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Logging is a dominant land-use activity across the tropics and a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. This study quantifies emissions from selective logging in a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified concession in Guyana that includes carbon in extracted logs, tree carbon left in the forest, and incidental tree mortality caused by felling and logging infrastructure. We also estimate carbon emissions from sawmilling of round logs. Emissions from harvested trees from stump to mill gate were 8.44 Mg CO2 m−3 (131.96 Mg CO2 ha−1). The main sources of emissions were from trees killed during felling (34%) and unextracted biomass of harvested trees (32%). On average, 15.5% of the harvested tree biomass and 43% of the log biomass was converted to sawn lumber (0.78 Mg CO2 m−3 of round log volume). We find similar levels of logging emissions in our study with those reported for non-FSC concessions in Guyana (8.54 Mg CO2 m−3) and Suriname (8.94 Mg CO2 m−3) but higher in two FSC-certified concessions in Suriname (6.65 Mg CO2 m−3). Adopting forest management practices that reduce residual stand mortality from felling and improved milling technology to reduce wood waste will help meet future demand for wood products and support climate mitigation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We quantified baseline selective logging emissions in DRC, Gabon and Republic of Congo. • Selective logging transfered up to 9% of live AGB and BGB tree carbon biomass into necromass. • No significant difference between FSC and non-certified concessions. • Logging emissions represented 40% of total emissions from deforestation. • Implementing RIL-C practices can cut half of emissions without reducing timber yields. Abstract To estimate carbon emissions from selective logging in Central Africa, we employed the reduced-impact logging for carbon emissions reductions (RIL-C) protocol to quantify baseline carbon emissions from legal timber harvests by source (i.e., hauling, skidding, and felling). We modeled the relationships between emissions and biophysical conditions, logging practices, and forest policies and then used these models to estimate potential emission reductions from full implementation of RIL-C practices. We applied the method in 8 forest management enterprises (FMEs; i.e., concessions) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 9 in Gabon, and 6 in the Republic of Congo (RoC). Committed logging emissions expressed per cubic meter of timber harvested (to control for differences in logging intensities) ranged from 0.63 Mg C m−3 in a FME in RoC to 4.8 Mg C m−3 in a FME in Gabon, with an overall average of 2.1 Mg C m−3. Logging emissions were dominated by damage caused by road and log landing construction (i.e., hauling; 50%) and felling (43%; includes carbon in extracted logs). Total emissions represented only about 9% of unlogged forest biomass carbon stocks. Average emissions were highest in Gabon (2.65 Mg C m−3) followed by DRC (1.84 Mg C m−3) and RoC (1.54 Mg C m−3). Emissions from concessions certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC, N = 6) and those that were not certified (N = 17) did not differ. Nearly half (51%) of logging emissions could be avoided without reducing timber yields if all best examples of RIL-C logging practices observed were applied in the same FME. At the country level, if all FMEs were to utilize these practices, emissions reductions would be 34% in RoC, 45% in DRC, and 62% in Gabon. When combined with country-level logging statistics, emissions from selective logging as currently practiced in the six countries of the Congo Basin are equivalent to 40% of the region's total emissions from deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the impacts of a low-intensity selective timber harvest on a palm community in Belize, we mapped logging infrastructure (i.e., roads, log landings, skid trails, and stumps) and measured palm regeneration 1 year after a timber harvest carried out using reduced-impact logging (RIL) practices. We sampled palms across a gradient of increasing harvest impact severity from areas not directly affected by logging, in felling gaps, on secondary and primary skid trails, and on log landings. We used generalised linear mixed-effect models fitted in a Bayesian framework and applied a non-metric multi-dimensional scaling of the ecological distances between sites to evaluate differences in palm seedling regeneration density and species composition, respectively. The harvest of an average of 2.5 trees ha −1 caused 0.4% of the forest to be converted to log landings, 0.7% and 3.6% to roads and skid trails, and 2.3% to felling gaps, which left 93.0% of the 350 ha harvest block with no direct impacts of logging. The difference in abundance and species composition of palm regeneration in unlogged areas compared to felling gaps and skid trails was small, but log landings had markedly lower densities. These results highlight that the impacts of selective logging are minor at least where harvest intensities are low and RIL practices are employed. If further reductions in canopy opening and soil disturbance are desired, we recommend that logs be cable-yarded (i.e., winched) the final 20 m to skid trails instead of driving to the tree stumps. We estimate that implementation of this practice would reduce total skid trail coverage from 3.6% to 2.9% and overall forest disturbance from 7.0% to 6.3%. However, further reductions in disturbance might be inimical to the maintenance of palms and will certainly not favour regeneration of light-demanding commercial timber species (e.g., Swietenia macrophylla ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current Mexican forest management is the product of a history that dates back to 1926. Earlier approaches were directly or indirectly aimed at attaining the normal forest model. Around 1980, multi-resource and environmental impact considerations were mandated for all private timber operations. Timber-oriented silviculture was deemed insufficient to take proper care of non-timber values in the forest. Concerns about water quality, biodiversity, and natural conservation were the motives for promoting voluntary best management practices, in 2012 and afterwards. In this research, two traditional Mexican forest management schemes, Sicodesi and Plan Costa, enhanced with best management practices, are compared to Mapa, a management method specifically designed to manage landscape attributes. Results from two successive forest inventories 10 and 13 years apart show that Sicodesi and Plan Costa, even when modified to comply with best management practices, failed to maintain proper stewardship