| Abstract: | AimsDeforestation and biodiversity loss are two alarming, closely related problems, and the main factors triggering changes in land use. Indigenous agricultural practices in the western Amazon Basin are known as chakras, and their structure and dynamics are seemingly optimal for forest management. However, the variability in tree species and the degree of forest recovery after abandonment is poorly documented in this agroforestry system (AFS). The goals of this study were: (i) to investigate whether the different AFSs (chakras) preserve similar levels of forest diversity, (ii) to determine the effect of transformation of mature forests (MF) to chakras, in particular, forest alpha and beta diversity levels, and (iii) to investigate whether native tree species recovery leads to the original forest structure following chakra abandonment. |
