@Article{BerenguerGFAMTVB:2018:UsWoDe,
               author = "Berenguer, Erika and Gardner, Toby Alan and Ferreira, Joice and 
                         Arag{\~a}o, Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Cruz de and Mac Nally, Ralph 
                         and Thomson, James R. and Vieira, Ima C{\'e}lia Guimar{\~a}es 
                         and Barlow, Jos",
          affiliation = "{University of Oxford} and {Stockholm Environment Institute} and 
                         {Embrapa Amaz{\^o}nia Oriental} and {Instituto Nacional de 
                         Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {University of Canberra} and 
                         {University of Canberra} and {Museu Paraense Em{\'{\i}}lio 
                         Goeldi} and {Lancaster University}",
                title = "Seeing the woods through the saplings: using wood density to 
                         assess the recovery of human\‐modified Amazonian forests",
              journal = "Journal of Ecology",
                 year = "2018",
               volume = "106",
               number = "6",
                pages = "2190--2203",
                month = "Nov.",
             keywords = "Amazon, degradation, edge effects, lianas, recovery, succession, 
                         wood density.",
             abstract = "1. Most of the world's remaining tropical forests have been 
                         affected by either selective logging, understorey fires, 
                         fragmentation or are regrowing in areas that were previously 
                         deforested. Despite the ubiquity of these human-modified forests, 
                         we have a limited knowledge of their potential to recover key 
                         traits linked to ecosystem processes and consequent services. 2. 
                         Here we present data from 31,095 trees and saplings distributed 
                         across 121 plots of undisturbed and disturbed primary forests as 
                         well as secondary forests in the eastern Amazon. We examined the 
                         post-disturbance recovery trajectory of an important plant 
                         functional trait, wood density. We tested whether human-modified 
                         Amazonian forests are experiencing a rapid or a slow, or even 
                         impeded, recovery of this trait, which is associated with the 
                         provision of a fundamental ecosystem service-carbon storage. 3. As 
                         expected, we found that the plot-level wood density of trees and 
                         saplings in disturbed primary and secondary forests was 
                         significantly lower than in undisturbed forests. However, there 
                         was no significant difference in the average wood density of 
                         saplings between disturbed primary and secondary forests, possibly 
                         indicating a process of secondarization. We also found evidence 
                         that the recovery of wood density in human-modified forests is 
                         being severely disrupted due to edge effects (in the case of 
                         disturbed primary forests) and high liana densities (in the case 
                         of both disturbed primary and secondary forests). Surprisingly, 
                         these two factors were more important predictors of wood density 
                         recovery than the time elapsed since the disturbance event. 4. 
                         Synthesis. Plant communities in human-modified Amazonian forests 
                         appear to not be recovering a key functional property-wood 
                         density, which in turn may affect their ability to store carbon in 
                         the future. If the aim of conservation programs in tropical 
                         forests is to maintain existing rates of ecosystem functions, 
                         processes and services, then they must concentrate efforts on 
                         avoiding anthropogenic disturbance in areas of currently 
                         undisturbed forests. It is also vital to prevent further 
                         disturbance in human-modified forests to avoid disrupting even 
                         more their recovery.",
                  doi = "10.1111/1365-2745.12991",
                  url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12991",
                 issn = "0022-0477",
             language = "en",
           targetfile = "berenguer_seeing.pdf",
        urlaccessdate = "27 abr. 2024"
}