Dynamics of Asia's and Australasia's forests in a changing world

Editorial

08 October 2024

Editorial: Dynamics of Asia’s and Australasia’s forests in a changing world

Nophea Sasaki

Ling Zhang

John Meadows

Jeong-Wook Seo

and

Hans Juergen Boehmer

684 views

0 citations

Editors

Nophea Sasaki

Asian Institute of Technology

Ling Zhang （张令）

Jiangxi Agricultural University

John Meadows

Tropical Forests and People Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast

Jeong-Wook Seo

Chungbuk National University

Hans Juergen Boehmer

University of the South Pacific

Impact

Simulated plots (red lines) based on the model (Equation 6) for predicting branch angle with 95% confidence intervals (gray shadow). (A) Relationships between predicted branch angle and branch height based on the mean branch diameter and length. (B) Relationships between predicted branch angle and branch diameter based on the mean branch height and length, and (C) Relationships between predicted branch angle and branch length based on the mean branch diameter and height.

Original Research

24 April 2024

Modeling branch attributes and biomass for Catalpa bungei plantations under various fertilization regimes

Zhuizhui Guan

, 11 more and

Qian He

947 views

1 citations

Histograms of average burn severities over the consecutive periods 2001–2007 (A), 2008–2014 (B), and 2015–2021 (C). To account for increased numbers of unchanged/unburned pixels inevitably captured in satellite imagery cutouts, the histograms are plotted with breaks in the y-axes for better visibility of the relative distribution values that refer to burned areas.

Original Research

26 February 2024

Fire frequency, intensity, and burn severity in Kalimantan’s threatened Peatland areas over two Decades

Andres Schmidt

, 9 more and

J. Boone Kauffman

2,393 views

2 citations

Comparison of the wood anatomical parameters between opposite wood (OW, red) and compressed wood (CW, blue). Double cell wall thickness (2CWT), radial lumen diameter (LD), lumen area (LA), cell area (CA), cell wall area (CWA), and number (Num) of earlywood (Ew) (A,C,E,G,I,K) and latewood (Lw) (B,D,F,H,J,L). Numerical values are mean ± standard error. Shades of red indicate a significant difference at 0.05 probability.

Original Research

18 October 2023

Intra-annual dynamic of opposite and compression wood formation of Pinus massoniana Lamb. in humid subtropical China

Chunsong Wang

, 5 more and

Keyan Fang

1,402 views

1 citations

Distribution of soil monoterpene and sesquiterpene exchanges in samplings with and without litter in the subtropical E. urophylla plantation forest.

Original Research

12 October 2023

Soil uptake of isoprenoids in a Eucalyptus urophylla plantation forest in subtropical China

Zhaobin Mu

, 8 more and

Xinming Wang

1,314 views

2 citations

Land cover change in the Korean Peninsula.

Original Research

02 October 2023

Spatiotemporal approach for estimating potential CO2 sequestration by reforestation in the Korean Peninsula

Sle-gee Lee

and

Hyun-Jun Kim

1,534 views

0 citations

Perspective

11 August 2023

Are farmers willing to enter the forestry property market? Evidence from collective forest areas in southern China

Yaqing Han

, 1 more and

Yuanzhu Wei

1,434 views

0 citations

Original Research

10 August 2023

Optimization of tropical rainforest ecosystem management: implications from the responses of ecosystem service values to landscape pattern changes in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, China, over the past 40 years

Xiaofu Lin

and

Hui Fu

Redundancy analysis ranking chart. (A) cultivated land area; (B) landscape indices of cultivated land; (C) forestland area; (D) landscape indices of forestland; (E) grassland area; (F) landscape indices of grassland; (G) water area; (H) landscape indices of water; (I) construction land area; (J) landscape indices of construction land; (K) landscape indices at landscape level. WS, water supply; WP, water purification; CS, carbon storage; SR, soil retention; HQ, habitat quality; PD, patch density; SHDI, Shannon’s diversity index; CONTAG, contagion; LPI, largest patch index; LSI, landscape shape index.

