Natural regeneration of forests in the condition of Guatemala, Central America

Lubomir Salek1, Jacobo Cotto2, Jorge Chapas2 1 Department of Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Science in Prague, Czech Republic 2 Instituto Nacional de Bosques (INAB), Guatemala

Natural regeneration is one of regeneration ways of forests. Before we get to the method of natural regeneration we should consider why we will use it and which benefits the method will bring to us. The crucial question is what we want to utilize from the forests. Predominantly timber seems to be the main product and timber means financial income for owners and naturally for the state indirectly from taxes and directly from state property of forest land. The value of timber is different; firewood is less paid then round wood and sawn wood is less paid then plywood, for instance. Considering the timber production, the target for each type of ownership is to get the maximal quality and quantity of timber provided the shortest time of rotation and the least amount of expenses spent during regeneration and tending. We could have the plantation with lot of investments and labor forces but with the short rotation time where the timber production is mainly oriented to pulpwood and sawn wood. In contrast, the timber for veneer and plywood is mainly obtained from natural forests. However, the rotation time in natural forests is longer than in intensive plantations. Although in tropical latitudes the forest rotation time is five times less than European areas, this means that in Guatemala, for instance, a pine tree arrive to its mature age in 30 years old meanwhile in Europe a tree of this gender last in average 125 years. If we speak about the forestry based on the natural forests using the natural processes we can name this type of forestry close-tonature forestry. The sylvicultural system is shelterwood. Close-to-nature forestry is not only forestry maintaining more or less other forest function but also it could be highly productive from economical point of view. We save the investments for plantation and for buying or producing seedlings. Even the rotation period is longer, a couple of year is saved because the new stand generation starts its life under the canopy of mature forests. The tending has its own production firewood or pulpwood - and it can be done by local people, even poor people who otherwise cause illegal harvest for getting the firewood. During the tending the structure of forests is influenced in favor of various function and production such as the creation of two-storied stands with better soil condition (nutrient content coming from decomposed leaves), self-pruning of light-demanding tree species (better quality), better erosion control and higher rate of biodiversity. Obviously the natural regeneration has its disadvantages. The poor results are in stands where the soil is covered by the thick layer of vegetation cover (forest weed). It is not used so much in stands where the inappropriate tree species regenerate better and faster then tree species we want. Some tree species, especially the hardwood are susceptible to browsing so the pasture in forests must be limited in favor of getting the mixed stands with the broadleaved species.

The conditions in Guatemala are very various but for our purposes we concentrate our attention to hilly and mountainous regions where generally pines are dominant. In the lower altitudes and in lowlands such as in hardwood forests in Peten, the natural regeneration system its the only method that can be used , but obviously in this case, the method implies different considerations. (I dont know if here is the best location of the paragraph, but definetly I think that its necessary to mentioned it): In Guatemala, the coniferous forest have suffered an intensive degradation due to the necessity of firewood and land for agricultural crops establishment. These factors have influenced in the quality of the mature stands and consequently the natural regeneration stands of pine species is generally of bad genetic quality. Speaking about pines the two dominant species are taken in consideration: Pinus pseudostrobus and Pinus rudis. P. pseudostrobus occurs in relatively lower altitudes then P. rudis and forms the stand naturally with Cupressus, Abies, Quercus and other hardwood and softwood. P. rudis forms the mixed stands with Pinus aycahuite, sometimes with scattered Quercus. The shelterwood system has theoretically four phases but in the case of pine stands only two or three are used because pines are light demanding tree species and require the faster process. The first phase is seed cutting when the density is reduced to a value 50-60%. Then the phase of final cutting follows when the mature trees are completely removed from the stand. In some cases we can use the preparatory cutting before the seed one if we need to remove the inappropriate tree species or to arrange the more regular spacing or to support the seed (cone) production. The basic thing we have to keep is timing. The seed cutting has to be carried out immediately after the time when the seed is released. Not only for the light conditions on the soil cover but also for removing a part of vegetation cover, shortly for soil scarification. The pine seeds germinate the best on mineral soils so during the works of cutting and drawing the felled stems from the stand the soil cover is disturbed and the germination is easier. The picture 1 displays the mature stand before the seed cutting (x depicts the trees which will be removed).

The picture 2 displays the natural regeneration under the thinned mature stand (x depicts the trees which will be removed during the final cutting).

