A group of researchers from the University of Guyana recently emerged from the forest, south of Mabura Hill, with several new and noteworthy scientific discoveries.
The team of nine young women and three men investigated various aspects of mixed greenheart forest ecology and management. They studied palm regeneration in logged areas, tree crown growth in response to forest gaps and seedlings of greenheart, Guyana’s most important commercial timber tree species.
The discoveries were made by the Guyana Rainforest Research Rally (GRRR).
Guyana Rainforest Research Rally
GRRR was made possible through an on-going collaboration between the University of Guyana (UG) and the University of Florida (UF), with support from WWF-Guianas and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). The two universities will be embarking on an academic programme to strengthen technical capacity within Guyana to achieve sustainable forest management associated with Guyana’s Green Development path.
Through academic and research exchange between faculty and students, in the form of short courses and expert mentoring and financial support for scientific research, the project aims to place UG at the forefront of high impact academic research on natural resource management.
Discoveries in Guyana’s Forests
The GRRR team looked at the regeneration and growth of greenheart seedlings, Guyana’s iconic timber species. Devya Hemraj and her team are still analysing their data, but their study makes clear that even under the seemingly ideal conditions created by careful selective logging, greenheart seedlings grow exceedingly slowly. This finding adds to concerns about the sustainability of harvests of this important species.
Another finding highlights the impact of logging on palm diversity and populations. The team, led by Ewart Smith, found that there were few apparent harmful impacts of careful, selective, reduced-impact logging back in 1994 on palms today. This result will help allay the fears of some people that logging is a biodiversity destroying intervention, especially to palms, which are important to wildlife and people.
GRRR also looked at the growth of tree crowns/branches into gaps/holes created in the forest canopy by logging back in 1994. The team, led by Wilda Marhnen Hungito, found that over the past 24 years the rates of tree crown encroachment into felling gaps varied with species, but was sufficient to close the smaller openings. This finding is important as it suggests that small gaps may not be sufficient to promote regeneration of commercial species.
The team also looked at the growth response of three timber species – greenheart, crabwood and baromalli – to liberation thinning, that is removal of vines and trees that were competing with the selected trees that are to constitute the next timber crop. The team, led by Sherica Isaacs, discovered that the treatment, which was applied in 1996, still had positive effects on the growth rates of these valuable timber species. Previous research around the world assumed that the benefits of liberation thinning diminished in 5-10 years, but no previous studies on this topic had anywhere near the 21-year record available at the Pibiri Biological Research Station.
When asked how she felt about the discoveries, Sherica Isaacs said: “When I joined GRRR just a few weeks ago, I was focused on fish and had no idea that trees are so fascinating. I am happy that we were able to make discoveries that can help to maintain the commercial and environmental values of our lovely forests.”
Research expedition
The research expedition was led by Professor Francis E. Putz, distinguished professor of Biology and Forestry at UF, and his former Guyanese graduate student, Dr Anand Roopsind.
Over the past three decades, Putz has actively promoted science-based approaches to pedagogy at UF and around the world. This was his second visit to Guyana.
According to Roopsind, ten participants of the research expedition are Guyanese, one from Papua New Guinea doing her masters at the University of Guyana, and another from the Suriname Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (the Suriname equivalent to the Guyana Forestry Commission). Participants included both graduate students and faculty from UG, and professionals from natural resource institutions, mainly the Guyana Forestry Commission.
“A researcher from Suriname was included because we believe it important to build strong connections with our neighbours so as to better integrate conservation efforts across the region,” Roopsind stated.
Challenges
In regards to GRRR’s accomplishments, Putz said: “I am astounded by what the research team accomplished under very challenging conditions. It’s great to have Guyanese researchers making discoveries about Guyana’s forests.”
Putz and Roopsind pointed out that doing field research and living deep in the tropical rain forest, without internet connections, telephone service, or line power are always challenging. They added that their field campaign was made particularly challenging by frequent rain, which was sometimes intense.
“When the ridgepole, to which all 16 of our hammocks were tied, started to break in the middle of the night, in the rain, complaints might have been expected, but everyone chipped in and the problem was soon rectified. The same is true for when the camps started to flood; everyone was out digging trenches and otherwise keeping the water at bay,” the GRRR members recalled.
Pibiri Biological Research Station
The Mabura Hill hosts the Pibiri Biological Research Station, which has one of the longest on-going studies in the world on sustainable forest management. For the past three decades, dozens of important studies have been carried out in that area by Guyanese and international researchers. The information from the Pibiri Biological Station is also the main source of information that the Guyana Forestry Commission uses to determine the sustainable levels of timber harvesting in Guyana.
GRRR expect its four recent studies be published in international scientific journals, but the studies need to undergo a rigorous scientific review process. Participants are currently revising their data analyses and manuscripts so as to raise both to the standards for publication in international peer-reviewed journals.
The team hopes that the findings serve to inform forest management in Guyana, Suriname, and elsewhere in the tropics. They believe a great deal remains to be learned about how to best manage forests under timber production for biodiversity conservation, and long-term sustainability of timber harvests, but these studies represent substantial contributions to their understanding.
Follow up studies are still in the planning stages, but as usual, as GRRR learns more, they also realise more about what they do not yet understand. It is GRRR hope that the Pibiri Biological Research Station will become a major field site for UG, where students and researchers will continue to learn about Guyana’s forests and how to better manage them for current and future generations.
