DOI: 10.5061/dryad.zs7h44jkp
title: Data from: Timber and trails: Low-intensity selective logging and elephant trails shape seedling dynamics in an Afrotropical forest

description: Very low-intensity logging can be a compromise between strict conservation
 and income-generating land use in tropical forests. Investigating how
 selective logging influences the understory environment and seedling
 dynamics as the forest regenerates offers insights into whether logging
 negatively impacts forest dynamics, influencing the composition and
 structure of future forests. We explored how very low-intensity logging
 (&lt;2 trees ha-1) influences understory factors and seedling dynamics
 across a logging chronosequence (unlogged forest vs. forest actively
 logged and forest logged four and fourteen years prior). To do this, we
 assessed (i) how light levels, prevalence of vegetation damage, and
 elephant trails differ in logged forests at different recovery stages
 compared to unlogged forest; (ii) how these understory factors influence
 seedling dynamics; (iii) how seedling dynamics differ across the logging
 chronosequence; and (iv) how logging impacts liana vs. tree seedlings
 across the chronosequence. We observed higher light availability and
 vegetation damage in logged forests up to four years after logging and
 higher elephant trail prevalence at fourteen years after logging compared
 to unlogged forests. Seedling survival was lower in plots with vegetation
 damage, elephant trails, or lower light, while seedling growth rates were
 higher in vegetation-damaged areas. Selectively logged forests initially
 had lower seedling survival and recruitment, but higher growth rates
 compared to unlogged forests. However, 14 years after logging, seedling
 dynamics were similar to patterns in unlogged forests. Lianas had a slight
 seedling growth advantage over trees in all logged forests compared to
 unlogged forests. Results from our study suggest that logging causes
 temporary shifts in understory dynamics rather than long-term shifts in
 forest recovery trajectories. These managed areas have potential as land
 that can contribute to OECM targets – functioning as mixed-use corridors,
 connecting protected areas across a landscape and contributing to
 biodiversity and wildlife conservation – especially in high forest cover,
 low deforestation countries.
description: Data collection
 methods: <strong>Study area and seedling
 censuses</strong> We sampled vegetation
 communities across eighty 20×20 m plots in the Société Equatoriale
 d'Exploitation Forestière (SEEF), a logging concession to the east of
 the Mbé sector of the Monts de Cristal National Park (0°42′41′′ N,
 10°17′18′′ E) in northwestern Gabon (Sullivan et al. 2022). We sampled 20
 plots within each of four different treatment areas, or logging “blocks”
 that varied in the year that they were logged (Fig. 1A). The blocks in our
 study were logged in 2008, 2018, 2020, and one additional block was
 sampled as an unlogged control. SEEF started systematic logging in this
 logging concession in 2000 and has a very low timber removal rate
 (&lt;2 trees per ha, Medjibe et al. 2011, SEEF 2019), which is typical
 for the Congo basin region (Sist, 2000). <br> Each 20×20 m
 vegetation plot was established between September 2018 and October 2019
 (Sullivan et al. 2022) and contained nine 1×1 m seedling plots (Fig. 1B),
 spaced 10 m apart, for a total of 180 seedling plots in each of the three
 logging treatments and the unlogged block. In each seedling plot, we
 identified, tagged, and measured the height of all woody seedlings ≤1m
 tall. We re-censused the seedling plots between February and September
 2022, recording the survival status (dead or alive) and height of each
 previously tagged seedling, and tagging and measuring new seedlings that
 had recruited into the seedling plots since the previous census. Any
 observations that were missing survival or height data were removed before
 analyses. Tree seedlings were identified to species or morphospecies
 level, and liana seedlings were identified to the taxonomic level that was
 possible in the field – any liana that lacked family-level taxonomic
 information was labeled “liana” in the data (see Sullivan et al. 2022 for
 more details). <strong>Environmental factors and
 elephant trails</strong> To quantify understory
 light availability, we measured canopy openness using a Spherical Crown
 Densiometer (Concave Model C, Forestry Suppliers, Jackson, MS, USA)
 (Lemmon, 1956) at a height of 1m in the center of each 1×seedling plot. In
 each 1×1m seedling plot, we also recorded the presence/absence of
 vegetation damage from falling woody debris or skid trails and the
 presence/absence of elephant trails. All environmental factors and
 elephant trails were assessed during the 2022 census period.
description: # Data from: Timber and trails: Low-intensity selective logging and
 elephant trails shape seedling dynamics in an Afrotropical forest ##
 Description of the data and file structure We studied forest recovery in
 northwestern Gabon by setting up 80 plots, each 20×20 m, across areas
 logged in different years and one untouched forest. Inside each plot, we
 placed smaller seedling plots to track young trees and vines—measuring
 their growth and survival from 2018–2019 and again in 2022. We also
 recorded light levels, signs of damage, and elephant trails to understand
 how these factors affect regeneration. ### Description: recensus_2022.csv
 contains the vegetation plot information from the 720 seedling plots: *
 date - date that plots were recensused * plot - vegetation plot subplot -
 seedling subplot ID * spp - species code * height_cm - height from census1
 (2019) in cm * tag_no - tag number on seedling * code - codes indicating
 broken, liana, etc. from census1 * code_2022 - codes indicating broken,
 liana, etc. from census2 * height_cm_2022 - height from census2 (2022) in
 cm * survival - status of seedling in census2 (2022): alive (1), dead (0)
 plot_info.csv* c*ontains descriptive information about understory factors
 and other details in each of the 720 seedling plots: * plot - vegetation
 plot ID * subplot - seedling subplot ID * ele_trail - status of elephant
 trails in each seedling plot: presence (1) or absence (0) * log_veg -
 status of damage from logging or falling vegetation (i.e. treefall or
 branchfall) in each seedling plot: presence (1) or absence (0) * light -
 canopy openness as measured via densiometer in each seedling subplot *
 plot_type - ID of each seedling plot in chronosequence * date1 - date each
 plot was measured from census1 * date2 - date each plot was measured from
 census2 Any empty cells indicate that there is no data for that entry and
 NA represents not applicable