Coarse woody debris stocks and inputs in a primary hill dipterocarp forest, Peninsular Malaysia
2016
Abd Rahman K. | Yagihashi, T. | Azizi R. | Sato, T. | Niiyama, K.
Hill dipterocarp forests are a major forest type within the tropical lowland evergreen rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia. However, the coarse woody debris(CWD) dynamics of these forests remain poorly understood. To improve our understanding of CWD dynamics in hill dipterocarp forests, we investigated stocks and inputs of CWD under different topographical conditions in Semangkok Forest Reserve, Selangor, Malaysia. The total CWD (mean ± standard error of the mean) was 81.7 ± 17.0 Mg ha-1 with a range of 0.1 to 379.7 Mg ha-1. Although we found no significant differences in total CWD among topographies, the large CWD stock may have resulted from the relatively large amount of aboveground biomass in this hill dipterocarp forest. Downed CWD (fallen logs and uproots) was higher than standing CWD (standing dead and snaps) regardless of slope position. The mean CWD input from tree mortality was 8.2 ± 2.2 Mg ha-1 year-1 over 18 years. Assuming the long-term equilibrium of stocks and inputs, the turnover time was 16.6 ± 3.7 years, with no significant differences among topographies. Thus, our study demonstrated the importance of large tree mortality to CWD dynamics in hill dipterocarp forests using long-term tree census data.
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