, President KOTO and president of COBA, and all other field guides in Marovato. And thank you to Dan Carlsson for plowing the ground.
Abbreviations
CIA- Central Intelligence Agency IMF- International Monetary Fund WWF- World Wide Fund for Nature Note: Many names in Madagascar are written with capital letters and should not be mistaken for abbreviations.
Reference list
Diverse Fara Lala RAZAFY, Moist Forest Ecoregion Leader; WWF Antananarivo, Madagascar; interview, Antananarivo, November 2008
MEA- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; www.millenniumassessment.org Current state and trends - Forest and Woodland Systems Current state and trends - Vulnerable People and Places
State of Participatory Forest Management in Ethiopia, working paper from FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Sub regional Office for Eastern Africa, to be published 2010.
Öberg, K.; Master thesis in Zoology; Gothenburg University; 2009
Lovanomenjanahary, M.; Cortège Floristique de la Forêt de Marovato; University of Antananarivo; 2009
Articles Broadbent, E.N., Asner, G.P., Keller, M., Knapp, D.E., Oliveira, P.J.C., Silva, J.N.; Forest Fragmentation and Edge Effects from Deforestation and Selective Logging in the Brazilian Amazon; Biological Conservation 141; 1745-1757; (2008)
Brown, K.A., Gurevitch, J; Long-term Impacts of Logging on Forest Diversity in Madagascar; PNAS vol. 101/ 16; 6045-6049; (2004)
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Cadotte, M.W., Franck, R., Reza, L., Lovett-Doust, J.; Tree and Shrub Diversity and Abundance in Fragmented Littoral Forest of Southeastern Madagascar; Biodiversity and Conservation 11; 1417-1436; (2002)
Cadotte, M.W., Lovett-Doust, J.; Core and Satellite Species in Degraded habitats: an Analysis Using Malagasy Tree Communities; Biodiversity Conservation 16; 2515-2529; (2007)
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53 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Lehman, S.M., Rajaonson, A., Day, S.; Edge Effects on the Density of Cheirogaleus major; International Journal of Primatology 27:6; 1569-1588; (2006)
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Nambena, S.M.; Using Geographic Information Systems to Assess Possibilities of Expanding Traditional Agro forestry in Slash-and-Burn Zones in Madagascar; Mountain Research and Development 23:4; 329- 333; (2003)
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Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E.; The Global 200: Priority ecoregions for global conservation. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Volume 89: 199-224, (2002). WWF
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Internet Links CIA www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/MA, June 2009 and 19 January 2010
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IMF www.IMF.org, June 2009
54 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
IUCN: http://www.iucnredlist.org/search, 10 August 2009
UNESCO: portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php- URL_ID=14248&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201, Publication date 24 September 2003, 9 August 2009
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Literature Ariey, F., Randrianarivelojosia, M., Sahondra Harisoa, L.J., and Raharimalala, L.; 2003; Malaria; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 161-162; the University of Chicago Press; London
Binggeli, P.; 2003; Introduced and Invasive Plants; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.257-267; the University of Chicago Press; London
Binggeli, P.; 2003; Verbenaceae, Lantana camara; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.415-417; the University of Chicago Press; London
Birkinshaw, C.,R., Colquhoun, I. C.; 2003; Lemur Food Plants; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 1207-1221; the University of Chicago Press; London
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Dufils; J.M; 2003; Remaining Forest Cover; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 88-95; the University of Chicago Press; London
55 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Duplantier, J. M. and Duchemin, J.-B.; 2003; Introduced Small Mammals and their Ectoparasites: a Description of their Colonization and Its Consequences; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.1191-1194; the University of Chicago Press; London
Du Puy, D.J., Moat, J.;2003;Using Geological Substrate to Identify and map Primary Vegetation Types in Madagascar and the Implications for Planning Biodiversity Conservation, Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.51-67; the University of Chicago Press; London
Durbin, J., Bernard, K., Fenn, M., 2003; The Role of Socioeconomic Factors in Loss of Malagasy Biodiversity; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.142-146; the University of Chicago Press; London
Erdmann, T.K.; 2003; Selected Forest management Initiatives and Issues with an Emphasis on the Cadre d´Appui Forestier Project Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.1437- 1443; the University of Chicago Press; London
Erdmann, T.K.; 2003;The Dilemma of Reducing Shifting Cultivation; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 134-139; ; the University of Chicago Press; London
Eucalyptus in East Africa, The socio-economic and Environmental Issues; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa, 2009
Gautier, L.; 2003; Sapotaceae; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.); The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 345; the University of Chicago Press; London
Gautier L.and Goodman S.M.; 2003; Introduction to the flora of Madagascar ; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 230-231; the University of Chicago Press; London.
