Biotic impoverishment of Amazonian forests by rubber toppers, loggers, and cattle ranchers
People who live from tropical forests alter populations of plant and animal species and may change forest structure and function. How does the biotic impoverishment associated with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction compare to that resulting from cattle ranching and selective timber harvesting, the principal land-use alternatives to extraction? Drawing on Brazilian case studies from Acre (NTFP extraction) and northeastern Pará (ranching and logging), we compare the ecological impacts of these three land uses and conclude that biotic impoverishment associated with them is qualitatively similar but quantitatively distinct Each land use reduces populations of native plant and animal species and reduces mature forest cover, however, NTFP extraction depletes only a handful of plant and animal species and leads to mature forest clearing at a rate that is comparable to natural treefall gap formation. Logging and cattle ranching alter 100s to 1000s of species' populations and remove roughly one half of forest cover Forest conversion to pasture, practiced by both ranchers and, to a lesser extent, NTFP extractors, clearly provokes the greatest biotic impoverishment of the activities discussed, for it can virtually eliminate the native biota, reduces carbon storage in biomass, alters hydrology and, potentially, provokes regional climate change. For NTFP extraction to succeed as a conservation/developments strategy, extractor populations will require reliable sources of income that reduce the attractiveness of pasture formation. Once organized, extractor groups may increase income by marketing new NTFPs and enriching abandoned agricultural plots with economically valuable trees.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
Bronx, N.Y. (EUA)
1992
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| Subjects: | PERTURBACIONES ANTROPOGENICAS, PRODUCTOS FORESTALES NO MADERABLES, AMAZONIA, BRASIL, |
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