Amazon Rainforest Study Site of the World Wildlife Fund

In June of 1999 I conducted a site visit to the World Wildlife Fund's tropical deforestation study site where Dr Getulio Batista of INPE was conducting his NASA investigation. Some 15 years earlier, the WWF persuaded land developers to leave patches of rain forest undisturbed as the converted most of the area into pasture-land. Sites ranging from 10 HA to 1,000 HA were left intact. Smaller patches collapsed due to wind damage and loss of species diversity; larger ones survived better. One interesting aspect is the regrowth that occurs on the boundaries of the the intact patches as they are damaged by windfall & other problems. Trash tress, known as Cecropia, grow rapidly to 15 to 20 m in height. Similar invasions occur when pasture land is abandoned. Sadly, these trash trees are much more difficult to remove if re-cultivation is desired. Cecropia is a common tree in Hawaii, where it is called an "umbrella tree", and they are also found in many American households as indoor plants. (Smaller than 20 m!)