day in many South and Southeast platedthe silvicultureof Asiancountries--along with all the complexmoist tropical administrative foibles of the time A forests,their firstimpulsewasto re- wealthof grayliterature fromthisreplacethechaos withpureplantations, search hassinceaccumulated in jouron rea methodtheyhad learnedfrom the nals,research records, internalreports, )actson the residual forreforestation of treeless European lands andunpublished manuscripts. G•ven thathadbeendegraded bycenturies of thesitespecificity of muchof thismahistorical records andregrazingandfarming.This approach terial,therearenowlargedifferences search suggests thatincertain circumstances hasworkedfairlywellunderfavorable amongregionsandcountries in the shelterwood systems andtheirvariants that siteconditions in the moisttropics, tropicsregarding theecological andsfiprovide both structural andage-class diver- but only wherenaturalforestshad viculturalknowledge basefor forest sitycanbeappropriate. Wegive examples of beenvirtuallyeliminatedby human management. Forexample, mosttropsuch systems inIndia, SriLanka, and useor sitepreparation. The opportu- icalforestregionsin the Neotrop•cs Malaysia. nity costsof suchlandsin Asiatoday and Central Africa have little or no mseldomfavorforestry. formationcomparedto SouthAs•a In the19thandearly20thcentury, (India and Sri Lanka)and partsof tropicalsilviculture grewits firstroots Southeast Asia(Malaysia). By Mark S.Ashton in South Asia and to a lesser extent in and Charles M. Peters Muchof thissilvicultural knowledge FrancophoneCentral Africa and has been documented in a form that is British West and East Africa. At the notwidelyaccessible, borneoutby the sametime, North Americawas under- lackof acknowledgment thisworkregoingrepeated waves offorestexploita- ceives fromcontemporary researchers on tion from eastto west. In the 1850s the tropical forestmanagement. Todayfor- hen foresters first contem- Indian Forest Service was founded under the direction of Sir Dietrich esters and researchers envision most Asiantropical forests ashaving balanced Brandis in response to overexploitationuneven-aged stands, andasbeingmanof high-qualitytimbers,particularly aged accordingly, almost totheexclusion teak.In hisclassic workon initiating of anyotherapproach. Unfortunately, forestryin BritishIndia, Brandisde- manyof the mistakes madewith unscribed thepotential direction forsilvi- even-aged silviculture in tropical As•aat culturalresearch, including a focuson the turn of thecentury(Wyatt-Smith nontimberforestproducts, farmand 1963)havebeenforgotten, andasa revillagesubsistence crops,andcommu- suitarebeingrepeated. Thispaperatnityforests, aswellasthehigh-quality temptsto clarifysomeof themoresuctimbers(Brandis1897). cessful attempts ateven-aged silviculture, Althoughforestryandsilviculture and theirvariations with several age research startedin regions thatwere classes (double-cohort) in moisttropical largelyexploited forforestproducts by forests ofAsia,drawing onexamples of colonialgovernments, the establish- historicalwork relevantto current issues mentof a rudimentary localmanage- in tropical forest management. ment and research infrastructure en- suredsomeemphasis on thedevelop- SelectiveLogging The term "selective"was first coined mentof sustainable forestrypractice. These institutions have lasted to this to describe thepartialcuttingof west14 November 1999 ern North Americanforestsduring ularuneven-aged systems theirfirstperiods of exploitation, and (multiple-cohort) in parts before markets for lessvaluable timbers of GermanyandJapanathad developed(Hawley 1935). The test (Smith et al. 1997). term is also used to describe the various Thoughwidelyappliedin policies of selectivity thatextendovera thetropics,therearefew whole range of concerns(or lack examplesof successful thereof)aboutlong-term management selection regeneration of thestand.In thepast30 years,"se- methodsfor moisttropi-:., lective"hasbeenintentionally usedin cal forests in Asia. Most Southeast Asiato describe repeated di- documented examples ameter-limit cuttings at cyclical inter- have been indigenous vals, so-called polycyclicfellings '•tree garden" systems