Little effects of reduced-impact logging on insect communities in eastern Amazonia

Selective logging has become a major source of threats to tropical forest, bringing challenges for both ecologists and managers to develop low-impact forestry. Reduced-impact logging (RIL) is a prominent activity accounting for such forestry practices to prevent strong forest disturbances. Our aims...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental monitoring and assessment 2016-07, Vol.188 (7), p.441-441, Article 441
Main Authors: Nogueira, Denis Silva, Calvão, Lenize Batista, de Assis Montag, Luciano Fogaça, Juen, Leandro, De Marco, Paulo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic insects
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Biodiversity
Brazil
Conservation of Natural Resources - methods
Deforestation
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecotoxicology
Environment
Environmental conditions
Environmental Management
Environmental monitoring
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Forestry
Forests
Heterogeneity
Insecta - classification
Insecta - growth & development
Land degradation
Monitoring/Environmental Analysis
Riparian vegetation
Sediments
Species richness
Streams
Trees
Tropical forests
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Summary:Selective logging has become a major source of threats to tropical forest, bringing challenges for both ecologists and managers to develop low-impact forestry. Reduced-impact logging (RIL) is a prominent activity accounting for such forestry practices to prevent strong forest disturbances. Our aims were to evaluate the effects of RIL on insect communities of forested streams from Eastern Amazon and to test the hypothesis of negative effects of RIL on species richness, abundance, and functional feeding groups of aquatic insect assemblages. Neither of the evaluated metrics of the studied assemblages were negatively affected by RIL. Environmental metrics, such as substrate heterogeneity, woody canopy cover, and hill slope height, varied more among RIL streams than in reference streams, indicating a gradient according to logging impacts, and are suitable candidates to monitor RIL impacts in Amazonian streams. In addition, the PHI index also varied among REF and RIL, according to age class and year of logging, which could reflect trends to recover the forest structure after logging in a time frame of only 10 years. We conclude that RIL impacts have not had detrimental impacts on insect communities, but have changed little of the environmental conditions, especially of the riparian vegetation around streams.
ISSN:0167-6369
1573-2959
DOI:10.1007/s10661-016-5431-z