Exploring the comprehensive impact of landscape pattern changes on regional ecosystem service values (ESVs) over a long time series is significant for optimizing ecosystem management. This study took Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (HTRNP) as a case and first assessed its five vital ecosystem services (ESs): water supply (WS), water purification (WP), carbon storage (CS), soil retention (SR), and habitat quality (HQ). Based on the ESs assessment results, we further calculated their ESVs and quantified the responses of ESVs to landscape pattern changes during 1980–2020. The results revealed that: (1) Forestland is the basal landscape type of HTRNP. Landscape patterns changed significantly after 2000; the proportion of both cultivated land and grassland decreased, while the proportion of forestland, water, and construction land increased; with the areas and landscape dominance of both forestland and water increased, the agglomeration and connectivity of the overall landscape increased and its homogenization decreased. (2) WS, WP, CS, and SR services tended to weaken, and HQ service tended to strengthen. The spatial heterogeneities of WS and SR changed significantly over time. WS, HQ, SR, and CS are the main contributors to the total ESV. During 1980–2020, the four ESVs of WS, WP, SR, and CS showed a decreasing trend; HQ’s ESV tended to increase, and the total ESV tended to decrease. (3) The increase of areas and dominance in forestland and water was the main reason that HQ’s ESV tended to increase, and WP’s ESV and CS’s ESV tended to decrease. The construction land scale was relatively small, so its impacts on ESVs were limited. The responses of both WS’s ESV and SR’s ESV to landscape pattern changes were insignificant due to the impacts of topographic and climatic factors. The study results provide a reference for managing and optimizing HTRNP’s ecosystem to improve its integrated benefits of crucial ESs.

2,800 views

5 citations

Original Research

21 July 2023

Five-year measurement data along a 1200 m elevational gradient reveals that global warming increases soil respiration

Soichiro Takeda

, 2 more and

Koichi Takahashi

1,565 views

2 citations

Relationship between elevation, aspect east–west orientation (EW), aspect north-south orientation (NS), slope, and (A1–A4) estimated maximum tree heights in the 5-m radius (m), (B1–B4) basal area (BA, m2⋅ha−1), (C1–C4) aboveground biomass (AGB; Mg⋅ha−1), (D1–D4) estimated tree species richness in the 5-m radius, and (E1–E4) shrub richness in the 2.5-m radius. Smoothing lines for one given environmental variable to the response variables were fitted by GLMs (p < 0.05), and median values of other variables were used.

Original Research

14 June 2023

Elevation, aspect, and slope influence woody vegetation structure and composition but not species richness in a human-influenced landscape in northwestern Yunnan, China

Zhongqian Cheng

, 1 more and

Markku Larjavaara

5,547 views

12 citations

Original Research

17 April 2023

Radiation and temperature dominate the spatiotemporal variability in resilience of subtropical evergreen forests in China

Jinghua Chen

, 5 more and

Kai Zhu

3,152 views

4 citations

Correlation between soil fertility factors and anatomical traits. The solid line indicates that the correlation between leaf traits and soil fertility factor is significant at the 0.05 level. Slope and correlation significance in each figure were calculated at the interspecific level. (A–D) The relationship between STC and anatomical traits; (E–H) the relationship between STN and anatomical traits; (I–L) the relationship between STP and anatomical traits; (M–P) the relationship between soil pH and anatomical traits; (Q–T) the relationship between SWC and anatomical traits.

Original Research

18 July 2023

Responses of economic and anatomical leaf traits to soil fertility factors in eight coexisting broadleaf species in temperate forests

Mingyue Jin

, 2 more and

Zhili Liu

1,297 views

2 citations

Effect of origin, bacterial and fungal inhibitor on height (A), leaf mass (B), height (C), leaf mass (D), stem mass (E), root mass (F) of Triadica sebifera (mean ± se). Con, control; B, bacteria inhibitor; F, fungal inhibitor; BF, bacteria inhibitor and fungal inhibitor. Means with the same letters did not differ in post-hoc tests (p < 0.05).

