Growth and volume of Myracroduon urundeuva Allemão after ten years of silvicultural interventions

Abstract

The application of low impact silvicultural management techniques encourage the growth of tree species of high commercial value without interfering negatively in natural regeneration. The Myracroduon urundeuva has high mechanical strength, high density and considerable durability, therefore being highly used in construction, woodworking and carpentry, but had an intense and predatory exploration process devastating its natural populations due to its multiple uses The objectives of this study were to evaluate the diametrical increase of Myracroduon urundeuva Allemão adults and assess the influence of competition elimination treatments on the population structure and dynamics. A total of twelve plots of 750 m² were established side by side. The experimental plots were randomly submitted to different treatments after the vegetation survey: (T1) – witness; T2 – removal of woody species within a one-meter radius (1 m) for each individual of Myracrodruon urundeuva with DBH > 9 cm; treatment 3 (T3) – same as T2 plus the removal of vines throughout the plot. A total of 22 individuals were submitted to tree log scaling using the non-destructive method of Huber in October 2014. The relative gains in diameter were higher in treatment 3. Diameter increase was observed in the ten-year period, where the total for the witness treatment is 2.25 cm/year. The treatment T2 had a diameter growth of 0.90 cm/year and T3 of 2.94 cm/year. The hypsometric equation has precision measurements similar to those found in the adjustments of hypsometric equations for natural forests and for isolated species. The volumetric models were of good performance highlighting the Näslund model.