thate .... (Whitmore 1990). Planned intervals arehighly laborintensive, •_ betweenentriesinto the forestrange from 15 to 30 years,basedon the assumptionthat the removalof large canopytreesautomatically releases existingseedlings andsaplings of dift•rentsizes(andby implication different ageclasses) to formbalanced, all-sized .somuchsothattending= stands(Smith et al. 1997). uesdrivetreespecies se- shown are valuable timber or nontimber resources. lection,thesesystems are usuallyemployed in smallstandsthat waterto gaineconomicreturns. havebeenownedand passed down For largercommercial operations, from individual to individual within thecontinuous monitoring andtendcommunities or families,alongwith ingof uneven-aged stands canbeprobconsiderable knowledge of thesystem lematic.This primarilyrelatesto unitself(forexample, PadochandPeters derstanding thediameter distributions 1993; Pelusoand Padoch 1996). The of thetotalstand,theindividual popumostsuccessful uneven-aged selection lationsthatcompose it, andthesizesystems documented in Asiaareprac- specificratesof growthof individual ticedby smallholderswho are more trees.The shapeof diameterdistribuconcerned with annualyieldsof non- tionsof manvrainforests in tropical timberforestproducts thanwith pro- Asia have been characterized as a reducinga reliable,long-termsupplyof verseJ (Whirmore1990). Likemany sawlogs. other regions(O'Hara 1998), reIt is still too earlyto tell whether searchers in Asiantropicalforests have thereverse J sizeclass distrithesesystems can be practicaland associated commercially viableona largescale.It butionwithallageclasses beingrepreisunlikelythatcommercial enterprises sentedequallywithin a stand.Howwill beableto generate enough profit ever,thisis not necessarily relatedto fromtimberalone,sotheymusttry to age-class distributionasis frequently capturesufficientservicevaluefrom assumed, with the small individuals recreation,carbonsequestration, or beingyoungandthelargeronesold. Sincethe 1980sthesesystems have beentoutedin tropicalAsiaasan ecological harvesting regime that,if properlydone,canhavea lowimpactonthe remaining growing stockandcanpromote the foreststructure(size-class dis- tribution)and dynamicthat manyof theseforestsare perceivedto have (Pinard et al. 1995; Pinard and Putz 1996; Primacket al. 1987a, b). These systems alsohavegreatpoliticaland commercial supporton publiclands: entries intoa forestthatareguided bya diameter-limit cuttingto extractthe largest treesgenerate largeinitialfinancialreturns(Howardet al. 1996). In ad- dition,highdiscount ratesfavora reduction in thelength of thefellingcycle. Hature'$ Bookkeeping The lesscomplex thestandmixture the easierit is to recordmixturedynamics, asthesimple mixtures of irreg- isalmostat theindividual•' tree level. These systems • representalmost com- A communityforest managedunder a singletree pleteanalogsof natural selectionsystem(tembawang)in West Kalimantan, self-thinningprocesses.Indonesia.More than I O0speciesper hectareare But because human val- managedin these"tree garden"systems.All trees Journalof Forestry A B Species withdifferent growthratesthat occupydifferentstratawithintheforest (groundstory, understory,subcanopy,canopy, emergent) canall be thesameageandstillhavea combined diameterdistributionof a reverseJ. This commonphenomenon hasbeen documented in mixedmoisttemperate standsthatareeven-aged (Oliverand Figure I. Static stratification. Top:A profile of a mature (more than I O0 yearsold) mixeddipterocarp stand,Sinharaja Forest, Sri Lanka. Below:A simplifieddiameter distribution C for the Larson1996; Smith et al. 1997). speciesdominantscorrespondingto the profile. The profile comprises Shoreamegistophylla (A•canopy and emergent tree), {;arcinia Conceptually, twospecies stratification processes cancontributeto the creationof a reverse J for even-aged stands. The firstprocess includes those long-lived species thatoccupy different vertical strata within a mature forest stand. We refer to this as "static" strat- hermoni (Bmsubcanopy tree), Humboltia laurifolia ification(eventhoughtheprocess actuallyisdynamic)(fig.1), withunderstoryspecies representing smallerand (C-•a smalltree of the