The tropical managed forests observatory: a research network addressing the future of tropical logged forests

Plinio Sist (1) , Ervan Rutishauser (2) , Marielos Pena-Claros (3) , Alexander Shenkin (4, 5) , Bruno Hérault (6) , Lilian Blanc (1) , Christopher Baraloto (6) , Fidele Baya (7) , Fabrice Benedet (1) , Katia Emidio da Silva (8) , Laurent Descroix (9) , Joice Nunes Ferreira (10) , Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury (1) , Marcelino Carneiro Guedes (11) , Ismail Bin Harun (12) , Riina Jalonen (13) , Milton Kanashiro (10) , Haruni Krisnawati (14) , Mrigesh Kshatriya (15) , Philippa Lincoln (16) , Lucas Mazzei (10) , Vincent Medjibe (17, 18) , Robert Nasi (15) , Marcus Vinicius N. d'Oliveira (19) , Luis C. de Oliveira (20) , Nicolas Picard (1) , Stephan Pietsch (21) , Michelle Pinard (22) , Hari Priyadi (23, 15) , Francis. E. Putz (24) , Ken Rodney (25) , Vivien Rossi (1) , Anand Roopsind (25) , Ademir Roberto Ruschel (10) , Nur Hajar Zamah Shari (12) , Cintia Rodrigues de Souza (8) , Farida Herry Susanty (14) , Eleneide Doff Sotta (11) , Marisol Toledo (26) , Edson Vidal (27) , Thales A. P. West (24) , Verginia Wortel (28) , Toshihiro Yamada (29)

1 UPR BSEF - Biens et services des écosystèmes forestiers tropicaux : l'enjeu du changement global
2 CarboForExpert
3 WUR - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]
4 School of Natural Resources & Environment
5 Environmental Change Institute, Centre for the Environment
6 UMR ECOFOG - Ecologie des forêts de Guyane
7 MEFCP - Ministère Centrafricain des Eaux, Forêts, Chasses et Pêches
8 Amazonia Central
9 Réserve de Montabo
10 Amazonia Oriental
11 Embrapa - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
12 FRIM - Forest Research Institute Malaysia
13 Biodiversity International
14 FORDA - Forestry Research and Development Agency
15 CIFOR - Center for International Forestry Research
16 LTS International
17 ANPN - Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux du Gabon
18 Nicholas School of the Environment
19 Embrapa Acre
20 Embrapa Acre, Rio Branco, Brazil
21 Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences
22 University of Aberdeen
23 Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre
24 Department of Biology
25 Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development
26 IBIF - Instituto Boliviano de Investigacion Forestal
27 Departamento de Ciencias Florestais
28 Biodiversity Department
29 Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences

While attention on logging in the tropics has been increasing, studies on the long-term effects of silviculture on forest dynamics and ecology remain scare and spatially limited. Indeed, most of our knowledge on tropical forests arises from studies carried out in undisturbed tropical forests. This bias is problematic given that logged and disturbed tropical forests are now covering a larger area than the so-called primary forests. A new network of permanent sample plots in logged forests, the Tropical managed Forests Observatory (TmFO), aims to fill this gap by providing unprecedented opportunities to examine long-term data on the resilience of logged tropical forests at regional and global scales. TmFO currently includes 24 experimental sites distributed across three tropical regions, with a total of 490 permanent plots and 921ha of forest inventories.

Mots clés: Biodiversity; Carbon cycle; Climate change; Ecosystem resilience; Logging; Silviculture; Tropical managed Forests Observatory; Tropical forests

Domaines: Biodiversité et Ecologie

Plinio Sist, Ervan Rutishauser, Marielos Pena-Claros, Alexander Shenkin, Bruno Hérault, et al.. The tropical managed forests observatory: a research network addressing the future of tropical logged forests. Applied Vegetation Science, 2015, 18 (1), pp.171-174. ⟨10.1111/avsc.12125⟩. ⟨hal-01204230⟩