Regeneration in Terminalia oblonga (Combretaceae) -: A common timber tree from a humid tropical forest (La Chonta, Bolivia)

Terminalia oblonga (Ruiz et Pav.) Steud. is a common timber tree in lowland Latin America which is widely utilized and economically and ecologically valuable. The species suffers from reduced natural recruitment but the control of regeneration by environmental factors is incompletely understood. In the forest management plots of the BOLFOR project (La Chonta, Bolivia) we investigated the effects of soil disturbance, litter layer and canopy openness on seedling emergence and survival. Soil disturbance and a thin litter layer favoured seedling emergence, disturbance had also a positive effect on seedling survival, whereas canopy openness had no significant effect on emergence but influenced survival positively. The results are discussed with respect to the life history traits of T oblonga and forest regeneration, which need to be considered for implementation of sustainable logging strategies and forest conservation. It is concluded that the regeneration of T oblonga is favoured by moderate logging although the long-term effects need further research. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.