DAY NINE: SECONDARY FOREST RESEARCH

• SAO FRANSISCO DO PARA SITE

• THE MANFLORA PROJECT

Project description and
discussion at Sao Fransisco site.

At San Fransisco do Para we oboserved secondary forest patches of different ages. Comparisons of the species compositions forest patches revealed higher plant diversity in older secondary forests.

Research at the Manflora Project focuses on nutrient and moisture limitations during the successional development of forest ecosystems. In current experiments, nutrient stress is increased through litterfall removal and moisture stress is reduced by irrigating during the dry season. The effects of these treatments on ecosystem processes such as photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, and carbon accumulation and allocation are measured, and will help reveal how moisture and nutrient stress affect secondary forest growth.