East Asia and Pacific

Fallow to Forest: Applying Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge of Swidden Cultivation to Tropical Forest Restoration

Background

This study analyzed vegetation at two sites of shifting cultivation by Lawa and Karen indigenous people in the Mae Chaem watershed in 1-year, 3-year and 6-year fallow fields, with an area of natural forest as a control comparison.

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Biodiversity–Productivity Relationships in Small-Scale Mixed-Species Plantations Using Native Species in Leyte Province, Philippines

background

The growth of tropical reforestation in recent decades has given rise to a debate between the relative productivity, biodiversity, and general merits of mixed-species vs. single-species plantations. To further investigate the relationship between tree species diversity, productivity, and abiotic factors such as climate and soil, this study investigated the growth of mixed-species plantations in Leyte province in the Philippines. These smallholder plantations were planted in 1992 to meet social, economic, and environmental needs through the Rainforestation Farming system.

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Early Effects of Four Fast-Growing Tree Species and Their Planting Density on Ground Vegetation in Imperata grasslands

background

This study aims to test the success of fast-growing exotics tree species and alternative planting densities on the development of ground vegetation. The study was conducted in Riam Kiwa, South Kalimantan, Indonesia in Imperata grasslands. The four fast-growing exotic tree species used in the study were Acacia mangium, Acacia crassicarpa, Gmelina arborea, and Paraserianthes falcataria.

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Nurse Plant Theory and its Application in Ecological Restoration in Lower Subtropics of China

background

This study examines the mechanisms of the nurse tree effect and ecological factors that influence tree nursing and its relationship to ecological restoration.

Research Goals & Methods

The authors list different pairs of nurse and target tree species, including the broad description of such pairs and research findings of case studies in several locations in lower subtropical China. They also examine the positive and negative feedback loops between nurse trees and target species and explain why the nursing effect occurs.

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Monitoring Forest Degradation in Tropical Regions by Remote Sensing: Some Methodological Issues

Background

This review examines different remote sensing techniques to monitor vegetation cover at a regional scale. The objective was to discuss implications related to monitoring of open forest degradation.

Research Goals & Methods

Techniques include methods to track both spatial and temporal changes in structure and function associated with land use change.

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Drought, Fire, and Tree Survival in a Borneo Rainforest, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Background

While draughts and fires are seen as important components of tropical forests, large-scale assessments of the effects of these events are scarce. This paper compares the forest stand level impact between severe drought and a subsequent extensive fires on forest stand in a lowland rainforest in East Kalimantan.

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Degraded Lands Worth Protecting: the Biological Importance of Southeast Asia's Repeatedly Logged Forests.

Background

The study examines the impacts of second logging cycles on biodiversity by comparing species richness, species composition and population-level responses of birds and dung beetle species across unlogged forest, first rotation forest, and second rotation forest in Sabah, Malaysia.

Research Goals & Methods

The authors sample 18 sites, 6 for each forest type, over a two year period. They use point count and mist net censuses for bird species and pitfall traps to count dung beetles.

Open access copy available

The Use of Ants and Other Soil and Litter Arthropods as Bio-Indicators of the Impacts of Rainforest Clearing and Subsequent Land Use

Background

This study evaluates the impacts of rainforest clearing on soil and litter arthropods with a particular focus on ant species.

Open access copy available

Between Cash and Usufruct Rights: In Search of an Appropriate Policy Instrument for Sustained Local People's Participation

Background

This study examines a reforestation program that was launched in the Philippines funded by the Asian Development Bank in 1988. Contract restoration and incentive mechanisms were introduced to include the participation of civic and local community groups in reforestation. 

Open access copy available

Rehabilitation of Nickel Mining Sites in New Caledonia

background

New Caledonia has the fourth largest Nickle deposits in the world, and major mining companies have frequently used open-pit nickle extraction. New Caledonia boasts around 1,137 endemic species, and distrubance from mining threatened many of them. The government came under pressure to regulate the mining sector and rehabilitate mined areas damaged from mining pollution. Both the waterways and New Caledonia's tourism sector suffered from the pollution.

Open access copy available
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