Soil disturbance from different mechanised harvesting in Hill Tropical Forest, Peninsular Malaysia.

The impacts of mechanised forest harvesting to soil physical properties are the major concern by forest managers, which have the potential to impact soil sustainability and forest productivity. Malaysia is practicing reduce impact logging (RIL) and applying code of forest harvest practice in forest harvesting and operations for sustainable forest resources management. In 2001, a machinery called Rimbaka Timber Harvester R2020-A was introduced for timber extraction for peat swamp forest and later on the machine was introduced to the hill tropical forest as an alternative to other machines. The study aimed to evaluate soil compaction (soil cone index, soil bulk density, soil moisture content and soil pore space) by Rimbaka Timber Harvester R2020-A and crawler tractor KOMATSU D60-A. A total of five samples were randomly taken using core sampler of 50 mm height and 50 mm diameter at the beneath a lug imprint for passes 1, 4 and 8. Altogether samples were 45. The locations of sample were to the right and left of each rut centre for both machines. Treatment effects were evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Result showed that compaction by Rimbaka machine was increased bulk density from 1.14 to 1.43 g/cc, cone index from 1.94 to 3.45 g/cm3 decreased total pore space by 43% and decreased soil moisture content by 19%. Meanwhile compaction by KOMATSU D60-A was increased bulk density from 1.2 to 1.43 g/cc, cone index from 1.24 to 1.94 g/cm3 decreased soil moisture content by 11% and total pore space by 6%, respectively. The value increased rapidly as more passes increase on the track surface. The higher soil disturbance by Rimbaka machine was due to physical design and specification of the machine. This study also observed that there was significant difference in the total passes of machinery used in harvesting operation. Although Rimbaka machine is showing more effected to soil compaction, the machine is a practical alternative to avoid skid trail and reduce road density in forest area

Examining the rate of vegetation diversity under abandoned skid trails in Peninsular Malaysia forest

Skidding operations have been widely reported as a source of negative impact on soils and damage to vegetation. The diversity of species regenerated includes species richness, dominancy and evenness index that were discovered within abandoned skid trails after timber harvesting operations were enumerated in this study. Three classes of habitat were sampled: skid trail tracks, edges of skid trail and adjacent forests. Shannon’s diversity index shows different indices are recorded for seedlings and saplings within the three habitats studied. Some seedlings were found to exist in all three habitats studied, and fewer or even none of the saplings were found within skid trail tracks; on the contrary, many saplings were found within edges and adjacent forests. While no dipterocarp species was found within skid trail tracks, Shorea sp. was found within edges and adjacent forests, and Hopea pubescens was only found within adjacent forests. The results show that there are different regeneration rates among the three different habitats depending on the size of gaps created during skidding operations. High regeneration rate was found to occur within edges habitat since it is more suitable compared with the other two habitats

Assessing timber extraction by using the RIMBAKA R2020- a timber harvester on a steep terrain in Ulu Jelai Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia

In this study, the extraction operation of a RIMBAKA Timber Harvester R2020-A on steep terrain was investigated. A continuous time study was carried out to estimate the operational efficiency of the RIMBAKA timber harvester. Four dependent variables were observed to investigate their impacts on the extraction phases: skidding distance, hauling distance, volume and slope. A total of 48 working cycles were time studied. During the operation, RIMBAKA extracted 3.55 m3 of logs per cycle and had a machine utilization rate of 78%, with a corresponding productivity of 45.92 m3/PMH15. The unit cost of RIMBAKA was RM 4.64/m3. Meanwhile, hauling distance and log volume had a major effect on the productivity of the harvester during the extraction phase. Thus, a better understanding of the integrated effect on the productivity of the RIMBAKA extraction operation, in combination with the rest of machines of the harvesting system, will better help predicting the efficiency and productivity of the whole system