Hoffmann, P., McPherson G.; 2003, Euphorbiaceae-Overview; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.); The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 379-384; the University of Chicago Press; London
Labat, J.-N., Moat, J.; 2003; Leguminosae (Fabaceae); Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.); The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 346-374; the University of Chicago Press; London
Nicoll, M.E; 2003;Forests Outside Protected Areas; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.1432-1437; the University of Chicago Press; London
Rabesahala Horning, N.; 2003; How Rules Affect Conservation Outcomes; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.146-153; the University of Chicago Press; London
Randrianandianina, B. , Andriamahaly, L.R., Harisoa, F.M. Nicoll, M.E.; 2003; The Role of the Protected Areas in the Management of the Island’s Biodiversity; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.1423-1432; the University of Chicago Press; London
Wells, N.A.; 2003; Some Hypothesis on the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Paleoenvironmental History of Madagascar; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p.16-34; the University of Chicago Press; London
Wright H.T. and Rakotoarisoa J.A ; 2003; The Rise of Malagasy Societies: new Developments in the Archaeology of Madagascar; Goodman S.M, Benstead J.P (ed.) The Natural History of Madagascar; p. 112-113; the University of Chicago Press; London.
56 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Appendix A.
Total species list of extracted species in Tsaratanana, Madagasacar. The list includes the calculated outtake of trees of all size categories compiled per hectare (est. outtake/ha); the average diameter of the removed stumps for each species and the rate of endemicity. Endemic species: ES; Endemic genus: EG; Endemic family: EF; Undefined endemic: E (An exact determination of the species was not carried out due to the political instability of the country at the time, and, therefore, all scientific names are listed whether they are utilized or not in appendix A‐D and F.)
Scientific name & endemicity Est. Out Vernacular name Family Average diameter (cm) take /ha
Saldinia littoralis Chassalia nentiflora Gaertnera macrostipulata ES Hazondambo RUBIACEAE Gaertnera obovata ES 109,86 3,5 Mapourea parkeri Psychotria subcapitata Saldinia axillaris
ARALIACEAE Polyscias maralia MELIACEAE Lepidotria sp. RUBIACEAE Filicium longifolium EG RUBIACEAE Macphersonia chapelieri ES RUBIACEAE Macphersonia perrieri ES RUBIACEAE Macphersonia madagascariensis ES RUBIACEAE Molinae brevipes Sanira RUBIACEAE Molinae retusa radeus 103,49 4,1 RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus louvelii EG RUBIACEAE Pseudopteris dicipiens RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus sp. EG RUBIACEAE Tinopsis chrysophylla EG RUBIACEAE Tina thouarsiana EG RUBIACEAE Stadmania excelsa RUBIACEAE Lepisanthes sp.
Eugenia radiciflora Rotry MYRTACEAE Syzygium parkeri 92,45 3,5 Syzygium emirnense ES Petalodiscus espèce Sarivoangy EUPHORBIACEAE 69,24 4,3 Cleistanthus boivinianus Tsatoky MYRSINACEAE Oncostemon radkolleri 63,38 3,4 OLACACEAE Olax emirnensis ES Kalavelo 60,56 3,9 EUPHORBIACEAE Suregada boiviniana Meineckia humbertii ES Lampivahatra EUPHORBIACEAE 45,30 5,0 Meineckia humbertiana ES RUBIACEAE Canthium evenium Fotsikahatry 45,07 3,7 RUBIACEAE Canthium bosseri cavaco Tavolo LAURACEAE Cryptocaria littoralis 42,70 4,6
Diospyros emirnensis Diospyros tampoketsensis ES Hazomainty EBENACEAE 42,48 4,6 Diospyros gracilipes ES Diospyros sakalavarum ES
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Ravinovihazo RUBIACEAE Scolopia madagascariensis ES 38,03 3,3
