Short-term growth of an undisturbed tropical moist forest in the Brazilian Amazon / Niro Higuchi.

Tese (Ph.D.)-- Michigan State University, 1987.

The main objective of this study is to provide basic information for sustained yield management of the tropical moist forest in the Brazilian Amazon. This was done by quantification of diameter distributions, projections of diameter distributions and of tree mortality, and by development of short-term growth and yield models. The data for this study were collected from an undisturbed stand located some 90 kilometers north of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas State - Brazil. Three permanent plots were established in 1980 and remeasured in 1985. They are the control plots of a forest management experiment randomly replicated within an area of about 2,000 hectares of pristine Amazonian forest,. In each 4-hectare plot (200 by meters), all trees with dbh 25 cm or greater were tagged and their dbh's were recorded in 1980. In 1985, all tagged trees were remeasured with special attention to ingrowth and mortality. The number of trees, dbh abd basal area of the study area averaged 158 trees/ha, 38 cm, and 20 m²/ha, respectively - in 1980. Among three different hypothesized diameter distribution functions, the Weibull using the percentile approach best fit the observed data. Since age and successive records from long-term permanent plots were not available, the first-order Markov chain approach was used to project diameter distribution and tree mortality and proved to be a realistic alternative. The exponential Lotka growth model was adapted to predict future volume as an alternative for the traditional growth and yield models, and it behaved satisfactorily. The volume for 1990 was also predicted by models based upon the volume estimated in 1985 in relation to the dbh measured in 1980. There was a strong correlation between actual volume and past dbh, but not between past diameter and diameter growth. The data for this study were collected from an undisturbed stand located some 90 kilometers north of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas State - Brazil. Three permanent plots were established in 1980 and remeasured in 1985. They are the control plots of a forest management experiment randomly replicated within an area of about 2,000 hectares of pristine Amazonian forest,. In each 4-hectare plot (200 by meters), all trees with dbh 25 cm or greater were tagged and their dbh's were recorded in 1980. In 1985, all tagged trees were remeasured with special attention to ingrowth and mortality. The number of trees, dbh abd basal area of the study area averaged 158 trees/ha, 38 cm, and 20 m.