Predicting Primary Forest Recovery in
a Fragmented Landscape: a Restoration Roadmap
Faith Inman
Botany Department, North Carolina State University
North Carolina, USA
Abstract:
To develop a predictive model for primary forest species establishment following
disturbance, I propose to conduct experiments to measure dispersal and
recruitment of primary forest species in three different habitats: primary
forest, secondary forest, and pasture, and determine the relationship between
these variables and seed characters along the environmental gradients found in
the three habitat types. This information will be used to construct a model that
will generate establishment probabilities for species under specified
environmental conditions. This model will be used to determine which primary
forest species will require intensive management (seeding, planting, etc) under
a variety of environmental conditions. An interesting study site I have
identified is the Nam Ha National Preserve Area in northwestern Laos. According
to satellite imagery, this 222,000 hectare preserve is a mosaic of primary
forest, secondary forest, and recently abandoned pasture. Furthermore, the
dominant primary forest trees in the lowland moist forest in Laos are
wind-dispersed Dipterocarps, which may present the opportunity to study a novel
relationship between dispersal traits and environmental conditions.