EUPHORBIACEAE Macaranga alnifolia Mokarana 37,07 4,2 RUBIACEAE Homolliela sp FABACEAE Cynometra labra Maroapotony LAURACEAE Ravensara flouibinda 33,52 4,0 RUBIACEAE Homalium nudiflorum LAURACEAE Potamea thouarsii ES Vahitsonjo 32,39 4,1 PITTOSPORACEAE Pittosporum madagascariensis ES Afimena MALVACEAE Dombeya lauriformis 31,44 4,3
Taimboalavo ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum sphaeratum ES 31,44 4,5
EUPHORBIACEAE Blotia oblongifolia EG Volonakohofotsy/ OLEACEAE Nohronia linoceroides EG 28,17 2,4 Volonakofotsy RUBIACEAE Homalium involucratum
Calisia sp Ranovoasahy RUBIACEAE Rothmania taolanana 24,17 3,4 Tricalysia ovalifolia
Ambihitry OLACACEAE Olax dissitiflora 23,94 3,8
Reheiky SAPOTACEAE Chrysophylum boivinianium ES 22,25 4,5 CLUSIACEAE Eliea articulata EG Hela 19,94 4,6 MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longicuspe ES
CANELLACEAE Cinnamosma faechinata EG Andrimena 17,35 3,3 MORACEAE Trilepisium madagascariense ES
Voasingiry ANACARDIACEAE Sorindeia madagascariensis ES 15,72 3,1
RUBIACEAE Allophylus cobbe EG Dikana RUBIACEAE Allophylus sp. 14,99 4,9 SARCOLENACEAE Rhodocolea racemosa EF
Tambourissa microphylla ES Ambora MONIMIACEAE 14,93 5,6 Tambourissa trichophylla ES CLUSIACEAE Psorospermum brachypodium Disaky CLUSIACEAE Rheedia aphanophlebia 14,08 4,2 ICACINACEAE Apodytes dimidiata ES
MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum culiflora MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum galeatum Tomizo MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longipetalum 14,08 3,8 MYRTACEAE Eugenia closelii ES OLEACEAE Nohronia humbertiana EG
Ambilazo FABACEAE Vigueranthus pervillei 13,13 4,8
Angoto MENISPERMACEAE Burasaia madagascariensis EG 12,68 2,8
Fandrianakanga LOGANIACEAE Strychnos madagascariensis ES 12,68 2,3
Harongapanihy CLUSIACEAE Psorospermum discolor 11,27 2,3
Faza CYATHEACEAE Cyathea boivini ES 10,99 7,5
Dalbergia orientalis Vimboa FABACEAE 9,80 5,7 Dalbergia baroni Matora 7,49 3,9
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Sarisoky MELIACEAE Malleastrum sepaliferum EG 7,49 4,7
Vona EUPHORBIACEAE Antidesma petiolare ES 7,27 3,9
Fantsinakoho 7,04 3,8
Sarikafe RUBIACEAE Coffea sp 7,04 3,2
Tavolozaha LAURACEAE Cryptocaria louvelii 7,04 2,9
ANACARDIACEAE Abrahamia mintifolia ES ANACARDIACEAE Micronychia tsiramiramy ES Tsiramy 7,04 3,4 ANACARDIACEAE Rhus tarantana ES BURSERACEAE Canarium madagascariensis ES
Ocotea auriculiformis Ocotea cymosa ES Varongy LAURACEAE 6,99 4,6 Ocotea leavis Ocotea trichantha
CLUSIACEAE Mammea rubrifolia ES Mangy CLUSIACEAE Mammea punctata ES 5,86 5,3 MYRTACEAE Eugenia emirnensis ES
Voapaky EUPHORBIACEAE Uapaca louvelii ES 5,86 3,3
Voavoa BIGNONIACEAE Ophiocolea delphinensis EG 5,86 5,2
HAMAMELIDACEAE Dicoryphe stipulacea EG Amboralahy MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa religiosa EG 5,63 3,0 MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa thouvenotii ES
Araseha MORACEAE Ficus trichoclada 5,63 3,0
EUPHORBIACEAE Blotia sp. EG Bemahova 5,63 3,6 SARCOLENACEAE Schizolaena cauliflora EF
Havisahy (?) 5,63 4,1
Hazomamy RUBIACEAE Chassalia bojeri 5,63 3,8
Maintofotsy 5,63 3,2 VIOLACEAE Rinorea sp. E Maranidravy 5,63 3,8 EUPHORBIACEAE Drypetes madagascariensis ES Resonjo PHYSENACEAE Physena madagascariensis EF 5,63 5,0
Tokambahatra RUBIACEAE Stadmania acuminata 5,63 1,2
Vahy 5,63 2,5
Polyscias lancifolia EG Vatsilambato ARALIACEAE 5,63 3,5 Polyscias madagascariensis ES
Fandramana APHLOIACEAE Aphloia theiformis 5,13 9,5
Ampalimaraha MORACEAE Ficus soroceoides ES 3,04 8,6
Vanga 3,04 11,2
Vonoa 1,63 8,5 Grewia decaryana Afokalalao TILIACEAE 1,41 10,0 Grewia flavicans Lalo CUNONIACEAE Weinnemania stenostachya ES 1,41 7,0
59 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Nato ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum nitilidum ES 1,41 1,2