Original Research

24 May 2023

Bacterial and fungal inhibitor interacted impacting growth of invasive Triadica sebifera and soil N2O emissions

Xiaoqin Lai

, 9 more and

Evan Siemann

1,193 views

2 citations

Pearson's coefficient of correlation between the monthly average LAI and monthly average SWC across the three plots calculated for each month of the years 2015 and 2016. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

Original Research

10 July 2023

Influence of hydrothermal factors on a coniferous forest canopy in the semiarid alpine region of Northwest China

Yonghong Zhao

, 1 more and

Huijun Fang

1,092 views

1 citations

Hypothesis and Theory

02 June 2023

Research on subsidy standards for public welfare forests based on a dynamic game model—Analysis of a case in Jiangxi, China

Na Ding

, 3 more and

Wei Chen

991 views

1 citations

Aggregate-associated OCS (A), TNS (B), and TPS (C) in Chinese fir plantations with different stand types. OCS, TNS and TPS stand for the stocks of organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus in different aggregate sizes, respectively. ** and * stand for significant differences among the different soil depths at P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively. nsStands for no significant differences among the different soil depths.

Original Research

09 March 2023

Mixed planting improves soil aggregate stability and aggregate-associated C-N-P accumulation in subtropical China

Yaqin He

, 4 more and

Shaoming Ye

Research on the variations in soil aggregate stability and ecological stoichiometry at aggregate scales by stand type is of great significance in investigating the distribution, limitation, balance, and cycling of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus (C-N-P). However, the effect of pure and mixed Chinese fir plantations on soil aggregate stability, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) stoichiometry characteristics at aggregate scales is still unclear. In this research, we explored the variations in soil aggregate mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD); soil OC, TN, and TP contents and stocks and the C:N:P ratios as affected by different stand types (mixed stands of Chinese fir and Mytilaria laosensis, mixed stands of Chinese fir and Michelia macclurei, and pure stand of Chinese fir); and aggregate size (<0.25, 0.25–1, 1–2, and >2 mm) at 0–20 and 20–40 cm depths in subtropical China. The soil OC and TN contents, as well as C:N:P ratios declined as aggregate size increased, whereas the C-N-P stocks showed the opposite tendencies, which were more distributed in >2 mm aggregates. Mixed stands of Chinese fir and M. laosensis with Chinese fir and M. macclurei displayed significantly higher soil aggregate stability, aggregate-associated TP content, OC and TN contents and stocks, and C:N and C:P ratios than did pure stands of Chinese fir. Soil aggregate stability was significantly positively correlated with the C-N-P contents and stocks as well as the C:N and C:P ratios, especially the C:N ratio and TN content. Overall, this work offers further information for scientific management and sustainable development of Chinese fir plantations, soil OC and nutrient cycling with ecological stoichiometry in the global terrestrial ecosystem.

2,192 views

11 citations

Differences among mature tree canopy layers of species by different wood types. Blue represents diffuse-porous species, orange represents ring-porous species. ns, no significant difference.

Original Research

06 March 2023

Dynamic variation of non-structural carbohydrates in branches and leaves of temperate broad-leaved tree species over a complete life history

Kaibo Wang

, 1 more and

Zhili Liu

2,024 views

2 citations

Example of Mapillary images (https://www.mapillary.com/) taken at four points where the typical landscapes in Indonesia in Sumatra were recorded in field notes in 1978 (https://fieldnote.archiving.jp/): (a) rice paddy (geolocation based on the field note: 0°41’58.9”S, 100°36’02.4”E; geolocation based on the Mapillary image: 0°42’13.0”S, 100°35’56.0”E; location gap of about 500 m), (b) banana (geolocation based on the field note: 3°44’18.5”S, 104°39’33.6”E; geolocation based on the Mapillary image: 3°44’52.2”S, 104°39’28.1”E; location gap of about 1,100 m), (c) cassava (geolocation based on the field note: 5°19’12.9”S, 105°11’59.1”E; geolocation based on the Mapillary image: 5°18’40.0”S, 105°11’21.4”E; location gap of about 1,500 m), and (d) rubber (geolocation based on the field note: 5°19’49.6”S, 105°12’20.5”E; geolocation based on the Mapillary image: 5°19’54.4”S, 105°11’47.2”E; location gap of about 1,100 m). The Mapillary images are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license (CC-BY-SA; https://www.mapillary.com/).

