Secondary forest in the context of "Bonobos"

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⭐ Core Definition: Secondary forest

A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused disturbances, such as timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or equivalently disruptive natural phenomena. It is distinguished from an old-growth forest (primary or primeval forest), which has not recently undergone such disruption, and complex early seral forest, as well as third-growth forests that result from harvest in second growth forests. Secondary forest regrowing after timber harvest differs from forest regrowing after natural disturbances such as fire, insect infestation, or windthrow because the dead trees remain to provide nutrients, structure, and water retention after natural disturbances. Secondary forests are notably different from primary forests in their composition and biodiversity; however, they may still be helpful in providing habitat for native species, preserving watersheds, and restoring connectivity between ecosystems.

The legal definition of what constitutes a secondary forest vary between countries. Some legal systems allows certain degree of subjectivity in assigning a forest as secondary.

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Secondary forest in the context of Bonobo

The bonobo (/bəˈnb, ˈbɒnəb/; Pan paniscus), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan (the other being the common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes). While bonobos are today recognized as a distinct species, they were initially thought to be a subspecies of Pan troglodytes, because of the physical similarities between the two species. Taxonomically, members of the chimpanzee/bonobo subtribe Panina—composed entirely by the genus Pan—are collectively termed panins.

Bonobos are distinguished from common chimpanzees by relatively long limbs, pinker lips, a darker face, a tail-tuft through adulthood, and parted, longer hair on their heads. Some individuals have sparser, thin hair over parts of their bodies. The bonobo is found in a 500,000 km (190,000 sq mi) area within the Congo Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Central Africa. It is predominantly frugivorous, compared to the often highly omnivorous diets and hunting of small monkeys, duiker and other antelope exhibited by common chimpanzees. Bonobos inhabit primary and secondary forest, including seasonally inundated swamp forest. Because of political instability in the region, and the general timidity of bonobos, there has been relatively little field work done observing the species in its natural habitat.

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Secondary forest in the context of Rubber tapping

Rubber tapping is the process by which latex is collected from a rubber tree. The latex is harvested by slicing a groove into the bark of the tree at a depth of one-quarter inch (6.4 mm) with a hooked knife and peeling back the bark. Trees must be approximately six years old and six inches (150 mm) in diameter in order to be tapped for latex. A person who taps rubber is a rubber tapper.

Rubber tapping is not damaging to the forest, as it does not require the tree to be cut down in order for the latex to be extracted. Jungle rubber is essentially old secondary forest, strongly resembling the primary forest. Its species' richness is about half that of the primary forest. Michon and de Foresta (1994) found that sample jungle rubber sites contained 92 tree species, 97 lianas, and 28 epiphytes compared with 171, 89, and 63, respectively, in the primary forest, and compared with 1, 1, and 2 in monoculture estates. Thiollay (1995) estimated that jungle rubber supports about 137 bird species, against 241 in the primary forest itself. Jungle rubber is expected to resemble primary forest in its hydrological functions. Monoculture rubber tree plantations have far less of an environmental impact than other crops, such as coffee or especially oil palm.

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Secondary forest in the context of Western lowland gorilla

The western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Africa in Angola (Cabinda Province), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the nominate subspecies of the western gorilla, and the smallest of the four gorilla subspecies.

The western lowland gorilla is the only subspecies kept in zoos with the exception of Amahoro, a female eastern lowland gorilla at Antwerp Zoo, and a few mountain gorillas kept captive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Secondary forest in the context of Forest Park (Portland, Oregon)

Forest Park is a public municipal park in the Tualatin Mountains west of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Stretching for more than 8 miles (13 km) on hillsides overlooking the Willamette River, it is one of the country's largest urban forest reserves. The park, a major component of a regional system of parks and trails, covers more than 5,100 acres (2,064 ha) of mostly second-growth forest with a few patches of old growth. More than 80 miles (130 km) of recreational trails, including the Wildwood Trail segment of the city's 40-Mile Loop system, crisscross the park.

As early as the 1860s, civic leaders sought to create a natural preserve in the woods near Portland. Their efforts led to the creation of a municipal park commission that in 1903 hired the Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm to develop a plan for Portland's parks. Acquiring land through donations, transfers from Multnomah County, and delinquent tax foreclosures, the city eventually acted on a proposal by the City Club of Portland and combined parcels totaling about 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) to create the reserve. Formally dedicated in 1948, it ranks 19th in size among parks within U.S. cities, according to the Trust for Public Land.

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Secondary forest in the context of Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest

The Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest (/ʃɪˈwɑːmɪɡən ˌnɪkəˈl/; the q is silent) is a 1,530,647-acre (6,194.31 km) U.S. National Forest in northern Wisconsin in the United States. Legally two separate national forests—the Chequamegon National Forest and the Nicolet National Forest—the areas were established by presidential proclamations in 1933 and have been managed as one unit since 1998. The national forest land trees and vegetation are part of the North Woods ecoregion that prevails throughout the upper Great Lakes region. Little old-growth forest remains due to logging in the early part of the 20th century, and some of the second-growth forest was planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

The Chequamegon National Forest comprises three units in the north-central part of the state totaling 865,825 acres (3,503.87 km). In descending order of forestland area, it is located in parts of Bayfield, Ashland, Price, Sawyer, Taylor, and Vilas counties. Forest headquarters are in Park Falls. There are local ranger district offices in Glidden, Hayward, Medford, Park Falls, and Washburn. Moquah Barrens Research Natural Area is located with the Chequamegon. Lying within the Chequamegon are two officially designated wilderness areas of the National Wilderness Preservation System. These are the Porcupine Lake Wilderness and the Rainbow Lake Wilderness.

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