Pruning as a successful treatment to improve growth of Acacia mangium Willd. plantation in the reclamation of gold mine spoils of Guyana

Volume 4, Issue 1, February 2020     |     PP. 1-14      |     PDF (428 K)    |     Pub. Date: September 24, 2020
DOI:    174 Downloads     3118 Views  

Author(s)

Susy Lewis, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, PO Box 101110, Guyana.
Lawrence Lewis, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, PO Box 101110, Guyana.
Elroy Charles, Guyana Forestry Commission, 1 Water Street Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana.
Robert Skeete, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, PO Box 101110, Guyana.

Abstract
Deforestation and land degradation due to mining activities are much studied environmental concerns globally. As such, policy-makers are setting ambitious goals to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of deforested and degraded lands. Therefore, it is important to understand the growth response of species used in the reclamation of deforested and degraded areas or areas proposed for restoration. In this study on the pruning of Acacia mangium Willd. planted on gold mine spoils in Guyana was assessed to determine stem growth responses to various pruning treatments. Trees were pruned at 0.5 m, 1 m, 1.5 m and 2 m for three-year old Acacia plantation.Pruning treatment was done to increase growth rates and to improve bole quality of trees so they will have valuable timber when they mature. A Linear Mixed Effects model was used to quantify the treatment effects for the one year after pruning. The results indicated that after one year the growth rates average 5.92 cm yr-1. Application of pruning lead to 0.36cm gain in diameter increments compared to unpruned trees. Pruning at 1.5 m height has the greatest effect on diameter increments.The effect of pruning significantly improved the aesthetics of the plantation and tree bole diameter of the Acacia trees and underscores the importance of pruning as an effective post-planting treatment in reforestation activities of three-year old Acacia plantation in Guyana.

Keywords
Reclamation, Pruning, Acacia mangium, Pruning heights, mining

Cite this paper
Susy Lewis, Lawrence Lewis, Elroy Charles, Robert Skeete, Pruning as a successful treatment to improve growth of Acacia mangium Willd. plantation in the reclamation of gold mine spoils of Guyana , SCIREA Journal of Geosciences. Volume 4, Issue 1, February 2020 | PP. 1-14.

