Structure, floristics and diversity of tropical montane rain forests over ultramafic soils on Mount Kinabalu (Borneo) compared with those on non-ultramafic soils

Author

Shin-ichiro Aiba A F , Yoshimi Sawada A , Masaaki Takyu B , Tatsuyuki Seino C , Kanehiro Kitayama D and Rimi Repin E

A Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan. 

B Faculty of Regional Environmental Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Sakuragaoka 1-1-1, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan. 

C Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8572, Japan. 

D Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan. 

E Sabah Parks, PO Box 10626, 88806 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. 

F Corresponding author. Email: aiba@sci.kagoshima-u.ac.jp

Australian Journal of Botany 63(4) 191-203 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/BT14238
Submitted: 12 September 2014  Accepted: 13 February 2015   Published: 23 April 2015 

Abstract

We describe here the structure, floristics and diversity of tropical montane rain forests over ultramafic soils on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo, and compared them with those on non-ultramafic soils. We used 14 sample plots from 1580 to 3080 m elevation, six on ultramafic soils and eight on non-ultramafic soils, and identified all trees ≥4.8 cm diameter. The plot area ranged from 0.1 to 1 ha, the majority (nine plots) being 0.25 ha. Forests on ultramafic soils showed more stunted structure, especially at higher altitudes, than those on non-ultramafic soils and on ridges than on slopes. Species of Coniferae (Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae) and Myrtaceae strongly dominated on ultramafic soils occupying 61–96% of basal area in each plot, compared with 22–63% on non-ultramafic soils. Among 287 species found in the 14 plots, only nine species (including four species endemic to Mount Kinabalu) were strictly restricted to ultramafic soils. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling demonstrated that elevational change in species composition was accelerated on ultramafic soils and on ridges. Tree species diversity was generally lower on ultramafic soils than on non-ultramafic soils at the comparative altitudes. Multiple regression analysis suggested that soil nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) could be the cause of vegetation differentiation between ultramafic and non-ultramafic soils, although the data on soil metals are lacking. Comparison of our results with those from other mountains with ultramafic soils in South-east Asia demonstrated the uniqueness of the montane rain forests over ultramafic soils on Mount Kinabalu.

References

Aiba S, Kitayama K (1999) Structure, composition and species diversity in an altitude-substrate matrix of rain forest tree communities on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Plant Ecology 140, 139–157. 
| Structure, composition and species diversity in an altitude-substrate matrix of rain forest tree communities on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Aiba S, Kitayama K (2002) Effects of the 1997-98 El Niño drought on rain forests of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology 18, 215–230.
| Effects of the 1997-98 El Niño drought on rain forests of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Aiba S, Kitayama K, Repin R (2002) Species composition and species-area relationships of trees in nine permanent plots in altitudinal sequences on different geological substrates of Mount Kinabalu. Sabah Parks Nature Journal 5, 7–69. 

Aiba S, Takyu M, Kitayama K (2005) Dynamics, productivity and species richness of tropical rainforests along elevational and edaphic gradients on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Ecological Research 20, 279–286.
| Dynamics, productivity and species richness of tropical rainforests along elevational and edaphic gradients on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Aiba S, Suzuki E, Kitayama K (2006) Structural and floristic variation among small replicate plots of a tropical montane forest on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Tropics 15, 219–236.
| Structural and floristic variation among small replicate plots of a tropical montane forest on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.CrossRef |  

Aiba S, Takyu M, Kitayama K (2010) Biennial variation in tree growth during eight years in montane cloud forests on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. In ‘Tropical montane cloud forests: science for conservation and management’. (Eds LA Bruijnzeel, FN Scatena, LS Hamilton) pp. 579–583. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge) 

Aiba S, Akutsu K, Onoda Y (2013) Canopy structure of tropical and sub-tropical rain forests in relation to conifer dominance analysed with a portable LIDAR system. Annals of Botany 112, 1899–1909.
| Canopy structure of tropical and sub-tropical rain forests in relation to conifer dominance analysed with a portable LIDAR system.CrossRef |  24197751PubMed |  

Ashton PS (1982) Dipterocarpaceae. Flora Malesiana Series I 9, 237–552. 

