Old-growth Index: a tool to evaluate developmental stages in native forests in the lowlands of south-central Chile

Abstract

In the lowlands of south-central Chile, old-growth forests are scarce, whereas secondary forests are more frequent. The ecosystem services provided by these secondary forests differ from those associated with old-growth forests, reflecting their differences in composition and forest structure. Trees over 200 years-old, basal areas higher than 80 m², several shade-tolerant trees and large diameters, among other characteristics distinguish old-growth forests. Evaluation of the stage of development of a forest may be useful for classification purposes, and management reports. In this study, we applied an old-growth forest index based on Acker et al., to the lowland forests of south-central Chile. The index considered five variables: density, basal area, basal area of the trees > 80 cm in diameter, basal area of shade-tolerant species and Gini’s coefficient. We employed plots with areas ranging from 900 to 2,500 m² from four secondary forests (two dominated by Nothofagaceae and two by other evergreen species) and from three old-growth forests (two with emergent Nothofagaceae and one without emergent Nothofagaceae). Results allowed us to suggest that index values larger tan 80 would represent old-growth forests, values between 60 and 80 would be forests in transition, and values lower than 60 forests with a scarce presence of old-growth attributes. According to the type of forest, the proposed index could differ in terms of the variables used in different regions of Chile.