Panakarety 1,41 7,0
Vatoa 1,41 6,9
Voatanga 1,41 6,0
Boboka ARECACEAE Ravenea madagascariensis ES 1,35 43,2
Dipaty 0,90 26,1
Harongana CLUSIACEAE Harungana madagascariensis ES 0,90 15,2
Hary EUPHORBIACEAE Bridelia tulasneana ES 0,68 38,5
Tavilo ARECACEAE Dypsis sp. EG 0,68 23,2 Anjarezo 0,45 16,5
Fiadivy RUBIACEAE Rothmania verrucosa 0,45 26,7 EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus capuronii E Ambiotra 0,23 18,0 RUBIACEAE Craterispermum laurinum Bobokomby 0,23 41,7
Hafitry 0,23 23,1
Menahihy ANACARDIACEAE Protorhus dintimena E 0,23 120,0
Ravindasy STRELITZIACEAE Ravenala madagascariensis ES 0,23 19,8
Rotrala 0,23 16,3
Sambalahy FABACEAE Albizia gumifera 0,23 15,0
Tavilo sp2 ARECACEAE 0,23 22,2
Tendrikazo SAPOTACEAE Mimusops salicifolia 0,23 45,5
Vakoa PANDANACEAE Pandanus vandani ES 0,23 11,0
Polyscias ornifolia EG Vatsila ARALIACEAE Schefflera stauffarana E 0,23 12,0 Schefflera vatsilana ES
Vitano CLUSIACEAE Calophylum chapelieri 0,23 13,0
Vonitry 0,23 30,0
Appendix B
List of the tree species extracted in the size class between 1 and 5 cm in diameter. The density of the stumps listed in the right column.
Vernacular name Family Scientific name Avg. no <5 cm/ha Saldinia littoralis 95,77 Chassalia nentiflora Gaertnera macrostipulata Hazondambo RUBIACEAE Gaertnera obovata Mapourea parkeri Psychotria subcapitata Saldinia axillaris
60 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
ARALIACEAE Polyscias maralia 95,77 MELIACEAE Lepidotria sp. RUBIACEAE Filicium longifolium RUBIACEAE Macphersonia chapelieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia perrieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia madagascariensis RUBIACEAE Molinae brevipes Sanira RUBIACEAE Molinae retusa radeus RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus louvelii RUBIACEAE Pseudopteris dicipiens RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus sp. RUBIACEAE Tinopsis chrysophylla RUBIACEAE Tina thouarsiana RUBIACEAE Stadmania excelsa RUBIACEAE Lepisanthes sp. Eugenia radiciflora 84,51 Rotry MYRTACEAE Syzygium parkeri Syzygium emirnense Petalodiscus espèce 61,97 Sarivoangy EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus boivinianus Tsatoky MYRSINACEAE Oncostemon radkolleri 61,97 OLACACEAE Olax emirnensis 56,34 Kalavelo EUPHORBIACEAE Suregada boiviniana RUBIACEAE Canthium evenium 39,44 Fotsikahatry RUBIACEAE Canthium bosseri cavaco Diospyros emirnensis 39,44 Diospyros tampoketsensis Hazomainty EBENACEAE Diospyros gracilipes Diospyros sakalavarum Meineckia humbertii 39,44 Lampivahatra EUPHORBIACEAE Meineckia humbertiana Tavolo LAURACEAE Cryptocaria littoralis 39,44 EUPHORBIACEAE Macaranga alnifolia 33,80 Mokarana RUBIACEAE Homolliela sp Ravinovihazo RUBIACEAE Scolopia madagascariensis 33,80 LAURACEAE Potamea thouarsii 28,17 Vahitsonjo PITTOSPORACEAE Pittosporum madagascariensis 28,17 EUPHORBIACEAE Blotia oblongifolia Volonakohofotsy/Volonakofotsy OLEACEAE Nohronia linoceroides RUBIACEAE Homalium involucratum
Afimena MALVACEAE Dombeya lauriformis 22,54 Ambihitry OLACACEAE Olax dissitiflora 22,54 FABACEAE Cynometra labra 22,54 Maroapotony LAURACEAE Ravensara flouibinda RUBIACEAE Homalium nudiflorum
CLUSIACEAE Eliea articulata 16,90 Hela MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longicuspe Reheiky SAPOTACEAE Chrysophylum boivinianium 16,90 Taimboalavo ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum sphaeratum ES 16,90 Ambilazo FABACEAE Vigueranthus pervillei 11,27