understory),and Agrostistachysbookeri (D--groundstoryshrub). The specieslisted correspondapproximatelyin growthhabit to northern B more numerous red oak, sassafras,iron- respectively. I than the true canopyand emergentspecies. Strong static stratification wouldbeexhibitedwhentreemixtureswith very differentgrowth habits grow intimatelytogether. A temperate example wouldbea mixturecomprising witch hazel (understoryshrub),ironwood wood, and witch hazel, Diameterat breastheight diameters 2 3 A B C Diameterat breastheight Figure2. Dynamicstratification.Left:A photographicprofileof a 15-year-oldmixeddipterocarpstandin stemexclusion phase,SinharajaForest,SriLanka.Thephotographprovidesa snapshotof an earlyphaseof standdevelopment with the pioneer/•acarangapeltata (A) in the canopy,mid-seralShoreatrapezifolia(B) in the subcanopy, and late-seralShorea megistophylla (C) in the understory. Thespecieslistedare approximatelyequivalentin light toleranceto paperbirch, northernred oak,and sugarmaple,respectively. Speciesrepresentative of truly below-canopy growthhabits(thosethat comprisethe different"static"strata in a mature stand)are alsopresentin the understorydepictedin this photograph. I•ight:A simplifieddepictionof the hypotheticalchangein diameterdistributionsfor the tree speciesthat attain the canopyat early,middle,and late phasesof standdevelopment( I-•stem exclusion stageat I Syears;2--stemexclusion stageat about 45 years;3---understoryinitiation stageat about 80 years). 16 November 1999 (understory tree),sassafras (subcanopyovertimeisfarmoreimportantto the issue of sustainable silviculture than is tree),andoak(canopy tree). The second process involves species appearance. Expandingour appreciadevelopment froma single of different developmental status tionof forest (Swaineand Whitmore 1988) that se- canopy gaptothelevelofa stand forfiquentiallygain dominanceof the nancialandmanagement purposes incanopy withall species originating or evitably suggests theuseof shelterwood beingreleased togetherfollowingan regeneration methods. The developinitialdisturbance. A temperate exam- mentanduseof suchsystems in South plewouldbewherepin cherryattains andSoutheast Asiahasa longhistory the canopyof the mixtureearlyin andprovides a strong casefortheirfustanddevelopment, but itspositionin turedevelopment andpromotion. the canopyis usurpedfirst by black As with any silviculturalsystem, birchandthenbyredoak.Wecallthis there are constraints to the use ofshelThis methodcanonly be process "dynamic" stratification (_fig. terwoods. 2). Bothstratification processes occur practiced successfully in standswith together overthecourse ofstanddevel- highmerchantable volumes ofvaluable opmentfollowing initiation,stemex- timber(> 40 m3perhectare) thathave clusion,understoryreinitiation,and diversifiedmarkets,which enablessilold-growthphasesas described by vicultural treatments to be done at a A one-cut shelterwood that released Oliver and Larson(1996). profit.Shelterwoods aremostsuitable advancedregenerationof dipterocarp The majorityof the canopybasal for ensuringthe establishment and trees in lowlandmixeddipterocarp The areain Asiantropicalforests is repre- thenrelease of advance regeneration in forestat SungelMenyala,Mala¾sia. sented bytreespecies thatarerelatively foreststhat havecanopydominants advancedregenerationwaswellestabshade-intolerant andthatproduce pe- thatmast,andthusrequiresubstantial lished,allowingthe overstoryto be reriodiccarpets of advance regenerationincreases in light for regeneration movedin one cutting operation.When at theforestgroundstory asa resultof growth.Examples of simplesystems, this photographwastaken the released mastfruiting.The advance regenera- whereadvance regeneration exists be- advancedregenerationhad createda tionof someof thesespecies maysur- forefinalcanopy removal, aretheone- new even-agedstand that wasnow 30 suchas the Malay yearsold and wasin the stemexclusion vivebeneath a dosedforestcanopy for cut shelterwoods morethan 15 years,but mostsurvive UniformSystemfor Shorea leprosula stage(Oliverand Larson1996). no morethanoneor twoyears(Liew and Dryobalanops aromatica (WyattandWong1973;Ashtonet al. 1995). Smith1963);thesystem adoptedfor eration before overstory removal In allcases theregeneration onlysatis- Dipterocarpus and zeylanicus stands in low- througha varietyof preparatory factorily establishes afterrelease froma land southwest Sri Lanka (Holmes establishment treatments to the forest disturbance. 