of non-timber values. Mapa, however, employed multiple means to drive forest dynamics to fulfill multi-resource objectives, constrained by self-financing and competitive profitability. These capabilities in Mapa enabled some degree of control over non-timber values, but many more important processes occur beyond the property boundary, and beyond the planning scope considered in Mapa and all other forest planning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most tropical forests outside protected areas have been or will be selectively logged so it is essential to maximize the conservation values of partially harvested areas. Here we examine the extent to which these forests sustain timber production, retain species, and conserve carbon stocks. We then describe some improvements in tropical forestry and how their implementation can be promoted. A simple meta-analysis based on >100 publications revealed substantial variability but that: timber yields decline by about 46% after the first harvest but are subsequently sustained at that level; 76% of carbon is retained in once-logged forests; and, 85-100% of species of mammals, birds, invertebrates, and plants remain after logging. Timber stocks will not regain primary-forest levels within current harvest cycles, but yields increase if collateral damage is reduced and silvicultural treatments are applied. Given that selectively logged forests retain substantial biodiversity, carbon, and timber stocks, this 'middle way' between deforestation and total protection deserves more attention from researchers, conservation organizations, and policy-makers. Improvements in forest management are now likely if synergies are enhanced among initiatives to retain forest carbon stocks (REDD+), assure the legality of forest products, certify responsible management, and devolve control over forests to empowered local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Changes in above-ground biomass (AGB) of 17 1ha logged plots of terra firme rain forest in the eastern Amazon (Brazil, Paragominas) were monitored for four years (2004–2008) after reduced-impact logging. Over the same time period, we also monitored two 0.5ha plots in adjacent unlogged forest. While AGB in the control plots changed little over the observation period (increased on average 1.4Mgha−1), logging resulted in immediate reductions in ABG that averaged 94.5Mgha−1 (±42.0), which represented 23% of the 410Mgha−1 (±64.9) present just prior to harvesting. Felled trees (dbh>55cm) accounted for 73% (±15) of these immediate losses but only 18.9Mgha−1 (±8.1) of biomass was removed in the extracted logs. During the first year after logging, the annual AGB balance (annual AGB gain by recruitment and growth−annual AGB loss by mortality) remained negative (−31.1Mgha−1 year−1; ±16.7), mainly due to continued high mortality rates of damaged trees. During the following three years (2005–2008), average net AGB accumulation in the logged plots was 2.6Mgha−1 year−1 (±4.6). Post-logging biomass recovery was mostly through growth (4.3±1.5Mgha−1 year −1 for 2004–2005 and 6.8±0.9Mgha−1 year −1 for 2005–2008), particularly of large trees. In contrast, tree recruitment contributed little to the observed increases in AGB (1.1±0.6Mgha−1 year−1 for 2004–2005 and 3.1±1.3Mgha−1 year−1 for 2005–2008). Plots with the lowest residual basal area after logging generally continued to lose more large trees (dbh ≥70cm), and consequently showed the greatest AGB losses and the slowest overall AGB gains. If 100% AGB recovery is desired and the 30-year minimum cutting cycle defined by Brazilian law is adhered to, current logging intensities (6treesha−1) need to be reduced by 40–50%. Such a reduction in logging intensity will reduce financial incomes to loggers, but might be compensated for by the payment of environmental services through the proposed REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Tropical forests could satisfy multiple demands for goods and services both for present and future generations. Yet integrated approaches to natural forest management remain elusive across the tropics. In this paper we examine one combination of uses: selective harvesting of timber and non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. We analyze the current status of this combination and speculate on prospects and challenges regarding: (i) resource inventory, (ii) ecology and silviculture, (iii) conflict in the use of multipurpose tree species, (iv) wildlife conservation and use, (v) tenure, and (vi) product certification. Our conclusions remain preliminary due to the relative paucity of published studies and lessons learned on what has worked and what has not in the context of integrated management for timber and NTFPs. We propose at least three ways where further research is merited. One, in improving ‘opportunistic’ situations driven by selective timber harvesting that also enhance NTFP values. Two, to explicitly enhance both timber and NTFP values through targeted management interventions. Three, to explicitly assess biophysical, social, regulatory and institutional aspects so that combined benefits are maximized. Interventions for enhancing the compatibility of timber and NTFP extraction must be scaled in relation to the size of the area being managed, applied timber harvesting intensities, and the dynamics of multi-actor, forest partnerships (e.g., between the private sector and local communities). In addition, training and education issues may have to be re-crafted with multiple-use management approaches inserted into tropical forestry curricula. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As part of efforts to design appropriate silvicultural methods for sustainable forest management of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla: Meliaceae) in natural mixed forests of Quintana Roo, Mexico, a study of seed dispersal of 11 mahogany seed trees was undertaken. Both small (50-74 cm diameter at breast height, dbh) and large (75-100 cm dbh) seed trees showed seed distributions that were skewed to the west, generally matching the prevailing easterly trade winds. Total mean seed production of trees in the smaller size class was one-half of that of the large trees. Maximum seed dispersal distance was 50 m in the westerly directions (NW-W-SW) and only 20-30 m in other directions. Total seed dispersal areas were 0.4 and 0.5 ha for the small and large trees respectively. These results are important for designing seed tree or shelterwood regeneration methods for mahogany; they provide guidelines for creating the size and spatial layout of an overstorey felling and site preparation treatment that would match the dispersal area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]