exception of areas in northern Mato Grosso. However,
selective logging of the Brazilian Amazon had in effect
doubled the total amount of forest degraded by human
activities than previous estimates had shown. The
researchers estimated that the total volume harvested
equated to the removal of between 10 and 15 million
metric tons of carbon (MtC). This did not count the
masses of debris, such as stumps, branches, foliage,
that will eventually decompose, adding carbon dioxide
to the atmosphere.
No one denies that logging may create significant
collateral damage to ecosystems. But in global markets,
demand remains high for wood from tropical trees.
The limitations to sustained logging in Brazil are
formidable: high species richness within the world’s
most complex terrestrial ecosystem, slow growth andregeneration of trees, and relatively few tree species
of high economic value (such as Mahogany, Swietenia
mahagoni, for example). Any logging will result, under
the best of circumstances, in some collateral ecological
damage.Effects of Hunting on Species
Hunting is widely practiced throughout tropical
ecosystems. Indigenous people are expert hunters and
have become increasingly skilled at using shotguns rather
than traditional weapons. Hunting has had an impact
on tropical forest dynamics, and hunting intensity is
sometimes sufficient to drive local populations of large
bird and mammal species to local extinction.Plate 18- 3. Big logging trucks carrying huge logs from rain
forest trees are commonplace in many areas of Amazonia.
Photo by John Kricher.Plate 18- 4. Logs at a collection area in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Photo by John Kricher.Plate 18- 5. Large cattle ranches are found in many areas of the
Neotropics. Photo by John Kricher.Plate 18- 6. Cattle ranching is a major enterprise throughout
much of the Brazilian Amazon region. This is a herd of cattle
coming down a road to go to pasture. Photo by John Kricher.chapter 18 the future of the neotropics 379