ORIGINAL ARTICLE Tree seedling survival and growth in logged and undisturbed seasonal deciduous forest fragments in central Brazil Ernestino de Souza Gomes Guarino • Aldicir Osni Scariot Received: 17 February 2011 / Accepted: 19 April 2011 / Published online: 27 August 2011 Ó The Japanese Forest Society and Springer 2011 Abstract We evaluated the survival and growth of Amburana cearensis, Cedrela fissilis, and Sterculia striata seedlings in three seasonally tropical dry forest fragments that were subjected to different logging levels (intact, intermediately and heavily logged). In each fragment, we planted 40 seedlings of each species and monitored these over a period of 1 year. The highest seedling survival rate (64%) occurred in the heavily logged fragment, which, however, also had the highest mortality risk for all species during the dry season. Only S. striata seedlings had dif- ferent survival rates among the fragments. Height and diameter growth were higher at sites with higher canopy openness in the wet season. The survival and growth rates of seedlings planted in logged fragments indicate that this technique can be applied to restore and enrich logged forests of the Parana ˜ River Basin. Keywords Canopy openness Á Drought Á Logging Á Parana ˜ River Basin Á Seedling establishment Introduction Located between the States of Goia ´s and Tocantins, the Parana ˜ River Basin contains one of the main enclaves of deciduous forest of the Brazilian savannah biome (Scariot and Sevilha 2005). Coexisting with distinct vegetation types (i.e., woodland savanna, riparian forests, and grass- lands), the dry deciduous forests of the Parana ˜ River Basin are known for their high number of valuable timber spe- cies, and because they are associated with nutrient-rich soils (Scariot and Sevilha 2005). The sum of these factors has resulted in intense human occupation in this region, usually based on selective use of wood and subsequent conversion of forest to pasture. Such land use has created a very fragmented landscape in which forest remnants with varying levels of exploitation exist in a matrix mainly composed of exotic pasture grasses (Scariot and Sevilha 2000, 2005). Logging in the region is performed with little or no pre- exploratory planning (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatı ´stica 1995), significantly altering the structure of the logged areas. According to Webb (1997), selective logging creates forest openings similar to natural treefall gaps. In seasonally tropical dry forests, the reduction of canopy cover may vary between 50% and 75% (Fredericksen and Mostacedo 2000; Vieira and Scariot 2008), causing severe and immediate environmental changes in the forest soil resulting from increases in the duration and intensity of solar radiation reaching the forest floor (Chazdon and Fetcher 1984). The availability of sunlight caused by natural or anthropogenic gaps plays a key role in the initial devel- opment and survival of trees in tropical rain forests (Augspurger 1984; Bebber et al. 2002; Grogan et al. 2003). However, in seasonally tropical dry forests such as in the Parana ˜ River Basin, soil moisture is the key factor in this process. In these forests, drought tolerance is essential for seed germination, survival, and growth of seedlings (Khurana and Singh 2001; Ceccon et al. 2006; Vieira and Scariot 2006). E. de Souza Gomes Guarino (&) Embrapa Acre, Rodovia BR-364, km 14, PO Box 321, 69908-970 Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil e-mail: esguarino@cpafac.embrapa.br A. O. Scariot Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Parque Estac ¸a ˜o Biolo ´gica, Av. W5 Norte (final), PO Box 02372, 70770-917 Brası ´lia, Distrito Federal, Brazil 123 J For Res (2012) 17:193–201 DOI 10.1007/s10310-011-0294-1