Height Growth Relationships in Secondary Plant Communities in Kalimantan for Forestry Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism of COP 7

摘要

We classified the secondary vegetation of degraded ecosystems in the humid tropics of Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) into 5 plant communities and analyzed their overstory height growth. Each community had a different growth curve, although the statusof the soils was considered to be less variable, Overstory height was similar among plant communities during the initial stages of their establishment, but 2 or 3 y later, communities of trees (including species of small trees up to about 10m high) wereobviously taller than communities of shrub and short grass. The mean annual increment in overstory height, which is considered to be an index of the increase in biomass, varied with community type and age Forest establishment in areas where shrubs and short-grass communities have become established may greatly increase overall carbon-fixation rates by vegetation. For forestry projects under the clean development mechanism (CDM), sites where are shrub and short-grass communities are considered to be mostsuitable, provided that fire prevention is done properly, because shrubs and short grasses are burned easily,