1957);andtheoverstory removalsys- stand.Both uniform and irregular temadopted formoistsalforests (S.ro- shelterwood systems havebeendevelbusta)in Uttar Pradesh,India (Joshi opedfor theAndamans Shelterwoodsfor Regeneration (Chengappa havebeensuc- 1944), Western Ghats (Kadambi Theshelterwood method of regen- 1980).Thesesystems eration can be defined as a set of silviSri cessful in largepartbecause thesefor- 1954),andcurrentlyin southwest culturalmanipulations appliedat the esttypesaredominated by oneor two Lanka(Ashtonet al. 1993). For Chenscale of the stand and focused toward light-demanding timberspecies that gappa's system in theAndamans, the establishingadvance regeneration regenerateprolifically.Such forest understory isgradually liftedin a series whenabsent at theforestgroundstory,typesareusuallyrestricted to the flat of preparatory andestablishment cutandthenreleasing thisregeneration as landsandterraces alongrivers,andto tingsthatallowadvance regeneration coastal lowlands of the Asian moist a singlecohortonceit ispresent. to firstestablish andthengrowto pole The use of various kinds of sheltertropics. Theselandsarealsothemost sizes beforecanopy overstory removal. woodsas a silvicultural regeneration susceptible to clearance foragriculture FortheWestern Ghatforests of Coorg, methodin Asiahaslargelybeenig- because theirsoilsarefertileandeasy the partialremovalof the overhead nored,mostlybecause of ourconcern to work. canopyandthe complete removalof for what we think forest structure The inadequate representation of the understory is necessary to secure should looklike.Selectively takingthe advanceregeneration in the more regeneration, afterwhichtheremoval largest, mostvaluable trees--adesirable fioristically complex uplands of tropi- of theremaining canopy treesisnecespractice economically--is perceived as calAsialed to development of more sary. In southwest SriLankathedegree compatible withminimizing damage to classical shelterwoods and their variof intensity of canopy removal changes the remaining foreststructure. How- ants,andawayfromone-cutsystems. with topographic position.Suchsysever,maintainingforestproductivity Classicalshelterwoods purposefully temscaterto morevariedrangesof andensuring continued development ensure establishment ofadvance regen- speciesshadetolerance,and to the Journalof Forestry 17 theforestthatcanbetapped forsyrup afterabout20 years. Whencombined, thesenontimberforestproductscan double the income from a stand man- agedin a shelterwood systemthatis primarilymanaged for timberalone (Ashtonet al. 1999). Conclusion In the right circumstances, evenagedsilviculture canmakebiological and economic sense.All too often sil- viculturists and ecologists haveslavishlyimitatedthescales of disturbance that natureuses,eventhoughthese maybelogistically impossible to replicategiventhekindof machinery and economies thatwehavetoday.A fresh perspective andbetterinsightsabout standdynamics in tropical forests often Thisphotographfrom a Sri LankanForestReserveillustratesthe natureof the leadto moreeconomical andbiologiridge-valleytopographyof uplanddipterocarpforestsin Southand Southeast callycompatible silvicultural systems. Asia.In this instancethe wholeslopehasbeenregeneratedwith an irregular This perspective will becomeincreasshelterwood.The numberof reservesretainedin the overstoryincreaseswith inglyimportant in futuremanagement standsthat progress upslopefrom valleyto ridge.Thiswasdoneto accommodate scenarios when tropicalforestsare the regenerationof moreshade-tolerantdipterocarpspecieson the ridgeas mostly restrictedto uplands,with comparedto thosespeciesin the valley.Thevalleystandcanbe consideredan landsthataremarginal for agriculture overstoryremoval;the midslopeandridgestandshaveapproximately25 percent andplantation crops, wherecosts will and50 percent,respectively, of the basalarearemainingasreserves.Thesubcanopy