Structure and Characteristics of Fuelwood Supply Chain in Yobe, Nigeria

Fuelwood commercialization activities provide a source of livelihood in Nigeria. Despite its economic significance, the industry has been kept out of the formal economies due to a lack of supportive data on the structure and characteristics of the industry. This study investigates the structure of the supply chain and examines the chain actors' roles and functions to understand the issues within the supply chain activities. Data were collected through key informants' interviews and observations. The study found that fuelwood business activities were conducted formally by licensed actors and informally by non-licensed actors. Benefits received and issues experienced by actors were related to the formality of the business. Heavy reliance on natural forests for fuelwood production among chain actors can add pressure on the forest resources and ecosystem. Therefore, significant intervention is needed for the industry which includes policy and programs related to fuelwood plantation and management, government support, licensing education, and collaborations among all stakeholders to improve supply chain activities. &nbsp

Remotely sensed imagery data application in mangrove forest: a review

The mangrove forest ecosystem acts as a shield against the destructive tidal waves, preventing the coastal areas and other properties nearby from severe damages; this protective function certainly deserves attention from researchers to undertake further investigation and exploration. Mangrove forest provides different goods and services. The unique environmental factors affecting the growth of mangrove forest are as follows: distance from the sea or the estuary bank, frequency and duration of tidal inundation, salinity, and composition of the soil. These crucial factors may under certain circumstances turn into obstacles in accessing and managing the mangrove forest. One effective method to circumvent this shortcoming is by using remotely sensed imagery data, which offers a more accurate way of measuring the ecosystem and a more efficient tool of managing the mangrove forest. This paper attempts to review and discuss the usage of remotely sensed imagery data in mangrove forest management, and how they will improve the accuracy and precision in measuring the mangrove forest ecosystem. All types of measurements related to the mangrove forest ecosystem, such as detection of land cover changes, species distribution mapping and disaster observation should take advantage of the advanced technology; for example, adopting the digital image processing algorithm coupled with high-resolution image available nowadays. Thus, remote sensing is a highly efficient, low-cost and time-saving technique for mangrove forest measurement. The application of this technique will further add value to the mangrove forest and enhance its in-situ conservation and protection programmes in combating the effects of the rising sea level due to climate change

Identifying trees species dominance in Hulu Sedili Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia based on lithology type using Geographic Information System

Lowland tropical forest in Peninsular Malaysia consist a valuable dipterocarp timber species. In fact, dipterocarp tree species growth well when the ecology is maintained and their growth are dependent on the micro climate and also affected by lithology types. This study was carried out to identify and map tree species dominancy by lithology types at Hulu Sedili Forest Reserve (HSFR) using Geographic Information System (GIS) technique. Different lithology type maps were derived namely Igneous, Sedimentary and Limestone. Through GIS operations tree species data collected from pre-felling inventory and ground survey were overlaid with lithology features. Results showed that at Sedimentary and Igneous types, the presence of dipterocarpaceae family is only 3.09%, and non-dipterocarpaceae family was 96.91%. Syzygium spp. (19.83%) was the most abundance in Igneous and Sedimentary. Meanwhile, Elateriospermum tapos (9.92%) and Lauraceae's family (7.22%) were found to be the most dominant species in Sedimentary types, Macaranga spp. (11.21%) and Elateriospermum tapos (11.02%) in igneous types. However, a Limestone type was discarded from analysis due to unavailable pre-felling data. Thus, this study indicated that there was variation in species dominancy of different lithology types. On the other hand, GIS demonstrated its capability as a useful tool in identifying and maps the location of trees species based on lithology types

Factors affecting L-band Alos Palsar backscatter on tropical forest biomass

Aboveground biomass (AGB) is one of the key parameters for carbon accounting in a forest area. However, estimating this parameter by using remote sensing approach has been challenging as the interpretation of remotely sensed has been challenging as the interpretation of remotely sensed complex tropical forest ecosystem. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor system has its potential in obtaining acceptable AGB estimation but several issues such as complex forest structure and saturation at certain biomass levels remain unanswered and continuously being studied. This study was carried out to identify factors that contribute to the variation of backscattering properties on forest biomass. The sensitivity of L-band backscatter from Alos Palsar satellite with a wavelength of about 23 cm to the forest biomass was examined. Natural and logged forests of Dungun Timber Complex in Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia were selected as the study area. AGB at a number of sample plots were measured on the ground in the study area. Both aspects of forestry and remote sensing comprised several variables namely tree allometry, vertical forest strata, tree diameter classes, radar polarimetry, and spatial variability were examined in four experiments. AGB was calculated based on these parameters and tested by using statistical backward elimination method to identify the most significant factor that infer the backscatter. The study revealed that the L-band Alos Palsar backscatter interacts only with canopies of forest at certain size of trees

