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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Environmental correlates of tree biomass, basal area, wood specific gravity and stem density gradients in Borneo's tropical forests
Global Ecology and Biogeography, Volume 19, No. 1, Year 2010
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Description
Aim: Tropical forests have been recognized as important global carbon sinks and sources. However, many uncertainties about the spatial distribution of live tree above-ground biomass (AGB) remain, mostly due to limited availability of AGB field data. Recent studies in the Amazon have already shown the importance of large sample size for accurate AGB gradient analysis. Here we use a large stem density, basal area, community wood density and AGB dataset to study and explain their spatial patterns in an Asian tropical forest. Location: Borneo, Southeast Asia. Methods: We combined stem density, basal area, community wood density and AGB data from 83 locations in Borneo with an environmental database containing elevation, climate and soil variables. The Akaike information criterion was used to select models and environmental variables that best explained the observed values of stem density, basal area, community wood density and AGB. These models were used to extrapolate these parameters across Borneo. Results: We found that wood density, stem density, basal area and AGB respond significantly, but differentially, to the environment. AGB was only correlated with basal area, but not with stem density and community wood specific gravity. Main conclusions: Unlike results from Amazonian forests, soil fertility was an important positive correlate for AGB in Borneo while community wood density, which is a main driver of AGB in the Neotropics, did not correlate with AGB in Borneo. Also, Borneo's average AGB of 457.1 Mg ha. -1 was . c. 60% higher than the Amazonian average of 288.6 Mg ha. -1. We find evidence that this difference might be partly explained by the high density of large wind-dispersed Dipterocarpaceae in Borneo, which need to be tall and emergent to disperse their seeds. Our results emphasize the importance of Bornean forests as carbon sinks and sources due to their high carbon storage capacity. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Slik, Ferry
Unknown Affiliation
Aiba, Shinichiro
Unknown Affiliation
Brearley, Francis Q.
Unknown Affiliation
Cannon, Charles H.
Unknown Affiliation
Forshed, Olle
Unknown Affiliation
Kitayama, Kanehiro
Unknown Affiliation
Nagamasu, Hidetoshi
Unknown Affiliation
Nilus, Reuben
Unknown Affiliation
Payne, John
Unknown Affiliation
Paoli, Gary David
Unknown Affiliation
Poulsen, Axel Dalberg
Unknown Affiliation
Raes, Niels
Unknown Affiliation
Sheil, Douglas
Unknown Affiliation
Sidiyasa, Kade
Unknown Affiliation
Suzuki, Eizi
Unknown Affiliation
van Valkenburg, Johan Leonardus Cornelis Hendrikus S.
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 325
Authors: 16
Affiliations: 15
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1466-8238.2009.00489.x
ISSN:
1466822X
e-ISSN:
14668238
Research Areas
Environmental
Sexual And Reproductive Health