Ashton PS (2003) Floristic zonation of tree communities on wet tropical mountains revisited. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 6, 87–104.
| Floristic zonation of tree communities on wet tropical mountains revisited.CrossRef |  

Ashton PS (2006) New Tristaniopsis Peter G. Wilson & J.T. Waterh. (Myrtaceae) from Borneo. Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 57, 269–278. 

Ashton PS (2011) Myrtaceae. In ‘Tree flora of Sabah and Sarawak. Vol. 7’. (Eds E Soepadmo, LG Saw, RCK Chung, R Kiew) pp. 87–330. (Forest Research Institute Malaysia: Kepong, Malaysia) 

Beaman JH (2005) Mount Kinabalu: hotspot of plant diversity in Borneo. Biologiske Skrifter 55, 103–127. 

Beaman JH, Anderson C (2004) ‘The plants of Mount Kinabalu 5. Dicotyledon families Magnoliaceae to Winteraceae.’ (Natural History Publications: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) 

Beaman JH, Beaman RS (1990) Diversity and distribution patterns in the flora of Mount Kinabalu. In ‘The plant diversity of Malesia’. (Eds P Baas, K Kalkman, R Geesink) pp. 147–160. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands) 

Beaman JH, Beaman RS (1998) ‘The plants of Mount Kinabalu 3. Gymnosperms and non-orchid monocotyledons.’ (Natural History Publications: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) 

Beaman RS, Beaman JH, Marsh CW, Woods PV (1985) Drought and forest fires in Sabah in 1983. Sabah Society Journal 8, 10–30. 

Beaman JH, Anderson C, Beaman RS (2001) ‘The plants of Mount Kinabalu 4. Dicotyledon families Acanthaceae to Lythraceae.’ (Natural History Publications: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) 

Bellingham PJ, Sparrow AD (2009) Multi-stemmed trees in montane rain forests: their frequency and demography in relation to elevation, soil nutrients and disturbance. Journal of Ecology 97, 472–483.
| Multi-stemmed trees in montane rain forests: their frequency and demography in relation to elevation, soil nutrients and disturbance.CrossRef |  

Bureau of Mines and Geo-sciences (1981) ‘Geology and mineral resources of the Philippines. Vol. 1.’ (Ministry of Natural Resources: Manila) 

Colwell RK (2013) ‘EstimateS: statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples.’ Available at http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates/index.html [verified 21 January 2015] 

Colwell RK, Chao A, Gotelli N, Lin S-Y, Mao CX, Chazdon RL, Longino JT (2012) Models and estimators linking individual-based and sample-based rarefaction, extrapolation and comparison of assemblages. Journal of Plant Ecology 5, 3–21.
| Models and estimators linking individual-based and sample-based rarefaction, extrapolation and comparison of assemblages.CrossRef |  

Condit R, Hubbell SP, Lafrankie JV, Sukumar R, Manokaran N, Foster RB, Ashton PS (1996) Species-area and species-individual relationships for tropical trees: a comparison of three 50-ha plots. Journal of Ecology 84, 549–562.
| Species-area and species-individual relationships for tropical trees: a comparison of three 50-ha plots.CrossRef |  

Corner EJH (1964) A discussion on the results of the Royal Society Expedition to North Borneo, 1961. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 161, 1–91. 

Fox JED, Tan TH (1971) Soils and forest on an ultrabasic hill north east of Ranau, Sabah. The Journal of Tropical Geography 32, 38–48. 

Fujii K, Aoki M, Kitayama K (2012) Biodegradation of low molecular weight organic acids in rhizosphere soils from a tropical montane rain forest. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 47, 142–148.
| Biodegradation of low molecular weight organic acids in rhizosphere soils from a tropical montane rain forest.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC38XitFOrsbw%3D&md5=98d812854079f858f3d79afd66347996CAS |  

Grubb PJ (1971) Interpretation of the ‘Massenerhebung’ effect on tropical mountains. Nature 229, 44–45.
| Interpretation of the ‘Massenerhebung’ effect on tropical mountains.CrossRef | 1:STN:280:DC%2BD2MzpvVKlsA%3D%3D&md5=0c9717c685172aed1fbd22b27c664566CAS |  16059069PubMed |  

