Demographic Threats to the Sustainability of Brazil Nut Exploitation

A comparative analysis of 23 populations of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) across the Brazilian, Peruvian, and Bolivian Amazon shows that the history and intensity of Brazil nut exploitation are major determinants of population size structure. Populations subjected to persistent levels o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2003-12, Vol.302 (5653), p.2112-2114
Main Authors: Peres, Carlos A., Baider, Claudia, Zuidema, Pieter A., Lúcia H. O. Wadt, Kainer, Karen A., Daisy A. P. Gomes-Silva, Salomão, Rafael P., Simões, Luciana L., Eduardo R. N. Franciosi, Valverde, Fernando Cornejo, Gribel, Rogério, Shepard, Glenn H., Kanashiro, Milton, Coventry, Peter, Yu, Douglas W., Watkinson, Andrew R., Freckleton, Robert P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Bertholletia - anatomy & histology
Bertholletia - growth & development
Bertholletia excelsa
Biological and medical sciences
Bolivia
Brazil
Brazil nut
Brazil nuts
Causes of
Comparative Analysis
Computer Simulation
Conservation of Natural Resources
Crop harvesting
Crops, Agricultural
Deforestation
Ecological sustainability
Ecosystem
Forest conservation
Forest ecology
Forest management. Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration
Forestry
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Models, Statistical
Nuts
Old growth forests
Peru
Population
Population Density
Population parameters
Population size
Principal Component Analysis
Protection and preservation
Regression Analysis
Size distribution
Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration
Statistics
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Time Factors
Trees
United Kingdom
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Summary:A comparative analysis of 23 populations of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) across the Brazilian, Peruvian, and Bolivian Amazon shows that the history and intensity of Brazil nut exploitation are major determinants of population size structure. Populations subjected to persistent levels of harvest lack juvenile trees less than 60 centimeters in diameter at breast height; only populations with a history of either light or recent exploitation contain large numbers of juvenile trees. A harvesting model confirms that intensive exploitation levels over the past century are such that juvenile recruitment is insufficient to maintain populations over the long term. Without management, intensively harvested populations will succumb to a process of senescence and demographic collapse, threatening this cornerstone of the Amazonian extractive economy.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1091698