ABSTRACT
This study took place in the Tapajós National Forest, Pará State, and evaluated the effects of four different cutting methods of lianas/vines on conducting forest management, aiming at the production of logs for wood production. Each method comprised an area of 96 ha and method M1 - consisted of cutting of the lianas around all existing commercial and potentially commercial trees; according to method M2 - the lianas were cut only in the area of occurrence of commercial and potentially commercial trees; ind method M3 - the lianas around all commercial and potentially commercial trees and in their falling direction and method M4 - the lianas were cut only around those commercial trees chosen for the first harvest. The area affected by the felling of the selected tree was assessed by the degree of damage on remnant individuals; quantity of lost individuals per each felled tree; reduction of the basal forest area caused by trees destroyed due to the falling of the selected tree; and the cost to accomplish the cutting of lianas/vines according to each cutting method. No significant different les were found for the variables in all analysed methods, except costs. Method M4, was the least expensive and showed reasonable absolute values for the other variables, may be considered the best of this study. In this method, the lianas population is better preserved than the other cutting methods analysed, maintaining their important ecological function in the forest.
Key words:
forest management; liana cutting; harvesting