Hall R, Cottam M, Suggate S, Tongkul F, Sperber C, Batt G (2008) ‘The geology of Mount Kinabalu’ (Sabah Parks: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) 

Homeier J, Breckle SW, Günter S, Rollenbeck RT, Leuschner C (2010) Tree diversity, forest structure and productivity along altitudinal and topographical gradients in a species-rich Ecuadorian montane rain forest. Biotropica 42, 140–148.
| Tree diversity, forest structure and productivity along altitudinal and topographical gradients in a species-rich Ecuadorian montane rain forest.CrossRef |  

Jacobson G (1970) ‘Gunong Kinabalu Area, Sabah, Malaysia.’ (Geological Survey Malaysia: Ipoh, Malaysia) 

Jaffré T (1993) The relationship between ecological diversity and floristic diversity in New Caledonia. Biodiversity Letters 1, 82–87.
| The relationship between ecological diversity and floristic diversity in New Caledonia.CrossRef |  

Kitayama K (1991) ‘Vegetation of Mount Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia.’ (East-West Center: Honolulu, HI, USA) 

Kitayama K (1992) An altitudinal transect study of the vegetation on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Vegetatio 102, 149–171.
| An altitudinal transect study of the vegetation on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Kitayama K (1995) Biophysical conditions of the montane cloud forests of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. In ‘Tropical montane cloud forests’. (Eds LS Hamilton, JO Juvik, FN Scatena) pp. 183–197. (Springer-Verlag: New York) 

Kitayama K, Aiba S (2002) Ecosystem structure and productivity of tropical rain forests along altitudinal gradients with contrasting phosphorus pools on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Journal of Ecology 90, 37–51.
| Ecosystem structure and productivity of tropical rain forests along altitudinal gradients with contrasting phosphorus pools on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Kitayama K, Aiba S, Majalap-Lee N, Ohsawa M (1998) Soil nitrogen mineralization rates of rainforests in a matrix of elevations and geological substrates on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Ecological Research 13, 301–312.
| Soil nitrogen mineralization rates of rainforests in a matrix of elevations and geological substrates on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Kitayama K, Majalap-Lee N, Aiba S (2000) Soil phosphorus fractionation and phosphorus-use efficiencies of tropical rainforests along altitudinal gradients of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Oecologia 123, 342–349.
| Soil phosphorus fractionation and phosphorus-use efficiencies of tropical rainforests along altitudinal gradients of Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Kitayama K, Aiba S, Takyu M, Majalap N, Wagai R (2004) Soil phosphorus fractionation and phosphorus-use efficiency of a Bornean tropical montane rain forest during soil aging with podozolization. Ecosystems 7, 259–274.
| Soil phosphorus fractionation and phosphorus-use efficiency of a Bornean tropical montane rain forest during soil aging with podozolization.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2cXkvF2ksbo%3D&md5=868d61b14653050c660cf5fae1b7d011CAS |  

Kitayama K, Aiba S, Ushio M, Seino T, Fujiki Y (2011) The ecology of podocarps in tropical montane forests of Borneo: distribution, population dynamics, and soil nutrient acquisition. In ‘Ecology of the Podocarpaceae in tropical forests’. (Eds BL Turner, LA Cernusak LA) pp. 101–117. (Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press: Washington DC) 

Lee DW, Lowry JB (1980) Plant speciation on tropical mountains: Leptospermum(Myrtaceae) on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society80, 223–242.
| Plant speciation on tropical mountains: Leptospermum(Myrtaceae) on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

McCune B, Mefford MJ (2011) ‘PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Ver. 6.0 for Windows.’ (MjM Software: Gleneden Beach, OR, USA) 

Meijer W (1965) A botanical guide to the flora of Mount Kinabalu. In ‘Symposium on ecological research in humid tropics vegetations’. pp. 325–364. (Government of Sarawak: Kuching, Malaysia) 

Ogden J (1985) An introduction to plant demography with special reference to New Zealand trees. New Zealand Journal of Botany 23, 751–772.
| An introduction to plant demography with special reference to New Zealand trees.CrossRef |  

