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Land-cover change alters stand structure, species diversity, leaf functional traits, and soil conditions in Cambodian tropical forests

Sovann, Chansopheaktra LU orcid ; Tagesson, Torbern LU ; Vestin, Patrik LU orcid ; Sakhoeun, Sakada ; Kim, Soben ; Kok, Sothea and Olin, Stefan LU orcid (2025) In Biogeosciences 22(18). p.4649-4677
Abstract
Given the severe land-use and land-cover change pressure on tropical forests and the high demand for field observations of ecosystem characteristics, it is crucial to collect such data both in pristine tropical forests and in the converted deforested land-cover classes. To gain insight into the ecosystem characteristics of pristine tropical forests (EFs), regrowth forests (RFs), and cashew plantations (CPs), we established an ecosystem monitoring site in Phnom Kulen National Park, Cambodia. Here, we present the first observed datasets at this site of forest inventories, leaf area index (LAI), leaf traits of woody species, a fraction of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR), and soil and meteorological conditions. Using... (More)
Given the severe land-use and land-cover change pressure on tropical forests and the high demand for field observations of ecosystem characteristics, it is crucial to collect such data both in pristine tropical forests and in the converted deforested land-cover classes. To gain insight into the ecosystem characteristics of pristine tropical forests (EFs), regrowth forests (RFs), and cashew plantations (CPs), we established an ecosystem monitoring site in Phnom Kulen National Park, Cambodia. Here, we present the first observed datasets at this site of forest inventories, leaf area index (LAI), leaf traits of woody species, a fraction of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR), and soil and meteorological conditions. Using these data, we aimed to assess how land-cover change affects stand structure, species diversity, leaf functional traits, and soil conditions among the three land-cover classes and to evaluate the feasibility of locally calibrated diameters at breast height (DBHs) and tree height (H) allometries for improving aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation. We found significant differences in these ecosystem characteristics, caused by the anthropogenic land-cover conversion, which underlines land-cover change's profound impact on stand structure, species diversity, leaf functional traits, and soil conditions in these tropical forest regions. Our results further demonstrated the feasibility of locally updating aboveground biomass estimates using power-law functions based on relationships between DBH and H. These datasets and findings can contribute to enriching tropical forest research databanks and supporting sustainable forest management. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biogeosciences
volume
22
issue
18
pages
29 pages
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • scopus:105016726527
ISSN
1726-4189
DOI
10.5194/bg-22-4649-2025
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5a19eb10-b5d7-4d24-ab7e-3694f64f3df3
date added to LUP
2025-11-07 13:08:59
date last changed
2025-11-08 04:00:27
@article{5a19eb10-b5d7-4d24-ab7e-3694f64f3df3,
  abstract     = {{Given the severe land-use and land-cover change pressure on tropical forests and the high demand for field observations of ecosystem characteristics, it is crucial to collect such data both in pristine tropical forests and in the converted deforested land-cover classes. To gain insight into the ecosystem characteristics of pristine tropical forests (EFs), regrowth forests (RFs), and cashew plantations (CPs), we established an ecosystem monitoring site in Phnom Kulen National Park, Cambodia. Here, we present the first observed datasets at this site of forest inventories, leaf area index (LAI), leaf traits of woody species, a fraction of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (fPAR), and soil and meteorological conditions. Using these data, we aimed to assess how land-cover change affects stand structure, species diversity, leaf functional traits, and soil conditions among the three land-cover classes and to evaluate the feasibility of locally calibrated diameters at breast height (DBHs) and tree height (H) allometries for improving aboveground biomass (AGB) estimation. We found significant differences in these ecosystem characteristics, caused by the anthropogenic land-cover conversion, which underlines land-cover change's profound impact on stand structure, species diversity, leaf functional traits, and soil conditions in these tropical forest regions. Our results further demonstrated the feasibility of locally updating aboveground biomass estimates using power-law functions based on relationships between DBH and H. These datasets and findings can contribute to enriching tropical forest research databanks and supporting sustainable forest management.}},
  author       = {{Sovann, Chansopheaktra and Tagesson, Torbern and Vestin, Patrik and Sakhoeun, Sakada and Kim, Soben and Kok, Sothea and Olin, Stefan}},
  issn         = {{1726-4189}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  number       = {{18}},
  pages        = {{4649--4677}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Biogeosciences}},
  title        = {{Land-cover change alters stand structure, species diversity, leaf functional traits, and soil conditions in Cambodian tropical forests}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4649-2025}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/bg-22-4649-2025}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}