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CANELLACEAE Cinnamosma faechinata 11,27 Andrimena MORACEAE Trilepisium madagascariense Angoto MENISPERMACEAE Burasaia madagascariensis 11,27 RUBIACEAE Allophylus cobbe 11,27 Dikana RUBIACEAE Allophylus sp. SARCOLENACEAE Rhodocolea racemosa CLUSIACEAE Psorospermum brachypodium 11,27 Disaky CLUSIACEAE Rheedia aphanophlebia ICACINACEAE Apodytes dimidiata Fandrianakanga LOGANIACEAE Strychnos madagascariensis 11,27 Harongapanihy CLUSIACEAE Psorospermum discolor 11,27 Calisia sp 11,27 Ranovoasahy RUBIACEAE Rothmania taolanana Tricalysia ovalifolia 11,27 MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum culiflora MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum galeatum Tomizo MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longipetalum MYRTACEAE Eugenia closelii OLEACEAE Nohronia humbertiana
Voasingiry ANACARDIACEAE Sorindeia madagascariensis 11,27 Tambourissa microphylla 5,63 Ambora MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa trichophylla
HAMAMELIDACEAE Dicoryphe stipulacea 5,63 Amboralahy MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa religiosa MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa thouvenotii Araseha MORACEAE Ficus trichoclada 5,63 EUPHORBIACEAE Blotia sp. 5,63 Bemahova SARCOLENACEAE Schizolaena cauliflora Fantsinakoho 5,63 Havisahy (?) 5,63 Hazomamy RUBIACEAE Chassalia bojeri 5,63 Maintofotsy 5,63 CLUSIACEAE Mammea rubrifolia 5,63 Mangy CLUSIACEAE Mammea punctata MYRTACEAE Eugenia emirnensis VIOLACEAE Rinorea sp. 5,63 Maranidravy EUPHORBIACEAE Drypetes madagascariensis Matora 5,63 Resonjo PHYSENACEAE Physena madagascariensis 5,63 Sarikafe RUBIACEAE Coffea sp 5,63 Sarisoky MELIACEAE Malleastrum sepaliferum 5,63 Tavolozaha LAURACEAE Cryptocaria louvelii 5,63 Tokambahatra RUBIACEAE Stadmania acuminata 5,63 Tsatoky ? 5,63
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ANACARDIACEAE Abrahamia mintifolia 5,63 ANACARDIACEAE Micronychia tsiramiramy Tsiramy ANACARDIACEAE Rhus tarantana BURSERACEAE Canarium madagascariensis Vahy 5,63 Ocotea auriculiformis 5,63 Ocotea cymosa Varongy LAURACEAE Ocotea leavis Ocotea trichantha Polyscias lancifolia 5,63 Vatsilambato ARALIACEAE Polyscias madagascariensis Dalbergia orientalis 5,63 Vimboa FABACEAE Dalbergia baroni Voapaky EUPHORBIACEAE Uapaca louvelii 5,63 Voavoa BIGNONIACEAE Ophiocolea delphinensis 5,63 Vona EUPHORBIACEAE Antidesma petiolare 5,63 Vonoa/Vona? 5,63
Appendix C
List of the tree species extracted in the size class between 5 and 10 cm in diameter. The density of the stumps listed in the right column.
Vernacular name Family Scientific name Avg no 5‐10 cm/ha 14,08 Saldinia littoralis Chassalia nentiflora Gaertnera macrostipulata Hazondambo RUBIACEAE Gaertnera obovata Mapourea parkeri Psychotria subcapitata Saldinia axillaris
Taimboalavo ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum sphaeratum 14,08 Calisia sp 12,68 Ranovoasahy RUBIACEAE Rothmania taolanana Tricalysia ovalifolia Faza CYATHEACEAE Cyathea boivini 9,86 FABACEAE Cynometra labra 9,86 Maroapotony LAURACEAE Ravensara flouibinda RUBIACEAE Homalium nudiflorum Afimena MALVACEAE Dombeya lauriformis 8,45 Tambourissa microphylla 7,04 Ambora MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa trichophylla Eugenia radiciflora 7,04 Rotry MYRTACEAE Syzygium parkeri Syzygium emirnense
63 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
7,04 ARALIACEAE Polyscias maralia MELIACEAE Lepidotria sp. RUBIACEAE Filicium longifolium RUBIACEAE Macphersonia chapelieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia perrieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia madagascariensis RUBIACEAE Molinae brevipes Sanira RUBIACEAE Molinae retusa radeus RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus louvelii RUBIACEAE Pseudopteris dicipiens RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus sp. RUBIACEAE Tinopsis chrysophylla RUBIACEAE Tina thouarsiana RUBIACEAE Stadmania excelsa RUBIACEAE Lepisanthes sp.
