Michelle A Pinard

Publications of Michelle A Pinard

• Improved tropical forest management for carbon retention.

  Authors: Francis E Putz, Pieter A Zuidema, Michelle A Pinard, Rene G. A Boot, Jeffrey A Sayer, Douglas Sheil, Plinio Sist, Jerome K Vanclay

  PLoS biology. 07/2008; 6(7):e166.

• Tree mortality and vine proliferation following a wildfire in a subhumid tropical forest in eastern Bolivia

  Authors: Michelle A Pinard, Francis E Putz, Juan Carlos Licona

  Forest Ecology and Management.

  In 1994, 1×106 ha of subhumid forest in eastern Bolivia burned in an uncontrolled wildfire; the objective of this study was to measure tree and liana mortality a year after this fire. About 60% ofIn 1994, 1×106 ha of subhumid forest in eastern Bolivia burned in an uncontrolled wildfire; the objective of this study was to measure tree and liana mortality a year after this fire. About 60% of 500 trees sampled were either killed or damaged by the fire. Proportionally more small trees (74% of trees >2 m tall but <5 cm dbh) were killed than large trees (27% of 10–40 cm, 16% of trees ≥40 cm dbh), and mortality varied with species. Basal cambial damage was found on 30–40% of living trees ≥10 cm dbh. About 75% of liana stems (1–8 cm dbh) were killed; 15% of the dead liana stems resprouted from the base. In lianas, basal resprouting of killed stems was independent of diameter class, whereas in trees smaller stems were more likely to resprout than larger stems. The proliferation of herbaceous vines plus lianas <1 cm dbh (mean density 21 000 ha-1) in the burned forest may impede tree regeneration and supply fine fuels capable of supporting frequent fires. Although anthropogenic and natural fires have probably played important roles in the development of tropical subhumid forests, the amount of damage and mortality observed in this study suggest that, in forests managed for timber production, fire-protection practices are warranted to reduce forest susceptibility to wildfire.

• Improved tropical forest management for carbon retention

  Authors: Francis E Putz, Pieter A Zuidema, Michelle A Pinard, Rene GA Boot, Jeffrey A Sayer, Douglas Sheil, Plinio Sist, Elias, Jerome K Vanclay

  Jerome K Vanclay.

  Negotiations leading up to an international climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 have included consideration of reduced emissions due to deforestation and degradationNegotiations leading up to an international climate change agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 have included consideration of reduced emissions due to deforestation and degradation (REDD). This option has figured prominently in the "road map" toward such an agreement that was agreed upon during the 13th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Bali in December 2007 (http://www.unfccc.int/). Most ongoing discussions of REDD focus on tropical deforestation, while the potential carbon saving from reduced forest degradation is mostly disregarded [1,2]. Given that carbon losses due to degradation could be of the same magnitude as those from deforestation, this disregard is worrisome [3,4]. We show here that substantial reductions of global CO2 emissions can be achieved by improving forest management in the tropics, and argue that this cost-effective approach to mitigation should be included in the new climate change agreement....