EFFECTS OF DISTURBANCE OVER 60 YEARS ON A LOWLAND FOREST IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM

Tropical lowland forests are some of the most threatened in the world and this is particularly the case in Vietnam. This study aimed to identify changes in species composition and forest structure in the Tan Phu lowland forest resulting from disturbance over a 60 year period. Analysis of forest composition and structure rely on data from 25 plots of 0.5-ha size established in a lowland secondary forest. The five forest stands described differed greatly from the three forest stand types described in 1943. Some long-lived shadetolerant species had been replaced by pioneer species, such as Cratoxylon formosum and Shorea roxburghii. In addition to altering composition, forest disturbances had resulted in large changes in forest structure. While in the past, forest stands had a large number of exploitable trees, current forest stands have few trees in the diameter class 50 cm and sometimes no trees in the diameter class 80 cm. This paper provides notable results on forest tree ecology, forest dynamics and on the state of secondary forests in Vietnam. This is particularly important as future goods and services will increasingly have to come from such forests.