Reduced-impact logging in Indonesian Borneo: some results confirming the need for new silvicultural prescriptions

By P. Sist, Douglas Sheil, K. Kartawinata, H. Priyadi. 2003

166 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Reduced-impact logging (RIL) and conventional techniques (CNV) were compared in a mixed dipterocarp hill forest in East Kalimantan in three blocks of about 100 ha each. Damage was evaluated using pre- and post-harvesting assessments in 24 one-hectare sample plots. RIL techniques nearly halved the number of trees destroyed (36 vs 60 trees/ha). RIL’s main benefit was in the reduction of skidding damage (9.5% of the original tree population in RIL vs 25% in CNV). Before logging, mean canopy openness in CNV (three plots only) and RIL (9 plots) was similar (3.6 and 3.1%) and not significantly different (χ2=2.73, P=0.254). After logging, the mean canopy openness was 19.2% in CNV (n=9 plots) and 13.3% in RIL (n=8 plots), and the distributions of the canopy class in RIL and CNV significantly different (χ2=43.56, P 8 trees/ha), both stand damage and canopy disturbance in RIL approached those recorded in CNV under low or moderate felling regime. Over this felling intensity threshold the effectiveness of RIL in reducing tree damage is limited. In mixed dipterocarp forest where harvestable timber density generally exceeds 10 trees/ha, a minimum diameter felling limit is clearly insufficient to keep extraction rates below 8 trees/ha. Based on these new results and previous studies in Borneo, we suggest three silvicultural rules: (1) to keep a minimum distance between stumps of ca. 40 m, (2) to ensure only single tree gaps using directional felling, (3) to harvest only stems with 60–100 cm dbh. Foresters, policy makers and certifiers should consider these as criteria for sustainable forest management. We emphasise the need to expand harvesting studies to look at impacts and trade-offs across larger forest landscapes, to expand RIL beyond silvicultural concepts and to include the maintenance of other forest goods and services.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Mechanics of Materials

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1b9edfacccf3320ec8ea036dacfd8dbc221bb72e

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In Ecology

In Global and Planetary Change

Citations in the corpus

The Architecture of Proposed REDD Schemes After Bali: Facing Critical Choices (2008, background): “…FMPs are not designed to ensure biomass recovery but a minimal recovery of volumes of commercial species; in most cases, the felling cycle is too short (30-35 years) to allow reconstitution of the initial standing volume (Sist et al. 2003a), especially in primary or primary-like forests12.”
Secondary succession and dipterocarp recruitment in Bornean rain forest after logging (2005, methodology): “…tree volume extracted in SF set-ups (83 m3 ha 1) in 1988 was equal to that extracted by conventional logging techniques (CNV) at Malinau, Indonesia (Sist et al., 2003c), but was lower than that reported by Pinard and Putz (1996) in the Yayasan Sabah Concession Area (YSCA) at 154 20 m3 ha 1, and by…”
Effects of rain forest logging on species richness and assemblage composition of small mammals in Southeast Asia (2007, unknown): “…large-scale and high-intensity disturbances, which are prominent in many commercially logged forests, often have negative overall effects on species assemblages, even though logging can resemble naturally occurring large tree-fall gaps if reduced-impact logging is applied (Sist et al., 2003).”
A major shift to the retention approach for forestry can help resolve some global forest sustainability issues (2012, background): “In other areas, monitoring has highlighted a need for strengthened prescriptions to reduce damage to retained vegetation (Sist et al. 2003), promote regeneration of key plant species, or better protect rare species (Schulze et al. 2008).”