Parris BS, Beaman RS, Beaman JH (1992) ‘The plants of Mount Kinabalu I. Ferns and fern allies.’ (Royal Botanic Gardens: Kew, UK) 

Proctor J (1992) The vegetation over ultramafic rocks in the tropical Far East. In ‘The ecology of areas with serpentinized rocks. A world view’. (Eds BA Roberts, J Proctor) pp. 249–270. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht, The Netherlands) 

Proctor J (2003) Vegetation and soil and plant chemistry on ultramafic rocks in the tropical Far East. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 6, 105–124.
| Vegetation and soil and plant chemistry on ultramafic rocks in the tropical Far East.CrossRef |  

Proctor J, Lee YF, Langley AM, Munro WRC, Nelson T (1988) Ecological studies on Gunung Silam, a small ultrabasic mountain in Sabah, Malaysia. I. Environment, forest structure and floristics. Journal of Ecology 76, 320–340.
| Ecological studies on Gunung Silam, a small ultrabasic mountain in Sabah, Malaysia. I. Environment, forest structure and floristics.CrossRef |  

Proctor J, van Balgooy MMJ, Fairweather GM, Nagy L, Reeves RD (1994) A preliminary re-investigation of a plant geographical ‘El Dorado’. Tropical Biodiversity 2, 303–316. 

Proctor J, Baker AJM, van Balgooy MMJ, Jones SH, Bruijnzeel LA, Madulid DA (1997) Mount Bloomfield, Palawan, Philippines: the scrub and Gymnostoma-woodland on ultramafic rocks. In ‘The ecology of ultramafic and metalliferous areas’. (Eds T Jaffré, RD Reeves, T Bacquer) pp. 123–131. (ORSTOM: Noumea, New Caledonia) 

Proctor J, Argent GC, Madulid DA (1998) Forests of the ultramafic Mount Giting-Giting, Sibuyan Island, the Philippines. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 55, 295–316.
| Forests of the ultramafic Mount Giting-Giting, Sibuyan Island, the Philippines.CrossRef |  

Proctor J, Baker AJM, van Balgooy MMJ, Bruijnzeel LA, Jones SH, Madulid DA (2000) Mount Bloomfield, Palawan, Philippines: forests on greywacke and serpentinized peridotite. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 57, 121–139.
| Mount Bloomfield, Palawan, Philippines: forests on greywacke and serpentinized peridotite.CrossRef |  

Read J, Jaffr T, Godrie E, Hope GS, Veillon JM (2000) Structural and floristic characteristics of some monodominant and adjacent mixed rainforests in New Caledonia. Journal of Biogeography 27, 233–250.
| Structural and floristic characteristics of some monodominant and adjacent mixed rainforests in New Caledonia.CrossRef |  

Sawada Y, Aiba S, Takyu M, Repin R, Nais J, Kitayama K (2015) Community dynamics over 14 years along gradients of geological substrate and topography in tropical montane forests on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology 31, 117–128.
| Community dynamics over 14 years along gradients of geological substrate and topography in tropical montane forests on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Stevens PF (2001) ‘Angiosperm phylogeny website.’ Available at http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/welcome.html [Verified 21 January 2015] 

Takhtajan A (1986) ‘Floristic regions of the world.’ (University of California Press: Berkeley, CA, USA) 

Takyu M, Aiba S, Kitayama K (2002a) Effects of topography on tropical lower montane forests under different geological conditions on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo. Plant Ecology 159, 35–49.
| Effects of topography on tropical lower montane forests under different geological conditions on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo.CrossRef |  

Takyu M, Aiba S, Kitayama K (2002b) Beta-diversity and changes in population structure along topographical gradients on different geological substrates in tropical montane forests on Mount Kinabalu. Sabah Parks Nature Journal 5, 165–218. 

