The objective of this study was to characterize and compare the structure of 4-year old secondary forests that were established after the use of two different systems of elimination of forest coverage: i) the alternative system (SA) on which plant biomass is only triturated, and ii) the traditional system (ST) which uses fire. The study was conducted out in the Bragantina area, northeastern Pará state, Brazil. For each land use system we selected three areas in which four 15-m² (3 X 5 m) plots were randomly established to. Mean diversity (H') was of 2.94 for SA and 3.32 for ST, mean density was 459,556 ind. ha-1 in SA and 466,833 ind. ha-1 in ST, mean basal area of the superior stratum in SA was 8.48 m² ha-1 and the one of ST was 3.07 m² ha-1. There were statistical differences (ANOVA; P < 0.05) in vertical structure parameters and biomass. We conclude that SA management technique facilitates the development of the structure arboreal component.
Diversity; Slash-burn agriculture; Slash-mulch agriculture
