Site ID:
BR-BIO
Site Name:
Manaus - ZF2 BIONTE
Variables:
Demography; Wood density
Date Range:
July 1, 1990
-
July 1, 2019
Description:
BIONTE (BIOmass and NuTrient Experiment) is a selective logging experiment established at the Experimental Station of Tropical Forestry (EEST, aka “ZF2”) field research station in the mid 1980s in the central Amazon (Higuchi et al. 1997, Amaral et al. 2019). Led by the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) in Brazil, the project aimed at assessing the effects of logging intensity on forest dynamics and enabling the creation of a model of forest management for the Central Amazon. The experiment included three levels of increasing selective logging intensity and controls, with 1 hectare sample plots (12 total) located at the center of 4 hectare treatment plots. The site’s Köppen classification is tropical rainforest (Af), characterized by high temperatures and humidity, with mean annual temperatures around 27 ℃ and mean annual precipitation around 2200 mm of rain. The vegetation has a high floristic diversity, the soils of the region are poor in nutrients, and the topography is characterized by plateaus (where BIONTE is located), and also valley bottoms and slopes. The inventory (growth and mortality) and biomass data included here covers the 1990 to 2019 period, with wood density being averaged from existing datasets. This dataset includes a data file in .csv file format and a .txt file, BIONTE_mortality-rates_headers.txt, that provides descriptions for the data file headers.
QA/QC:
Full QA-QC
Methods Description:
The experiment included three replicated blocks, each covering 24 ha and further subdivided into six treatments covering a 200 m x 200 m area. The central 100 m x 100 m in each treatment was established as a permanent sample plot, with a 50 m buffer between treatment plots. The experimental logging was conducted in 1987 and 1988, using three different intensities: light, harvesting trees with DBH 55 cm and over (T1); medium DBH 50 cm and over (T2); and heavy DBH 40 cm and over (T3). Unharvested control plots were also monitored (T0). Single hectare treatment and control plots were located in each block, with three replicates for each treatment. Trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) 10 cm and over were first measured in 1986 and have been measured annually since 1990, except for a few plots in 1994 and all plots in 1998. A height of 1.3 m was used for DBH measurements, possibly above buttresses or obstructions, with paint marks used to ensure resampling height. Yearly recensus were conducted around July, during the dry season. Species identification was conducted by experienced para-botanists using common names, and in 2011-2012 botanical vouchers of individual trees were collected for taxonomic identification. Botanical identification work done at INPA and using the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) herbaria’s reference collections and in consultation with specialists (Gaui et al. 2019), following Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG III, 2009) classification system. Individuals that died between the initial census and identification and additional non-collected trees were identified based on common name. Taxonomic issues were checked and standardized using the Taxonomic Name Resolution Service. DBH measurements were checked and corrected for outliers using change thresholds and distribution visual inspections, with small negative values for DBH changes (<0.1cm) kept as measurement errors to preserve distributions. Total dry whole tree biomass was estimated using measured DBH and relationships established in Chambers et al. (2001). Wood density data used here were averaged from a harmonized wood density dataset (Pastorello et al. 2022).
Access Level:
Public
Originating Institution(s):
National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Sponsor Organization(s):
National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA)
Contact:
Pastorello, Gilberto - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (gzpastorello@lbl.gov)
Amaral, M., Lima, A., Higuchi, F., dos Santos, J., & Higuchi, N. (2019). Dynamics of Tropical Forest Twenty-Five Years after Experimental Logging in Central Amazon Mature Forest. Forests, 10(2), 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10020089
Chambers, J. Q., Santos, J. dos, Ribeiro, R. J., & Higuchi, N. (2001). Tree damage, allometric relationships, and above-ground net primary production in central Amazon forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 152(1-3), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-1127(00)00591-0
Gaui, T.D., Costa, F.R.C., de Souza, F.C., Amaral, M.R.A., Carvalho, D.C., Reis,F.Q., & Higuchi, N. (2019). Long-term effect of selective logging on floristic composition: A 25 year experiment in the Brazilian Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management, 440, 258-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.02.033
Higuchi, N., Ferraz, J. B. S., Antony, L., Luizão, F.J., Luizão, R.C., Biot, Y., Hunter, I., Proctor, J., & Ross, S. (1997). BIONTE: Biomassa E Nutrientes Florestais. Relatório Final (MCT-INPA, DFID, Manaus, Brazil). https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/36085
Pastorello, G., Lima, A.J.N., Gimenez, B.O., Longo, M., Chambers, J.Q., Higuchi, N. (2022). Harmonized wood density data for Central Amazon species. NGEE-Tropics Data Collection. (dataset). https://doi.org/10.15486/ngt/1898906
