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Above-Ground Biomass and Tree Species Diversity in the Anap Sustainable Development Unit, Sarawak

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Anthropogenic Tropical Forests

Part of the book series: Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research ((AAHER))

Abstract

With rapid deforestation and forest degradation ongoing in tropical regions, the maintenance of biodiversity and high biomass/carbon stocks can bring additional benefits to the sustainable management of natural forests along with sustainable timber production. However, the measures for improving the maintenance of biodiversity and high biomass are not well evaluated. For this study, we established vegetation plots in the Anap Sustainable Development Unit (ASDU) in Bintulu, Sarawak, including the Anap-Muput Forest Management Unit (AMFMU), in order to investigate the distribution of above-ground biomass and tree species diversity. Using a Landsat image, we mapped the distribution of above-ground biomass all over the ASDU as of 2009. This distribution of above-ground biomass inside the AMFMU was not well correlated with the time that had elapsed since the last cycle of logging. The topography of the area may in fact be a more important factor. In total, 986 tree species were recorded in 70 plots (covering 8.3 ha in total). The species richness was not obviously different between recently harvested forests and primary forests, demonstrating that it is not severely affected by logging activity. As the above-ground biomass and tree species richness cannot be predicted by the years after harvesting alone, adaptive management with continuous monitoring is necessary to maintain the benefits of sustainable forest management.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff of Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Rantai Jawa, Tinjan Kuda and Shalih bin Rebi, who helped in conducting fieldwork and the identification of tree species. We also thank the managing director of Zedtee Sdn Bhd, Wong Ing Yung, and his staff, John Tasan and Wong Toh Meo, and the other staff in Camp Sekawie and Camp Ayam for their support during the fieldwork. We are grateful to our local assistants who helped with our fieldwork. We also thank Jason Hon from WWF-Malaysia who introduced us to the ASDU, helped to conduct this study and also edited the manuscript. We would also like to acknowledge Nobuo Imai, Andreas Langner, Atsushi Tanaka and Kanehiro Kitayama who helped in discussing the plot design, and Ayako Oide who helped with the remote sensing analysis. This study was financially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (22221010) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Global Environment Research Funds (D-1006, 1-1403) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. This study was permitted by the Forest Department of Sarawak (NCCD.907.4.4 (Jld.7) -67).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Global Environmental Strategies, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan

    Hiromitsu Samejima

  2. Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Kuching, Malaysia

    Malcom Demies

  3. Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Miyako Koizumi & Shogoro Fujiki

  4. Biome Inc., Kyoto, Japan

    Shogoro Fujiki

Authors
  1. Hiromitsu Samejima
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  2. Malcom Demies
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  3. Miyako Koizumi
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  4. Shogoro Fujiki
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Correspondence to Hiromitsu Samejima .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Noboru Ishikawa

  2. Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University, Osaka, Japan

    Ryoji Soda

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Samejima, H., Demies, M., Koizumi, M., Fujiki, S. (2020). Above-Ground Biomass and Tree Species Diversity in the Anap Sustainable Development Unit, Sarawak. In: Ishikawa, N., Soda, R. (eds) Anthropogenic Tropical Forests. Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7513-2_10

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