Petalodiscus espèce 7,04 Sarivoangy EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus boivinianus CANELLACEAE Cinnamosma faechinata 5,63 Andrimena MORACEAE Trilepisium madagascariense RUBIACEAE Canthium evenium 5,63 Fotsikahatry RUBIACEAE Canthium bosseri cavaco Meineckia humbertii 5,63 Lampivahatra EUPHORBIACEAE Meineckia humbertiana Fandramana APHLOIACEAE Aphloia theiformis 4,23 OLACACEAE Olax emirnensis 4,23 Kalavelo EUPHORBIACEAE Suregada boiviniana Ravinovihazo RUBIACEAE Scolopia madagascariensis 4,23 Reheiky SAPOTACEAE Chrysophylum boivinianium 4,23 4,23 LAURACEAE Potamea thouarsii Vahitsonjo PITTOSPORACEAE Pittosporum madagascariensis
Voasingiry ANACARDIACEAE Sorindeia madagascariensis 4,23 Ampalimaraha MORACEAE Ficus soroceoides 2,82 RUBIACEAE Allophylus cobbe 2,82 Dikana RUBIACEAE Allophylus sp. SARCOLENACEAE Rhodocolea racemosa CLUSIACEAE Psorospermum brachypodium 2,82 Disaky CLUSIACEAE Rheedia aphanophlebia ICACINACEAE Apodytes dimidiata Diospyros emirnensis 2,82 Diospyros tampoketsensis Hazomainty EBENACEAE Diospyros gracilipes Diospyros sakalavarum CLUSIACEAE Eliea articulata 2,82 Hela MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longicuspe EUPHORBIACEAE Macaranga alnifolia 2,82 Mokarana RUBIACEAE Homolliela sp Tavolo LAURACEAE Cryptocaria littoralis 2,82
64 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum culiflora 2,82 MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum galeatum Tomizo MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longipetalum MYRTACEAE Eugenia closelii OLEACEAE Nohronia humbertiana Vanga 2,82 Dalbergia orientalis 2,82 Vimboa FABACEAE Dalbergia baroni Grewia decaryana 1,41 Afokalalao TILIACEAE Grewia flavicans 1,41 Ambihitry OLACACEAE Olax dissitiflora
Ambilazo FABACEAE Vigueranthus pervillei 1,41 Angoto MENISPERMACEAE Burasaia madagascariensis 1,41 Fandrianakanga LOGANIACEAE Strychnos madagascariensis 1,41 Fantsinakoho 1,41 Lalo CUNONIACEAE Weinnemania stenostachya 1,41 Matora 1,41 Nato ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum nitilidum 1,41 Panakarety 1,41 Sarikafe RUBIACEAE Coffea sp 1,41 Sarisoky MELIACEAE Malleastrum sepaliferum 1,41 Tavolozaha LAURACEAE Cryptocaria louvelii 1,41 Tsatoky MYRSINACEAE Oncostemon radkolleri 1,41 Tsatoky ? 1,41 ANACARDIACEAE Abrahamia mintifolia 1,41 ANACARDIACEAE Micronychia tsiramiramy Tsiramy ANACARDIACEAE Rhus tarantana BURSERACEAE Canarium madagascariensis Vatoa 1,41 Voatanga 1,41 Vona EUPHORBIACEAE Antidesma petiolare 1,41 Vonoa 1,41
Appendix D
List of the tree species extracted in the size class exceeding 10 cm in diameter. The density of the stumps listed in the right column.
Vernacular name Family Scientific name avg no >10cm/ha Tambourissa microphylla 2,25 Ambora MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa trichophylla Boboka ARECACEAE Ravenea madagascariensis 1,35
65 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Ocotea auriculiformis 1,35 Ocotea cymosa Varongy LAURACEAE Ocotea leavis Ocotea trichantha Dalbergia orientalis 1,35 Vimboa FABACEAE Dalbergia baroni Faza CYATHEACEAE Cyathea boivini 1,13 FABACEAE Cynometra labra 1,13 Maroapotony LAURACEAE Ravensara flouibinda RUBIACEAE Homalium nudiflorum Reheiky SAPOTACEAE Chrysophylum boivinianium 1,13 RUBIACEAE Allophylus cobbe 0,90 Dikana RUBIACEAE Allophylus sp. SARCOLENACEAE Rhodocolea racemosa 0,90 Dipaty
Fandramana APHLOIACEAE Aphloia theiformis 0,90 Harongana CLUSIACEAE Harungana madagascariensis 0,90 Eugenia radiciflora 0,90 Rotry MYRTACEAE Syzygium parkeri Syzygium emirnense Hary EUPHORBIACEAE Bridelia tulasneana 0,68 0,68 ARALIACEAE Polyscias maralia MELIACEAE Lepidotria sp. RUBIACEAE Filicium longifolium RUBIACEAE Macphersonia chapelieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia perrieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia madagascariensis RUBIACEAE Molinae brevipes Sanira RUBIACEAE Molinae retusa radeus RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus louvelii RUBIACEAE Pseudopteris dicipiens RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus sp. RUBIACEAE Tinopsis chrysophylla RUBIACEAE Tina thouarsiana RUBIACEAE Stadmania excelsa RUBIACEAE Lepisanthes sp.
