Amazonian Rain Forests: Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery

142 Pages·1987·8.28 MB·English

by  Carl F. Jordan (auth.)

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Volume 60
Amazonian Rain Forests
Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery
Edited by Carl F. Jordan
ISBN 0-387-96397-9
Alllazonian Rain Forests
Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery
Case Studies of Ecosystem Dynamics
Under a Spectrum of Land Use-Intensities
Edited by
Carl F. Jordan
Contributors
Robert J. Buschbacher, Carl F. Jordan, Charles E. Russell,
Juan G. Saldarriaga, Geoffrey A.J. Scott, E.A.S. Serrao,
Christopher UhI
With 55 Figures
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg London
Paris Tokyo Hong Kong Barcelona
CARL F. JORDAN
Institute of Ecology
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30602
USA
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Amazonian rain forests.
(Ecological studies; v. 60)
Includes index.
1. Deforestation-Amazon River Region-Case studies.
2. Rain forest ecology-Amazon River Region-Case
studies. 3. Shifting cultivation-Amazon River
Region-Case studies. 4. Forests and forestry-
Amazon River Region-Case studies. 5. Agricultural
ecology-Amazon River Region-Case studies. I. Jordan,
Carl F. II. Series.
SD418.3.A53A53 1986 634.9'0981' 1 86-21962
Printed on acid-free paper.
© 1987 by Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st Edition 1987
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9 8 7 6 543
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-9102-2 e-ISBN: 978-1-4612-4658-9
001: 10.1007/978-1-4612-4658-9
Acknowledgments
The studies reported in Chapters 2, 3, and 5 were supported by Ecosystem
Studies Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); CONIC IT de
Venezuela (Venezuelan Science Foundation); the Organization of American
States; Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia; Centro de Ecologia, Insti
tuto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (IVIC); and the UNESCO Man
and the Biosphere Program, which also supported work in Chapter 8. NSF also
funded the study in Chapter 4. The Chapter 7 study was assisted by Jari Flores
tal e Agropecuaria and the New York Botanical Garden.
Contents
1. Introduction
Development and Disturbance in Amazon Forests
Case Studies
2. Shifting Cultivation 9
Slash and Burn Agriculture Near San Carlos de Rio Negro,
Venezuela
CARL F. JORDAN
3. Recovery Following Shifting Cultivation 24
A Century of Succession in the Upper Rio Negro
JUAN G. SALDARRIAGA
4. Shifting Cultivation Where Land Is Limited 34
Campa Indian Agriculture in the Gran Pajonal of Peru
GEOFFREY A.J. SCOTT
5. Deforestation for Sovereignty Over Remote Frontiers 46
Government-Sponsored Pastures in Venezuela Near the
Brazilian Border
ROBERT J. BUSCHBACHER
Contents
Vlll
6. Permanent Plots for Agriculture and Forestry 58
The Trans-Amazon Colonization Project 58
Continuous Cropping with Fertilizers 65
Agroecology at Tome-Assu, Brazil 70
Sustained-Yield Forestry 73
7. Plantation Forestry 76
The Jari Project, Para, Brazil
CHARLES E. RUSSELL
8. Large-Scale Development in Eastern Amazonia 90
Pasture Management and Environmental Effects Near
Paragominas, Para
ROBERT J. BUSCHBACHER, CHRISTOPHER UHL, and
E.A.S. SERRAo
9. Conclusion 100
Comparison and Evaluation of Case Studies
Index 131
Contributors
Institute of Ecology
ROBERT J. BUSCHBACHER
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA
CARL F. JORDAN Institute of Ecology
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA
CHARLES E. RUSSELL Caesar Kleberg Wildlife
Research Institute
Texas A & I University
Kingsville, Texas, USA
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
JUAN G. SALDARRIAGA
Environmental Sciences Division
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
GEOFFREY A.J. SCOTT Geography Department
University of Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
x Contributors
E.A.S. SERRAo Centro de Pesquisa Agropecwiria do Tr6-
pico Umido
EMBRAPA
Belem, Para, Brazil
CHRISTOPHER UHL Department of Biology
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
1. Introduction
DEVELOPMENT AND DISTURBANCE IN AMAZON FORESTS
Contrasting Impressions
The rain forests of the Amazon Basin cover approximately 5.8 x 106 km2 (Salati
and Vose 1984). Flying over even just part of this basin, one gazes hour after
hour upon this seemingly infinite blanket of green. The impression of immen
sity is similar when viewed from the Amazon River itself, or from its tributar
ies. From a hammock on the shaded deck of a riverboat, the immensity of the
forest presents an incredible monotony as one view of the shoreline blends
unnoticeably into another. From both perspectives, the overwhelming reaction
to the sea of trees that stretches from horizon to horizon is a sense of the
vastness of the rain forest.
In September 1985, I got a different impression of the rain forest. Several
students and I journeyed in a self-propelled car along the single-track railroad
that stretches almost 1000 km from the Carajas iron ore mine in the rain forest
of Para State, Brazil, all the way to Sao Luis on the coast (Fig. 1.1).
The railroad had been built through virgin rain forest for almost the entire
length, except for the last stretch near the coast where there was a transition
to dry or scrub forest. The railroad was completed in February 1985. By
the time I took the trip, half to two-thirds of the forest along the railroad had
been cleared between several hundred meters to several kilometers on either
side of the track. A striking view along almost the entire length of the track was