Increased clonal growth in heavily harvested ecosystems failed to rescue ayahuasca lianas from decline in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest
Journal of Applied Ecology August 14, 2023 Michael A. Coe, Orou G. Gaoue 5 citations
Harvesting Banisteriopsis caapi lianas for non-timber forest products in the Peruvian Amazon affects population dynamics differently in the short and long term. High harvest pressure caused greater mortality in larger lianas, while smaller lianas survived better under high harvest than low harvest. Long-term population growth rates under high harvest were projected to decline by 1.3% per year, while low harvest populations were expected to increase by 3.2%. However, over the short term before equilibrium, all populations declined by 26% (high harvest) and 20.4% (low harvest) per year. Survival of larger lianas dominated elasticity patterns, and high harvest reduced population growth rates by 6% by lowering survival of large lianas and increasing survival-growth of smaller ones.