Review

22 February 2023

Perspective: Improving the accuracy of plant phenology observations and land-cover and land-use detection by optical satellite remote-sensing in the Asian tropics

Nagai Shin

, 17 more and

Yuji Tokumoto

Recent advances in satellite-borne optical sensors led to important developments in the monitoring of tropical ecosystems in Asia, which have been strongly affected by recent anthropogenic activities and climate change. Based on our feasibility analyses conducted in Indonesia in Sumatra and Sarawak, Malaysia in Borneo, we discuss the current situation, problems, recent improvements, and future tasks regarding plant phenology observations and land-cover and land-use detection. We found that the Multispectral Instrument (MSI) on board the Sentinel-2A/2B satellites with a 10-m spatial resolution and 5-day observational intervals could be used to monitor phenology among tree species. For the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) on board the Himawari-8 geostationary satellite with a 1,000-m spatial resolution and 10-min observational intervals, we found that the time-series in vegetation indices without gaps due to cloud contamination may be used to accurately detect the timing and patterns of phenology among tree species, although the spatial resolution of the sensor requires further improvement. We also found and validated that text and pictures with geolocation information published on the Internet, and historical field notes could be used for ground-truthing land cover and land use in the past and present time. The future development of both high frequency (≤ 10 min) and high spatial resolution (≤ 10 m) optical sensors aboard satellites is expected to dramatically improve our understanding of ecosystems in the tropical Asia.

2,999 views

5 citations

Curves of Hill’s numbers for each vegetation transition types (VTTs). (A–C) Abundance-based Hill’s numbers. (D–F) Incidence-based Hill’s numbers. In panels (A) and (D): q = 0 (species richness); in panels (B) and (E): q = 1 (exponential of Shannon’s entropy index); in panels (C) and (F): q = 2 (inverse of Simpson’s concentration index). (G) Sample completeness (sample-coverage) curve for abundance data. (H) Sample completeness (sample-coverage) curve for incidence data. 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were indicated by the shade areas above and below each curve and were obtained by bootstrapping 1,000 replicates. The sampling unit is 400 m2 (20 × 20 m quadrat) in the incidence-based analyses.

Original Research

01 February 2023

Monoculture plantations impede forest recovery: Evidence from the regeneration of lowland subtropical forest in Hong Kong

Huiling Zhu

, 4 more and

Stephan W. Gale

Anthropogenic disturbance has led to widespread clearance and degradation of tropical forests, and tree planting has been promoted as an effective solution for recovery. However, trees have been overwhelmingly planted in monocultures or low-diversity mixes and this is expected to have profound, lasting impacts on forest structure, diversity, and functioning. In this study, we tested the extent to which historical vegetation transition types (VTTs) constrain forest recovery in a secondary tropical landscape in Hong Kong, South China. To do so, we overlaid vegetation types (forest, shrubland, pine plantation, grassland) identified in aerial photographs taken in 1956 and 1963 of a 20-ha plot situated in Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve, allowing us to define six historic VTTs, namely: FF (forest to forest), GP (grassland to plantation), GS (grassland to shrubland), SS (shrubland to shrubland), SF (shrubland to forest), and SP (shrubland to plantation). We compared present-day forest structure and species diversity among these VTTs, as determined from a census conducted in 2015, using incidence- and abundance-based rarefaction and extrapolation, and we assessed species’ association within VTTs using a torus translation test. Our results reveal that stem density and species diversity in naturally regenerated forests were more similar to those of old-growth forest, whereas species diversity in areas occupied by pine plantations was significantly lower as compared with naturally regenerated areas. Despite 60 years of recovery, pine plantations were characterised by a significantly greater proportion of negatively associated species, and late-seral species were still predominantly confined to old-growth patches. Present-day species distribution is chiefly explained by the combined effects of topography and VTT (17.1%), with VTT alone explaining 4.4%. Our study demonstrates that VTT has a significant long-term impact on forest regeneration and community assembly and, importantly, that monocultural plantations (forest plantation) can greatly impede forest recovery. Remnant old-growth forest patches merit priority protection, and active restoration, including thinning and enhancement planting, is necessary to facilitate forest succession.

7,608 views

10 citations