Benjamin Gutierrez (Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA), Dwi Susanto (Department of Biology, University of Indonesia, Indonesia), Eni Hidayati (Department of Forestry, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia)
A study on the effects of logging on rattan species diversity, abundance, and composition in mixed dipterocarp forest in Malaysia, Borneo. Data was collected from belt transects which were placed along skid trails in logged forest and hiking trails in unlogged forest. In addition to diversity, abundance, and composition measurements, the number of stems per individual and the life stage of each individual were also recorded. No statistically-significant differences were found between the logged and unlogged forest. Unlogged-forest transects did not cluster together on the basis of species composition, and neither did logged-forest transects. However, four logged-forest transects were omitted because no rattans were found, as was one unlogged forest transect. Because all four of these logged-forest transects were located along flooded, swampy skid trails, and because the one unlogged-forest transect was located along a river, the authors believe that logging may negatively affect the establishment of rattans due to the poor drainage of skid trails.
The field! Some places were very muddy. Leeches everywhere. I remember my white shoes became brown. The Rattan! The support! The identifying process – thanks a lot to Shawn Lum. And of course, the presentation!