Tavilo 0,68 Afimena MALVACEAE Dombeya lauriformis 0,45 Ambilazo FABACEAE Vigueranthus pervillei 0,45 CANELLACEAE Cinnamosma faechinata 0,45 Andrimena MORACEAE Trilepisium madagascariense Anjarezo 0,45 Fiadivy RUBIACEAE Rothmania verrucosa 0,45 Matora 0,45 EUPHORBIACEAE Macaranga alnifolia 0,45 Mokarana RUBIACEAE Homolliela sp Sarisoky MELIACEAE Malleastrum sepaliferum 0,45 Taimboalavo ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum sphaeratum 0,45
66 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Tavolo LAURACEAE Cryptocaria littoralis 0,45 EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus capuronii 0,23 Ambiotra RUBIACEAE Craterispermum laurinum Ampalimaraha MORACEAE Ficus soroceoides 0,23 Bobokomby 0,23 Hafitry 0,23 Diospyros emirnensis 0,23 Diospyros tampoketsensis Hazomainty EBENACEAE Diospyros gracilipes Diospyros sakalavarum
CLUSIACEAE Eliea articulata 0,23 Hela MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longicuspe Meineckia humbertii 0,23 Lampivahatra EUPHORBIACEAE Meineckia humbertiana CLUSIACEAE Mammea rubrifolia 0,23 Mangy CLUSIACEAE Mammea punctata MYRTACEAE Eugenia emirnensis Menahihy ANACARDIACEAE Protorhus dintimena 0,23 Calisia sp 0,23 Ranovoasahy RUBIACEAE Rothmania taolanana Tricalysia ovalifolia Ravindasy STRELITZIACEAE Ravenala madagascariensis 0,23 Rotrala 0,23 Sambalahy FABACEAE Albizia gumifera 0,23 Petalodiscus espèce 0,23 Sarivoangy EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus boivinianus Tavilo (‐hafa) 0,23 Tavilo/Tavolo 0,23 Tendrikazo SAPOTACEAE Mimusops salicifolia 0,23 Vakoa PANDANACEAE Pandanus vandani 0,23 Vanga 0,23 Polyscias ornifolia 0,23 Vatsila ARALIACEAE Schefflera stauffarana Schefflera vatsilana Vitano CLUSIACEAE Calophylum chapelieri 0,23 Voapaky EUPHORBIACEAE Uapaca louvelii 0,23 Voasingiry ANACARDIACEAE Sorindeia madagascariensis 0,23 Voavoa BIGNONIACEAE Ophiocolea delphinensis 0,23 Vona EUPHORBIACEAE Antidesma petiolare 0,23 Vonitry 0,23 Vonoa 0,23
67 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Appendix E
Table of top 15 extracted species of each size category with their utility fields marked with an X.
rice
stick
Tea Bed stomping Rope
Lemur Guitarr Firewood for
Construction Walking Protection/Medicinal Bowl size class top 10 observed species >10 cm Ambora x x Vimboa x x x x Varongy x x Boboka x Maroapotony x x x Reheiky x x x Faza Rotry x x x x Dikana x x Fandramana x x Dipaty x Harongana x Sanira x x Hary x Tavilo x >5‐10 cm Taimboalavo x x Hazondambo x x Ranovoasahy x x Maroapotony x x x Faza x Afimena x x x Ambora x x Rotry x x x x x Sanira x x x Sarivoangy x x x Andrimena x x Lampivahatra x x x Fotsikahatry x x x x x Reheiky x x x x Fandramana x x ≤5 cm Hazondambo x x x
68 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Sanira x x x Rotry x x x x x Sarivoangy x x x Tsatoky x x x Kalavelo x Lampivahatra x x x Fotsikahatry x x x x x Tavolo x x x x Hazomainty x x Ravinovihazo x x x Mokarana x x x Vahitsonjo x x x Volonakohofotsy x x x Maroapotony x x x all size cat Hazondambo x x x Sanira x x x Rotry x x x x x Sarivoangy x x x Tsatoky x x x Kalavelo x Lampivahatra x x x Fotsikahatry x x x x x Tavolo x x x x Hazomainty x x Ravinovihazo x x x Mokarana x x x Maroapotony x x x Vahitsonjo x x x Afimena x x x
69 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Appendix F
Table showing overlapping interest and utilities by people and lemurs. The top list of extracted species in number of stems per ha, all size categories combined. Color indicates use by lemurs or people or both.
