Competition between the may pole vochysia ferruginea and other species of trees: initial results of an experiment of forest selective felling in Santa Elisa

Abstract

Competition between tree species is both economically and ecologically important.  From the ecological point of view.  competition is thought to be a force that structures ecological communities.  Economically, if there is competition between different kinds of trees, then it will be possible to increase their growth rates and thus their production of wood by means of thinning treatments that diminish competition.  We carried out such a thinning experiment in the forest of Santa Elisa, in the South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) of Nicaragua.  The initial results are quite encouraging concerning the use of thinning as a forest management technique in these tropical rain forests.