Forest Restoration Evaluation Through Indicators in Areas of Bauxite Mining

Ribeiro, Sabrina Santos; Oliveira, Francisco de Assis; Ferreira, Gracialda Costa; Santos, Daniel Estumano; Cruz, Denis Conrado

doi:10.1590/2179-8087.081217

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Original Article, Conservation of Nature • Floresta Ambient. 26 (3) • 2019 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2179-8087.081217 copy

Forest Restoration Evaluation Through Indicators in Areas of Bauxite Mining

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

The state of Pará ranks second in Brazilian mineral production, where bauxite accounts for 84% of total mineral extraction, with negative impacts on the environment as a result. The determination of objectives and targets using environmental indicators as a tool to evaluate forest restoration processes is essential in the recovery of these exploited areas. This study aimed at evaluating the efficiency of forest restoration techniques by means of 13 qualitative and quantitative indicators for monitoring post-bauxite mining operations. Permanent plots were implanted in revegetated areas with the use of two techniques: planting of seedlings and stewarding of natural regeneration. It is concluded that the techniques are efficient for the recovery of forested area. However, natural regeneration showed greater efficiency for restoration for Density, Erosion and Exotic Species indicators. Still, natural regeneration should not be the sole option in the processes of ecosystem restoration, since planting proved to be more efficient for some indicators.

Keywords:
mining; forest succession; topsoil

EVALUATION INDICATORS	DESCRIPTION
STRUCTURE	Assess the formation of forest cover in the area
Recovery of Structure and composition of vegetation	Evaluate the resilience power of the area and the vertical and horizontal distribution.
Degree of cover/shading	Evaluate the percentage of soil cover from the crown shade.
Presence of natural regeneration	Evaluate the response of the forest succession process from the seed bank contained in the soil.
Presence of erosion	Evaluate the presence of laminar erosion, aiming to assess the degree of soil conservation.
Forest leaf litter	To evaluate the accumulation of organic matter in the soil, important to determine the viability of plantations that aim at restoring.
Density of plants	Evaluate the amount of individuals of shrub and tree species.
Diversity	Evaluate the proportion of individuals’ distribution between species, calculated by the Shannon diversity index (H').
Average plant height	Evaluate if the height of the plants is consistent with the age of the individuals.
Basal area	Assess the degree of cover of individuals, or space required by them.
MONITORING ECOLOGICAL TRAJECTORY	Monitor the ecological trajectory leading to restoring.
Maintenance of the Area under Recovery	To evaluate the dynamics of vegetation growth and mortality and the return of ecological processes.
Mortality	Evaluate the species that are most adapted to the environmental conditions of the area in the process of restoring.
Increase in Diameter	Quantify the rate of growth of plants.
Presence of non-invasive alien species	Evaluate the incidence of regional and exotic species and morphospecies to acknowledge the potential for biological invasion.
Presence of endangered species	Evaluate the species in the threat of extinction level.
Presence of traces of fauna return	Evaluate the return of wild fauna in the area under restoration, identifying traces of animals that act as agents in plant reproduction.