References

[ 1 ] Bates, D.M. 2010. lme4: Mixed-effects modeling with R. Springer. Page 8.
[ 2 ] Bates, D., Maechler M., & Bolher, B. 2012. Lme4: Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using S4 Classes (R Package Version 0.999999-0)
[ 3 ] Beadle, C., Barry. K., Hardiyanto, E., Irianto, R., Junarto, Mohammed, C., Rimbawanto, A. 2007. Effect of pruning Acacia mangium on growth, form and heart rot. Tropical Forest Ecology and Management, 238, 261-267.
[ 4 ] Candeias C, Avila PF, Ferreira da Silva E, Teixeira JP (2015) Integrated approach to assess the environmental impact of mining activities: estimation of the spatial distribution of soil reclamation (Panasqueira mining area, Central Portugal). Environ Monitor Assess 187(3): 135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4343-7
[ 5 ] Dombro, D.B. 2009. Acacia mangium: Amazonia Reforestation’s miracle tree. Planeta Verde Reforestation S.A.
[ 6 ] Duursma, R., Powell, J., & Stone, G. 2016. Data Analysis and Visualization with R. eBook (First, p. 270).
[ 7 ] Franzi
[ 8 ] Heriansyah, I., Miyakuni, K., Kato, T., Kiyono, Y., Kanazawa, Y. 2007. Growth characteristics and biomass accumulations of Acacia mangium under different management practices in Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 226-235. doi: 10.10161/j.foreco.2006.10.017.
[ 9 ] International Timber Trade Organisation. 2005. Restoring Forest Landscape-An introduction to the Art and Science of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). Yokohama, Technical Series 23 Japan: ITTO.
[ 10 ] Kamo, K., Vacharangkura, T., Tiyanon, S., Viriyabuncha, C., Thaingam R. & Sakai, M. 2009. Response of unmanaged Acacia mangium plantations to delayed thinning in North-East Thailand Journal of tropical Forest Science 21 (3): 223 – 234.
[ 11 ] Kneller T, Harris RJ, Bateman A, Muñoz-Rojas M (2018) Native-plant amendments and topsoil addition enhance soil function in post-mining arid grasslands. Sci Total Environ 621: 744-752. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.219.
[ 12 ] Korner-Nievergelt, F., Roth, T., Felten, S. V., Guélat, J., Almasi, B., & Korner-Nievergelt, P. 2015. Bayesian data analysis in ecology using linear models with r, bugs, and stan. Waltham, MA: Elsevier.
[ 13 ] Krisnawati, H., Kallio, H., Kanninen, M. 2011. Acacia mangium Willd. Ecology, silviculture and productivity. Indonesia: CIFOR.
[ 14 ] Lewis, L., Hossain, M. & Rao, B.K.R. 2020. Physicochemical assessment of a waste rock dump in the hidden valley gold mine: a case study for bioremediation in Papua New Guinea. Environ Earth Sci 79, 97https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-8841-8
[ 15 ] Marschalko M, Yilmaz I, Bednarik M, Kubecka K, Bouchal T. 2013 An indicative method for determination of the most hazardous changes in slopes of the subsidence basins in underground coal mining area in Ostrava (Czech Republic). Environ Monitor Assess 185(1): 509-522. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2571-7
[ 16 ] Manubag, J., Laureto, B., Nicholls, J. & Canon, P. 1995. Acacia mangium response to nitrogen and phosphorus in the Philippines. In Acacia mangium: Growing and Utilization. pp. 32-35 agris.fao.org
[ 17 ] Mead, D.J and Speechly, H.T. 1991. Growing Acacia mangium for high quality sawlogs in Peninsular Malaysia. In Sheik Ali Abod et.al. Recent developments in tree plantations of humid/sub-humid tropics. Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia. p.54-69.
[ 18 ] Midgley, S. 2007. Tropical Acacias: Their Domestication and contribution to Asia Wood and Pulp Industries Cienca e Investigacion Forestal Instituto Forestal Chile.
[ 19 ] National Research Council. 1983. Mangium and other acacias of the humid tropics. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
[ 20 ] Nick, M, M., Paudyal, B. 1992. Pruning Trial for Acacia mangium Willd. plantation in Peninsular Malaysia. Forest ecology and Management. Vol 47. 285-293.
[ 21 ] Potapov PV, Turubanova SA, Hansen MC, Adusei B, Broich M, Altstatt A, Justice CO (2017) Quantifying forest cover loss in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2000–2010, with Landsat ETM plus data. Remote Sens Environ 122: 106-116, Doi:10.1016/j.rse.2011.08.027
[ 22 ] Razali, W. W., Razak, T. A., Azani, A. M., & Kamziah, A. 2015. Mixed-Effects Models for predicting early height growth of forest trees planted in Sarawak, Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 27(2), 267–276.
[ 23 ] RCoreTeam 2012
[ 24 ] Schaider LA, Senn DB, Estes ER, Brabander DJ, Shine JP (2014) Sources and fates of heavy metals in a mining-impacted stream: temporal variability and the role of iron oxides. Sci Total Environ 490: 456-466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.126
[ 25 ] Sein, C.C., and Mitlohner, R. 2011. Acacia mangium Willd: ecology and Silviculture CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia.
[ 26 ] Singh, R., Singh, P. and Singh, G. 2007. Evaluation of land degradation due to coal mining. First International Conference on MSECCMI, New Delhi, India, pp. 129-133.
[ 27 ] Tarigan, M., Wingfield, M. J., Wyk, M. V., Tjahjono, B., & Roux, J. 2011. Pruning quality affects infection of Acacia mangium and A. crassicarpa by Ceratocystis acaciivora and Lasiodiplodia theobromae. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science, 73(3-4), 187-191. doi:10.2989/20702620.2011.639498.
[ 28 ] World Bank. 2018. Global Economic Prospects, June 2018: The Turning of the Tide? World Bank, Washington DC, USA. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1257-6 [accessed 10.05.2019].