International Research Fellowship Program: Modeling Sustainable Harvesting Regimes for Forest Conservation

De Gouvenain, Roland C, Coventry CT

Investigators

Abstract

0107353 De Gouvenain The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will provide 11 months of support to Dr.Roland de Gouvenain to work with Professor Joelisoa Ratsirarson at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar on the modeling of sustainable harvesting regimes for forest conservation. Of the 11 month duration, five months will be spent back in the United States at the University of Connecticut, working with Dr. John Silander, analyzing the data and writing up his results. The objective of this project is to determine whether sustainable tree harvesting is compatible with forest biodiversity conservation. The PI proposes to determine the sustainability of different tree harvesting regimes, and to analyze the possible causal relationship between harvesting and changes in forest structure, forest composition and site environmental variables from a "no-harvest" baseline forest condition. He will use a regeneration probability model to simulate how different harvesting regimes may impact forest regeneration and how it affects long-term forest conservation. The study forest of Tampolo is an ideal "field laboratory" with a range of harvesting "treatments" resulting from unequal protection at different sites. These harvesting regimes could be incorporated into future management and conservation plans for the study forest and other threatened forests. ***