Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/btp.13135
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Harvesting has variable effects on demographic rates and population growth across three dry forest tree species
Author Neeraja, U.V.; Saneesh, C.S. ORCID logo ; Dyda, V.; Reddy, H.; Yadama, G.N.; Knight, T.M.
Source Titel Biotropica
Year 2022
Department BZF; iDiv
Volume 54
Issue 6
Page From 1376
Page To 1389
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mcvdnck27
Supplements https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.1111%2Fbtp.13135&file=btp13135-sup-0001-supinfo.docx
Keywords demography; eastern Ghats; harvesting; integral projection models; trees; tropical dry forest
Abstract Understanding how anthropogenic activities, such as harvesting, influence plant populations is important to quantify sustainable practices that conserve species of socioeconomic importance. There is limited knowledge on how harvesting of branches and non-timber forest products affect populations of trees in the dry tropics. We measure demographic vital rates of three dry tropical tree species in the presence and absence of harvesting and apply integral projection models to quantify population growth rates, which represent the mean fitness across the life cycle. Our results show that the three species vary in their demographic rates and life history. Harvesting significantly decreases the growth of two species. Current levels of harvesting only significantly decreased the population growth rate of one species that experienced both branch and main stem harvesting. Life table response experiments reveal that the negative effect of harvesting on the population growth rate of this species is primarily due to individuals being forced to re-sprout from their base. Few individuals were observed recruiting from seed, and this might be due to the presence of other threats, such as fire, soil erosion, and grazing. Our results provide knowledge on the demography and the effects of harvesting on endemic tree species of the Eastern Ghats, a region for which few demographic studies are available. These results are relevant to conserving forest biodiversity for the benefits of people and can contribute to quantitative threat assessment for IUCN red listing.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=26400
Neeraja, U.V., Saneesh, C.S., Dyda, V., Reddy, H., Yadama, G.N., Knight, T.M. (2022):
Harvesting has variable effects on demographic rates and population growth across three dry forest tree species
Biotropica 54 (6), 1376 - 1389 10.1111/btp.13135