- LASTROP
- Projects
- Modelos de silvicultura de espécies nativas para a viabilização econômica da restauração florestal no
- Localization
- Ituberá - BA, Brazil - Pratigi Protected Area within “Juliana” Farm. This property is pioneer in the development of sustainable production models. The farm main land covers are native forests and plantations of peach palm, eucalyptus and cocoa, etc.
- Start
- 2011
- Team
- Prof. Pedro Brancalion (LASTROP), Prof. Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues (LERF/ESALQ), Dr. André Nave (BioFlora) e Eng. Ftal. Fábio Lopes S. Figueiredo (OCT)
- Support
- Organização de Conservação da Terra (OCT), CNPq, FAPESP, Pacto pela Restauração da Mata Atlântica e Instituto Internacional para a Sustentabilidade
Objective: Develop and test native species silvicultural models, focusing on using eucalyptus as a “commercial pioneer” species and several native species for intermediate and final hardwoods. Such models aim at funding forest restoration in the “Baixo Sul” region of Bahia State. The objective of this work is to evaluate whether the cost reduction due to eucalyptus planting (as a consequence of cheaper seedlings and faster soil shading, which reduces maintenance costs) and the yield from harvesting its wood would pay back the costs of restoration plantings in Legal Reserves in areas of low agricultural potential. Hardwoods would be harvested in the future, in simple or double rows, whatever is better from the silviculture viewpoint.
Research description: we tested 5 models: 1) Only native species for initial, intermediate and final wood production; 2) Eucalyptus for cellulose replacing native initial wood species plus single lanes of intermediate and final wood native species cellulose; 3) and the same design using eucalyptus for timber; 4) Eucalyptus for cellulose replacing native initial wood species plus double lanes of intermediate and final wood native species cellulose; 5) and the same design using eucalyptus for timber; 4).
The experiment was installed in a randomized block design, with five treatments and six repetitions (30 experimental plots - six blocks). Each experimental plot contains eight planting rows of 10 individuals each (80 individuals per plot), surrounded by planting rows of the next wood group. Planting spacing was 3 x 3 m. Silviculture treatments (fertilization, leaf-cutting ants and grass competition control) were carried out according to recommendations for eucalyptus (link pdf).
Ongoing evaluations: Forest inventory; costs; canopy closure; invasive grass cover.
Start date: 2011.
Research team Prof. Pedro Henrique S. Brancalion (LASTROP), Prof. Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues (LERF/ESALQ), Dr. André Gustavo Nave (Bioflora), Forest Eng. Gábio Lopes S. Figueiredo (OCT).
Financial Support: “Organização de Conservação da Terra” (OCT - Environmental NGO), Brazilian Research Foundation (CNPq), São Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP), Pact for the Atlantic Forest Restoration and International Institute for Sustainability.