be minimized,andmultiplevalues of of all the standshasbeenremoved.The releasedregenerationis now I 5 yearsold. products (timber,fuel,nontimber forThe reservesin the two-cohortstandsof the midslopeand ridgeare intendedto estproducts) andservices (water,recrebe removed at the end of the next rotation. ation)mustbegarnered fromthesame forest stand to make the whole forest viable. changes in siteproductivity andspecies standsin shelterwoodsystemsare economically Some of the environmental services composition associated with thetopo- therefore lesssusceptible to theopporfromupland graphic complexity of uplandhills. tunisticvinegrowthandchronicsup- (suchaswater)garnered pressionof regeneration from in- forests mightappearto beincompatiIntegrity EqualsIncome sysgrowthof olderageclasses, whichpro- ble with the useof shelterwood By definitionshelterwoods createa videsenormous deadvantages in allowing tems.This apparentcontradiction someclarification. We emphalarge-scale disturbance andsimplify the canopysortingof complexmixtures serves of carefulanalysis age-class distribution andstructure ofa overa brief,albeitunsighdy, periodof sizetheimportance stand. Observations of shelterwood aesin trade-offs between one-time severe earlystanddevelopment. thetics afterrecentrelease onlyaccentufollowedby roadandtrail Facilitating therelease of specific age incursions, atepeople's dislikefor suchsystems. It classes canpermitthecapture of other abandonment(roads are a major to reisimportant topointout,however, that resources,such as nontimber forest sourceof erosion),ascompared shelterwoods providea moreuniform products,that maturesequentially as peatedbut lesssevere incursions that crowncanopyenvironment thatfacili- partofthedevelopment ofthese stands. rely on a permanentand expansive in SriLankawehavebeen road and trail network. tatesself-thinning andmoves thestand Forexample, throughthe stem-exclusion phase(a exploring thecultivation of cardamom Severallessons supportmanagein evencritical periodforspecies sorting) with- (Elletariaensal),a fastgrowingherb mentof tropicalforeststands for spice agedmixtures. outresidual damage caused byperiodic whosefruit canbeharvested Forexample, thenotion canbetreatedas intrusions fromselective logging. Selec- duringthefirstfiveyearsaftercanopy thatdifferentspecies tivelogging canpromote significant en- removal;rattan (Calamusthwaitesii),a if theywereof different agedasses simvironmental damage, particularly when climbing palmthatascends withthede- plydoesnotfit thewaymixedstands economic justifications aremadeto re- velopingcanopyin stemexclusion develop because of interspecific differducefellingcycles andhenceincrease phase andcanbeharvested forfurniture encesin ratesof heightgrowth.Prerepeated incursions intothestandthat andbasketry after15 years:andkitul tendingthatthelow-value species in disruptstanddevelopment. Treated (Caryota urens), a subcanopy palmof the subcanopyare young growing 18 November 1999 Car•ota urens A--kitul palm Calamuszeylanicus B--climbingpalm Elletaria ensal C---understoryherb cardamom 121-36.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press. D. 1897.Indianj•restry. London: Empire stockmayreducecosts, butit doesnot BRANDIS, Press. PINARD, M.A.,andEE.PUTZ. 1996.Retaining forest truly releaseadvanceregeneration. CHENGAP?^, B.S. 1944.The Andamanforests andtheir biomass byreducing logging damage. Biotropica 29: This phenomenon ringsfamiliarto 278-95. regeneration. TheIndian Forester 70:450-611. forestersin North America,wheresim- I-I•WLE¾, R.C.1935.Practice ofsilviculmre. 3rded.New ilarlessons werelearned aboutspecies York:JohnWiley& Sons. C.H. 1957.Thenatural regeneration ofwet mixturesin the temperate mixedoak HOLMES, anddryevergreen forests ofCeylon. TheCeylon For- forestsof the east(Oliver and Larson 1996; Smith et al. 1997; Miller and Kochenderfer1998; O'Hara 1998). Theshelterwood principle ofrelying on advance regeneration ensures that thestandalways hasplantsin placeto wardoffusurpation byexplosions ofinvasive pioneerspecies thatcanexclude regeneration oftimberspecies afterthey have been eliminated. 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