Combining Climber Cutting and Tree Seedling Planting Improves Structural Attributes of a Seasonal Semideciduous Forest in Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Management of degraded tropical forest fragments is usually done by cutting climbers (cutting). However, it is still necessary to understand the outcomes of cutting in combination with planting native tree species' seedlings (cutting + planting), especially on the edges of fragments, which are subject to higher disturbance than the forest interior. We tested whether cutting + planting is the restoration strategy that most improves structural attributes of a degraded edge of a tropical seasonal semideciduous forest fragment in southeastern Brazil, relative to cutting and the absence of management (control). Linear mixed models revealed that, after an eight-year period, cutting + planting resulted in the highest decrease in the density and basal area of climbers longer than 1 m, and in the highest increase in the density of large living trees (diameter at breast height, DBH, ≥ 4.8 cm). Although cutting + planting decreased the percentage of large dead trees and increased tree sapling (DBH < 4.8 cm and total height ≥ 50 cm) richness, these variables were more affected by cutting. Management had no effect on the basal area of large living trees and tree sapling density. Because most structural attributes of the degraded edge studied were improved by cutting + planting, we advocate that it is the best strategy tested here for restoring tropical seasonal forests. We hypothesize that seedling planting improves forest conditions and stimulates recruitment, facilitating the regeneration of tree species. Thus, an interesting future avenue is to elucidate the mechanisms by which seedling planting affects regeneration and its long-lasting effects on forest structural attributes.