Turner IM (2001) Rainforest ecosystems, plant diversity. In ‘Encyclopedia of biodiversity. Vol. 5ʹ. (Ed. SA Levin) pp. 13–23. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA, USA) 

van der Ent A, Baker AJM, van Balgooy MMJ, Tjoa A (2013) Ultramafic nickel laterites in Indonesia (Sulawesi, Halmahera): mining, nickel hyperaccumulators and opportunities for phytomining. Journal of Geochemical Exploration 128, 72–79.
| Ultramafic nickel laterites in Indonesia (Sulawesi, Halmahera): mining, nickel hyperaccumulators and opportunities for phytomining.CrossRef | 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3sXjt1Sgu7w%3D&md5=b69d9aea1cf8b76b4ad464d9558b4d87CAS |  

van der Ent A, Repin R, Sugau J, Wong KM (2014) ‘The ultramafic flora of Sabah.’ (Sabah Parks and Natural History Publications: Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) 

van Steenis CGGJ (1972) ‘The mountain flora of Java.’ (EJ Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands) 

Wagai R, Kitayama K, Satomura T, Fujinuma R, Balser T (2011) Interactive influences of climate and parent material on soil microbial community structure in Bornean tropical forest ecosystems. Ecological Research 26, 627–636.
| Interactive influences of climate and parent material on soil microbial community structure in Bornean tropical forest ecosystems.CrossRef |  

Whitmore TC (1984) ‘Tropical rain forests of the Far East.’ (Clarendon Press: Oxford) 

For further details log on website :
http://www.publish.csiro.au/bt/BT14238

80 percent of Malaysian Borneo degraded by logging

Published Date

Date:

July 17, 2013

Source:

Carnegie Institution

Summary:

A new study has found that more than 80 percent of tropical forests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging. The team used the Carnegie Landsat Analysis System-lite (CLASlite) to reveal the vast and previously unmapped extent of heavily logged forest. CLASlite's high-resolution satellite imaging uncovered logging roads in Brunei and in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Share:

Landsat images showing successive roads (in pink) built between 1990 and 2009 in a forested region of the ‘Heart of Borneo’, Sarawak.

Credit: Bryan JE, Shearman PL, Asner GP, Knapp DE, Aoro G, et al. (2013) Extreme Differences in Forest Degradation in Borneo: Comparing Practices in Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei. PLoS ONE 8(7): e69679. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069679

A study published in the July 17, issue of the journal PLOS ONE found that more than 80% of tropical forests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging.

The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak were already thought to be global hotspots of forest loss and degradation due to timber and oil palm industries, but the rates and patterns of change have remained poorly measured by conventional field or satellite approaches. A research team from the University of Tasmania, University of Papua New Guinea, and the Carnegie Institution for Science documented the full extent of logging in this region.

The team used the Carnegie Landsat Analysis System-lite (CLASlite) to reveal the vast and previously unmapped extent of heavily logged forest. CLASlite's high-resolution satellite imaging uncovered logging roads in Brunei and in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

CLASlite, developed by Carnegie's Greg Asner and team, has the unique ability to convert satellite images of seemingly dense tropical forest cover into highly detailed maps of deforestation and forest degradation. The user-friendly monitoring system has been made available to hundreds of governments, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions for use in mapping tropical forests.

Analysis of satellite imagery collected from 1990 and 2009 over Malaysian Borneo showed approximately 226,000 miles (364,000 km) of roads constructed throughout the forests of this region. Nearly 80% of the land surface of Sabah and Sarawak was impacted by previously undocumented, high-impact logging or clearing operations. This finding contrasted strongly with neighboring Brunei, where 54% of the land area maintained intact unlogged forest.

Team leader Jane Bryan said: "There is a crisis in tropical forest ecosystems worldwide, and our work documents the extent of the crisis on Malaysian Borneo. Only small areas of intact forest remain in Malaysian Borneo, because so much has been heavily logged or cleared for timber or oil palm production. Rainforests that previously contained lots of big old trees, which store carbon and support a diverse ecosystem, are being replaced with oil palm or timber plantations, or hollowed out by logging."

Only 8% and 3% of land area in Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, was covered by intact forests in designated protected areas. Very few forest ecosystems remain intact in Sabah or Sarawak. But Brunei has largely excluded industrial logging from its borders and has been comparatively successful in protecting its forests.