Indicator	Criterion	Score	Analysis	Reference
Degree of tree cover/shading	< 20%	0	Individuals with DBH ≥ 5.0 cm	Brancalion et al. (2015)Brancalion PHS, Gandolfi S, Rodrigues RR. Restauração florestal. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos; 2015.
	Between 20 and 50%	1
	Between 50 and 80%	2
	> 80%	3
Presence of natural regeneration	Presence	3	Qualitative
Presence of natural regeneration	Absence	0	Qualitative
Presence of erosion	Presence	0	Qualitative
Presence of erosion	Absence	3	Qualitative
Forest leaf litter	< 4.1 t ha^–1	0	Collection and weighing of litter	Luizão et al. (2014)Luizão F, Pashanasi-Amasifuen B, Del Castillo-Torres D, Lavelle P. Influência da massa e nutrientes da liteira sobre a composição dos macro-invertebrados em plantíos florestais na Amazônia peruana. Folia Amazónica 2014; 23(2): 171-186. http://dx.doi.org/10.24841/fa.v23i2.22. http://dx.doi.org/10.24841/fa.v23i2.22...
	Between 4.1 and 7.7 t ha^–1	1
	Between 7.7 and 9.4 t ha^–1	2
	> 9.4 t ha^–1	3
Density of plants	< 1500 ind.ha^–1	0	Individuals with Height ≥ 50.0 cm	Brancalion et al. (2015)Brancalion PHS, Gandolfi S, Rodrigues RR. Restauração florestal. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos; 2015.
	Between 1500 and 2000 ind.ha^–1	1
	Between 2001 and 3000 ind.ha^–1	2
	> 3000 ind.ha^–1	3
Diversity	< 1.0 nats ind^–1	0	All sampled individuals	Brancalion et al. (2015)Brancalion PHS, Gandolfi S, Rodrigues RR. Restauração florestal. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos; 2015.
	Between 1.1 and 2.0 nats ind^–1	1
	Between 2.1 and 3.0 nats ind^–1	2
	> 3.0 nats ind^–1	3
Average height	< 6.0 m	0	Individuals with DBH ≥ 5.0 cm	Salomão et al. (2012)Salomão RP, Vieira ICG, Brienza S Jr, Amaral DD, Santana AC. Sistema Capoeira Classe: uma proposta de sistema de classificação de estágios sucessionais de florestas secundárias para o estado do Pará. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Naturais 2012; 7: 297-317.
	Between 6.0 and 7.0 m	1
	Between 7 and 9 m	2
	> 9 m	3
Basal area	< 7.0 m² ha^–1	0	Individuals with DBH≥ 5.0cm	Salomão et al. (2012)Salomão RP, Vieira ICG, Brienza S Jr, Amaral DD, Santana AC. Sistema Capoeira Classe: uma proposta de sistema de classificação de estágios sucessionais de florestas secundárias para o estado do Pará. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Naturais 2012; 7: 297-317.
	Between 7.0 and 12.0 m² ha^–1	1
	Between 13.0 & 19.0 m² ha^–1	2
	> 19.0 m² ha^–1	3
Mortality	> 10%	0	Individuals with DBH ≥ 5.0 cm	Brancalion et al. (2015)Brancalion PHS, Gandolfi S, Rodrigues RR. Restauração florestal. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos; 2015.
	Between 5.1 and 10%	1
	Between 3.1 and 5%	2
	Between < 3%	3
Increase in Diameter	< 0.3 cm year^–1	0	All individuals with 5 measurements	Salomão et al. (2014)Salomão RP, Brienza S Jr, Rosa NA. Dinâmica de reflorestamento em áreas de restauração após mineração em unidade de conservação na Amazônia. Revista Árvore 2014; 38(1): 1-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-67622014000100001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-67622014... ; Oliveira (1998)Oliveira LC. Dinâmica de crescimento e regeneração natural de uma floresta secundária no Estado do Pará. In: Ecology and Management of Tropical Secondary Forest: Science, People, and Policy: Proceedings of a Conference Held at CATIE; 1997; Costa Rica. Costa Rica: Bib. Orton IICA/CATIE; 1998. p. 69. (vol. 4).
	Between 0.3 and 0.5 cm year^–1	1
	Between 0.6 and 0.7 cm year^–1	2
	> 0.7 cm year^–1	3
Presence of non-invasive alien species	Presence	0	Qualitative	Brancalion et al. (2015)Brancalion PHS, Gandolfi S, Rodrigues RR. Restauração florestal. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos; 2015.
Presence of non-invasive alien species	Absence	3	Qualitative
Presence of endangered species	Presence	3	Qualitative	Brancalion et al. (2015)Brancalion PHS, Gandolfi S, Rodrigues RR. Restauração florestal. São Paulo: Oficina de Textos; 2015.
Presence of endangered species	Absence	0	Qualitative
Presence of traces of fauna return	Presence	3	Qualitative
Presence of traces of fauna return	Absence	0	Qualitative

Code	Indicator	Weight – Degree of relevance	Indicator Maximum Score	Maximum Final Score	Planting of Seedlings		Natural Regeneration
Code	Indicator	Weight – Degree of relevance	Indicator Maximum Score	Maximum Final Score	Obtained Score	Final Score	Obtained Score	Final Score
A	RECOVERY OF THE VEGETATION STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION
A.1	Diversity	3	3	9	3	9	2		6
A.2	Plant Density	3	3	9	0	0	3		9
A.3	Basal Area	2	3	6	0	0	3		6
A.4	Average Height	2	3	6	0	0	0		0
A.5	Degree of Coverage	3	3	9	2	6	2		6
A.6	Forest Leaf Litter	3	3	9	3	9	3		9
A.7	Presence of erosion	3	3	9	0	0	3		9
A.8	Presence of natural regeneration	3	3	9	3	9	3		9
B	MAINTENANCE OF THE RECOVERY AREA
B.1	Mortality	3	3	9	0	0	0		0
B.2	Diameter Increment	3	3	9	3	9	3		9
B.3	Presence of Exotic Species	2	3	6	0	0	3		6
B.4	Presence of Threatened Species	1	3	3	3	3	3		3
B.5	Signs of Wildlife Recovery	3	3	9	3	9	0		0
Final Score				102		54			72

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[1] Sabrina Santos RibeiroInstituto de Ciências Agrárias – ICA, Universidade Federal Rural da Amazonia – UFRA, Av. Presidente Tancredo Neves, 2501, Terra Firme, CEP 66077-530, Belém, PA, Brasil e-mail: sabrinaflorestal@hotmail.com