Short communication: effect of skid trails on the regeneration of commercial tree species at Balah Forest Reserve, Kelantan, Malaysia

Skidding operation has been reported as one of the factor to forest soil degradation and vegetation disturbance. Assessing tree regeneration by the effect of the skid trail from harvest operation is important to determine the recovery rate of the forest stand. A study was conducted to accomplish the following objectives, (i) to measure the tree regeneration rates at different distance from skid trails, and (ii) to evaluate the dominance and species diversity of regenerated trees. A total of five plots with size of 50 m by 2 m were established in two skid trails of natural forest that has been logged in 2012. Each plot contains five sub-plots of 2 m by 2 m in different locations namely skid track, edge and forest. The number of seedlings and saplings, species richness and diversity, and dominance regeneration were analyzed. Results showed that the number of species regeneration was not significantly different in both skid trails. For skid trail 1 the number of seedling and saplings was highest on skid trail tracks (mean species diversity = 0.45). Meanwhile skid trail 2 showed the greatest species regeneration at edges (mean species diversity =0.65). Frequency value for Elateriospermum tapos was high due to the existence of mother tree in the area that provide a great number of seedlings. The dominance regeneration in both skid trails originated from non-dipterocarp families. There were 42 non-dipterocarp seedling and saplings in skid trail 1, and 182 in skid trail 2. While only 2 dipterocarp seedling and saplings in skid trail 1, and 8 in skid trail 2. Enrichment planting is suggested as dipterocarp species have low growth rate compared to the non-dipterocarp species

Estimating wildlife occurrence in Peninsular Malaysia using GWR4

The Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) is an example of spatial analysis that used spatial non-stationarity as variables and explains it in details in terms of location. In a two different forest areas; undisturbed and disturbed forest in Peninsular Malaysia, we studied the relationship between wildlife richness with landscape factors as explanatory variables. A total of 120 camera traps were installed at both forest areas from May 2015 to March 2016. We found that undisturbed forest was high in wildlife richness compared to disturbed forest with two from 16 mammals species were listed under endangered species in the IUCN red list. We concluded that wildlife is more abundant in the undisturbed forest due to the richness of biodiversity from plants and animals. The GWR gives a good model between the relationship of wildlife occurrence and landscape features. In addition, information obtained from the AICc value could help stakeholders and responsible authorities to maintain the diversity of wildlife species as attributed by the landscape factor importance

Urban forest fragmentation impoverishes native mammalian biodiversity in the tropics

Urban expansion has caused major deforestation and forest fragmentation in the tropics. The impacts of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity are understudied in urban forest patches, especially in the tropics and little is known on the conservation value of the patches for maintaining mammalian biodiversity. In this study, camera trapping was used to determine the species composition and species richness of medium‐ and large‐sized mammals in three urban forest patches and a contiguous forest in Peninsular Malaysia. We identified the key vegetation attributes that predicted mammal species richness and occurrence of herbivores and omnivores in urban forest patches. A total number of 19 mammal species from 120 sampling points were recorded. Contiguous forest had the highest number of species compared to the urban forest patches. Sunda Pangolin and Asian Tapir were the only conservation priority species recorded in the urban forest patches and contiguous forest, respectively. Top predators such as Malayan Tiger and Melanistic Leopard were completely absent from the forest patches as well as the contiguous forest. This was reflected by the abundance of wild boars. We found that mammal species richness increased with the number of trees with DBH less than 5 cm, trees with DBH more than 50 cm, and dead standing trees. In the future, the remaining mammal species in the urban forest patches are expected to be locally extinct as connecting the urban forest patches may be infeasible due to land scarcity. Hence, to maintain the ecological integrity of urban forest patches, we recommend that stakeholders take intervention measures such as reintroduction of selected species and restocking of wild populations in the urban forest patches to regenerate the forest ecosystems