Effect of Disturbance Regimes on Spatial Patterns of Tree Species in Three Sites in a Tropical Evergreen Forest in Vietnam

Abstract EN

The effects of disturbance regimes on the spatial patterns of the five most abundant species were investigated in three sites in a tropical forest at Xuan Nha Nature Reserve, Vietnam.

Three permanent one-ha plots were established in undisturbed forest (UDF), lightly disturbed forest (LDF), and highly disturbed forest (HDF).

All trees ≥5 cm DBH were measured in twenty-five 20 m × 20 m subplots.

A total of 57 tree species belonging to 26 families were identified in the three forest types.

The UDF had the highest basal area (30 m2 ha−1), followed by the LDF (17 m2 ha−1) and the HDF (13.0 m2 ha−1).

The UDF also had the highest tree density (751 individuals ha−1) while the HDF held the lowest (478 individuals ha−1).

Across all species, there were 417 “juveniles,” 267 “subadults,” and 67 “adults” in the UDF, while 274 “juveniles,” 230 “subadults,” and 36 “adults” were recorded in the LDF.

238 “juveniles,” 227 “subadults,” and 13 “adults” were obtained in the HDF.

The univariate and bivariate data with pair- and mark-correlation functions of intra- and interspecific interactions of the five most abundant species changed in the three forest types.

Most species indicated clumping or regular distributions at small scale, but a high ratio of negative interspecific small-scale associations was recorded in both the LDF and HDF sites.

These were, however, rare in the UDF.