*** used by lemurs ** used by lemurs and people * used by people **** not used by people nor lemurs
Use Vernacular name Family Scientific name avg outtake all cat/ha 109,86 Saldinia littoralis Chassalia nentiflora Gaertnera macrostipulata ** Hazondambo RUBIACEAE Gaertnera obovata Mapourea parkeri Psychotria subcapitata Saldinia axillaris 103,49 ARALIACEAE Polyscias maralia MELIACEAE Lepidotria sp. RUBIACEAE Filicium longifolium RUBIACEAE Macphersonia chapelieri RUBIACEAE Macphersonia perrieri Macphersonia RUBIACEAE madagascariensis RUBIACEAE Molinae brevipes ** Sanira RUBIACEAE Molinae retusa radeus RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus louvelii RUBIACEAE Pseudopteris dicipiens RUBIACEAE Plagioscyphus sp. RUBIACEAE Tinopsis chrysophylla RUBIACEAE Tina thouarsiana RUBIACEAE Stadmania excelsa RUBIACEAE Lepisanthes sp.
Eugenia radiciflora 92,45 ** Rotry MYRTACEAE Syzygium parkeri Syzygium emirnense Petalodiscus espèce 69,24 ** Sarivoangy EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus boivinianus ** Tsatoky MYRSINACEAE Oncostemon radkolleri 63,38 OLACACEAE Olax emirnensis 60,56 * Kalavelo EUPHORBIACEAE Suregada boiviniana Meineckia humbertii 45,30 ** Lampivahatra EUPHORBIACEAE Meineckia humbertiana RUBIACEAE Canthium evenium 45,07 ** Fotsikahatry RUBIACEAE Canthium bosseri cavaco ** Tavolo LAURACEAE Cryptocaria littoralis 42,70
70 Tropical Forest Resources and Extraction; Ellen Winberg; Master of Science in Biology; Göteborg University; 2009
Diospyros emirnensis 42,48 Diospyros tampoketsensis ** Hazomainty EBENACEAE Diospyros gracilipes Diospyros sakalavarum * Ravinovihazo RUBIACEAE Scolopia madagascariensis 38,03 EUPHORBIACEAE Macaranga alnifolia 37,07 ** Mokarana RUBIACEAE Homolliela sp FABACEAE Cynometra labra 33,52 ** Maroapotony LAURACEAE Ravensara flouibinda RUBIACEAE Homalium nudiflorum Potamea thouarsii 32,39 LAURACEAE ** Vahitsonjo Pittosporum PITTOSPORACEAE madagascariensis ** Afimena MALVACEAE Dombeya lauriformis 31,44 ** Taimboalavo ERYTHROXYLACEAE Erythroxylum sphaeratum 31,44 EUPHORBIACEAE Blotia oblongifolia 28,17 ** Volonakohofotsy/Volonakofotsy OLEACEAE Nohronia linoceroides RUBIACEAE Homalium involucratum Calisia sp 24,17 ** Ranovoasahy RUBIACEAE Rothmania taolanana Tricalysia ovalifolia ** Ambihitry OLACACEAE Olax dissitiflora 23,94 ** Reheiky SAPOTACEAE Chrysophylum boivinianium 22,25 CLUSIACEAE Eliea articulata 19,94 * Hela MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longicuspe Cinnamosma faechinata 17,35 CANELLACEAE * Andrimena Trilepisium MORACEAE madagascariense Sorindeia 15,72 ** Voasingiry ANACARDIACEAE madagascariensis RUBIACEAE Allophylus cobbe 14,99 ** Dikana RUBIACEAE Allophylus sp. SARCOLENACEAE Rhodocolea racemosa Tambourissa microphylla 14,93 * Ambora MONIMIACEAE Tambourissa trichophylla Psorospermum 14,08 CLUSIACEAE brachypodium Rheedia *** Disaky CLUSIACEAE aphanophlebia ICACINACEAE Apodytes dimidiata
MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum culiflora 14,08 MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum galeatum ** Tomizo MELASTOMATACEAE Memecylum longipetalum MYRTACEAE Eugenia closelii OLEACEAE Nohronia humbertiana **** Ambilazo FABACEAE Vigueranthus pervillei 13,13 * Angoto MENISPERMACEAE Burasaia madagascariensis 12,68 Strychnos 12,68 * Fandrianakanga LOGANIACEAE madagascariensis * Harongapanihy CLUSIACEAE Psorospermum discolor 11,27 ** Faza CYATHEACEAE Cyathea boivini 10,99
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