While the young trees are sufficiently old, i.e. they are about three years old, the mature trees have to be removed. Commonly not only the pines regenerate, also oaks or other conifers and broadleaves. Their mixture is demanding, the structure of the stand will be modified during its growth (development). The cutting of the mature trees it has to be directed to not damage the young stand. If the timing is neglected the system of natural regeneration (shelterwood sylvicultural system) can fail or collapse. The soil opened to the light is covered by weeds and bushes or inappropriate tree species, many of the pine young seedlings are not capable to grow and die. A forester has to carefully survey the natural processes during the regeneration and his/her decision has to immediately react on them. The natural regeneration is good way for forming the mixed forests which generally are not only more resistant to harmful agents (bark beetles, fires, wind) but also keep the required differentiation of forest products (firewood charcoal production, pulpwood, sawn wood, plywood and veneer etc.). However, the methods how to reach the status of individually mixed forests vary according to the present situation and the natural conditions. Case samples: 1. The target is mixed forest but some tree species are rare in mature forests (P. aycahuite in the stands of dominant P. rudis, for instance). In this case we must focus our attention to the natural regeneration of the rare species. Thus the mature trees are surveyed and if they have the extensive seed production, the first phase in shelterwood cutting is removing of trees which surround the rarer trees (their release). In this phase we do not care of the other parts of the stand. After germination we protect the advance growth of the rarer tree species, especially the specimens which appear farther from the parent trees. Until the new regeneration of the rarer tree species is assured we can continue with the regeneration on the rest of the stand. If the proportion of young trees of the rarer species is inappropriate (lower than we expected) the natural regeneration can be completed by artificial ones. 2. The target is mixed two-storied forest but because of mismanagement the proportion of pines in new generation is lower we expect and the pines are suppressed by other tree species

(mainly by hardwood). In this case we have to protect each individual of pines and support its growth to height. It means that the trees around the individuals of pines must be removed or mutilated. The mutilation means that there are cut in their half or two thirds of stem or their terminal sprouts are cut. The important thing it to get the terminal sprouts of pines to the overstorey position. The hardwoods usually survive the mutilation and release the new sprouts but its height growth is slowed down and they form the second storey. The picture 3 displays the two-storied stand with pines in upper storey and the hardwoods in lower storey.

This type of forest has not only better by-production functions and the resistance against harmful factors is higher but also its production (quality and quantity) is better because the under storey forms the good shape and self-pruning for pines and the space among pines are utilized for other tree species (more or less shade tolerant) whose production is small but important for instance for firewood or for charcoal production. If we calculate that the growing stock of pure pine mature stand can reach in its age of 40 years 350 m3/ha so the mixed stand with hardwood in the same condition can reach 400 m3/ha. Difference is the amount of hardwood timber. The pine crowns enable light to penetrate and the amount of light is sufficient for the hardwood. It is essential to notice that this system with the same number of trees per ha in upper storey in mixed and pure stands works only in case of tree species whose crowns are thinner (pines). If the tree species form bigger shade (firs or cypresses) the number of trees in upper storey must be lower in mixed stands then in pure stands. 3. The target is mixed two-storied forest but the mature forest is already mixed two-storied forest. In this case we have to realize that we operate with the seed production, the light and the growing ability of various tree species. The reducing the density depends on tree species composition. We should remove the part of hardwood first for enabling light to penetrate to the ground in the time when the pines release the seeds. Some specimens of hardwood have remains for seed production. Natural regeneration of hardwood can be assured from the seed as well as from the stump and root sprouts. As the height growth from the coppice is commonly faster then growth of young pines it is essential to take care of the stand structure similarly as it is mentioned in the point 2. To conclude the article we should emphasize that the natural regeneration is the best method of forest regeneration and sylviculture. It has lot of advantages and some disadvantages. One

thing seems to be the most important. The natural regeneration is more difficult then the artificial regeneration from one point: the knowledge and experience of foresters. Their decisions must be derived from the careful survey of natural processes during the regeneration and they must be prepared to react immediately to their changes. So the education and training of forest technicians and managers should be oriented to the acquirement of ability to modify their basic knowledge about the natural regeneration to the local conditions and local targets which they want to reach. The article does not propose to enlighten complete issues in natural regeneration of pine stands in Guatemala but it is a contribution to the mosaic of suggestions how to improve the status of Guatemalan forests. The recommendations are derived from the experience gained during the study trips to the forest in the provinces Chimaltenango, Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango and discussion with the Guatemalan forests experts from INAB.