Effect of the plantation age on the use of eucalyptus stands by medium to large-sized wild mammals in south-eastern brazil

Abstract

In the São Paulo State (south-eastern Brazil), Eucalyptus plantations have been replacing large areas formerly occupied by pastures used for livestock production. Such land use change may affect the habitat use by wildlife in these anthropic landscapes. In this region, the commercial Eucalyptus plantations for paper and cellulose production usually take from 6 to 7 years to be harvested. During its production cycle, Eucalyptus stands vary from an open savanna-like environment just after plantation, when plants still resemble bushes, to a forest-like environment with densely distributed 18-meter tall trees. Previous studies show that Eucalyptus plantations in south-eastern Brazil are used by generalist species, including medium and large sized mammals. However, the possible influence of such dramatic temporal environmental heterogeneity on the wildlife habitat use in Eucalyptus plantations is still unknown. In this study, we assess the influence of the Eucalyptus stand age on the local patterns of distribution and abundance of middle to large-sized wild mammals. Our results show an increase not only in species richness, but also in frequency of occurrences along the commercial cycle of the Eucalyptus plantations, with a steep decline in both habitats just before harvest. Such pattern may be related to weed control practices which significantly reduce the understory vegetation, particularly at the end of the commercial cycle while preparing for harvesting. Future studies should prioritize the possible variation of the trophic structure in Eucalyptus plantations along commercial cycles as a response of wildlife-friendly silvicultural/agricultural management practices.