Dry evergreen forests in central flat lowland areas of Cambodia and site environment conditions
2009
Araki, M.(Forestry and Forest Products Research Inst., Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)) | Ito, E.
Tropical forests of Southeast Asia are distributed in the tropical rain climate zone (tropical monsoon climate zone) or in the tropical savanna climate zone, according to Koeppen's The climate of the world. The tropical savanna climate zone, which supports deciduous forests, has severe low-precipitation months in the dry season. The central low plains of Cambodia are located in a tropical savanna climate zone. The dry season there has months with no precipitation. In such climate conditions, deciduous forests would be expected. Although the area has a severe drying period each year, spectacular dry evergreen forests with large trees can be found in tropical rain forests and seasonal evergreen forests. To clarify why evergreen forests are able to grow there, soil profiles were examined, soil properties were analyzed, and soil moisture and groundwater levels were measured. Analyses of those investigated and measured data show that the soil retains more soil moisture contents than do soils of nearby dry deciduous forests and mixed forests. Even in the driest period (end of the dry season), soil moisture conditions of the dry evergreen forest are not an obstacle for trees to grow during the dry season there. Furthermore, those conditions are attributable to finely pored soil that retains water during the dry season. Moreover, the soil layer there is sufficiently thick to retain water during the dry season. Those site environment conditions support dry evergreen forest vegetation there.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Information Technology Center