Tree Growth and Regeneration in Quintana Roo (Mexico); Implication for Sustainable Forestry and Biodiversity

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An interdisciplinary project on sustainable forestry in tropical dry forests in Quintana Roo (QR), Mexico will be conducted. The project will help to implement and evaluate the Plan Piloto Forestal. Data on tree growth and regeneration will improve a computer-based model that has been developed to plan tree cutting rotations. The impacts of sustainable forestry on the local avifauna, an important component of biodiversitiy, will also be evaluated. The project has four primary objectives: (1) quantify species- specific growth rates of commercially important tree species, with an emphasis on the influence of soil type and between-year differences in rainfall, (2) quantify natural regeneration of commercially important species with an emphasis on seed production and seedling establishment, survival, and growth, (3) evaluate the use of a silvicultural treatment "refinement" to enhance the growth of commercially important species by removal of their neighbors, and (4) evaluate the effects of selective logging on the abundance and species composition of the local avifauna.