Greg Asner commented: "The results are sobering. The problem with previous monitoring reports is that they have been based on satellite mapping methods that have missed most of the forest degradation in Malaysian Borneo, and elsewhere throughout the tropics. I'm talking about heavy logging that leaves a wake of forest degradation, even though the area may still look like forest in conventional satellite imagery. With the CLASlite system, we can see the effects of logging on the inner canopy of the forest. The system revealed extremely widespread degradation in this case."

Co-author of the study Phil Shearman said: "The extent of logging in Sabah and Sarawak documented in our work is breathtaking. The logging industry has penetrated right into the heart of Borneo and very little rainforest remains untouched by logging or clearfell in Malaysian Borneo. Brunei provides a stunning contrast. Most of Brunei's forests are still intact, as a result of largely excluding the logging industry from its borders. The situation in these tropical forests is now so severe that any further sacrifice of intact ecosystems to the logging industry should be off the table."

This work was an international collaboration between the School of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Tasmania, in Hobart, Australia; the University of Papua New Guinea Remote Sensing Centre, in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and the Department of Global Ecology, at the Carnegie Institution for Science, California. The CLASlite capacity building project is made possible by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Carnegie Institution. Note: Content may be edited for style and length

Journal Reference:

1. Jane E. Bryan, Philip L. Shearman, Gregory P. Asner, David E. Knapp, Geraldine Aoro, Barbara Lokes. Extreme Differences in Forest Degradation in Borneo: Comparing Practices in Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (7): e69679 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069679

For further details log on website :
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717173002.htm

Assessment of Above-Ground Biomass of Borneo Forests through a New Data-Fusion Approach Combining Two Pan-Tropical Biomass Maps

Published Date
Received: 17 April 2015 / Revised: 22 July 2015 / Accepted: 31 July 2015 / Published: 4 August 2015

Author 

Christelle Vancutsem ¹

, Jean-Francois Pekel ¹

, Dario Simonetti ¹

, Giacomo Grassi ¹

, Kanehiro Kitayama ²

 and Mikiyasu Nakayama ³

¹

European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Via E. Fermi, 2749, I-21027 Ispra (VA), Italy

²

Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Oiwake-cho, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan

³

Department of International Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Science, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8563, Japan

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. 

Academic Editor: Nophea Sasaki

Received: 17 April 2015 / Revised: 22 July 2015 / Accepted: 31 July 2015 / Published: 4 August 2015

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Emission Reductions and Removals in Tropical Forests)

Abstract

This study investigates how two existing pan-tropical above-ground biomass (AGB) maps (Saatchi 2011, Baccini 2012) can be combined to derive forest ecosystem specific carbon estimates. Several data-fusion models which combine these AGB maps according to their local correlations with independent datasets such as the spectral bands of SPOT VEGETATION imagery are analyzed. Indeed these spectral bands convey information about vegetation type and structure which can be related to biomass values. Our study area is the island of Borneo. The data-fusion models are evaluated against a reference AGB map available for two forest concessions in Sabah. The highest accuracy was achieved by a model which combines the AGB maps according to the mean of the local correlation coefficients calculated over different kernel sizes. Combining the resulting AGB map with a new Borneo land cover map (whose overall accuracy has been estimated at 86.5%) leads to average AGB estimates of 279.8 t/ha and 233.1 t/ha for forests and degraded forests respectively. Lowland dipterocarp and mangrove forests have the highest and lowest AGB values (305.8 t/ha and 136.5 t/ha respectively). The AGB of all natural forests amounts to 10.8 Gt mainly stemming from lowland dipterocarp (66.4%), upper dipterocarp (10.9%) and peat swamp forests (10.2%). Degraded forests account for another 2.1 Gt of AGB. One main advantage of our approach is that, once the best fitting data-fusion model is selected, no further AGB reference dataset is required for implementing the data-fusion process. Furthermore, the local harmonization of AGB datasets leads to more spatially precise maps. This approach can easily be extended to other areas in Southeast Asia which are dominated by lowland dipterocarp forest, and can be repeated when newer or more accurate AGB maps become available.

Keywords: AGB;  biomass;  data-fusion;  weighted averaging;  vegetation;  Borneo

▼ Figures

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

For further details log on website :
http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/4/3/656