Tree Size in a Mature Dipterocarp Forest Stand in Sebulu, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

The forest plant size, especially tree size, was examined in a mature dipterocarp forest stand in Sebulu, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. One hundred and ninety-one living trees 1.3m high and higher, three lianas living on dead trees, one small standing liana, and one palm were felled, and their sizes were measured using the stratified clip technique and recorded. Of these sample plants, the largest was a Shorea laevis tree : total height was 70.7m; stem diameter at the terminal of its buttresses, 4.6m high, was 130.5cm; stem volume was 41.1m^3; stem dry weight was 33129.768kg; branch dry weight was 9586.120kg; leaf dry weight was 107.614kg; leaf area was 767.372m^2. The plant mass of dependent plants living on independent plants was also measured using the stratified clip technique. The aboveground biomass in a narrow 0.125ha sampling spot was calculated by summing the plant mass values of individual sample plants. It totaled 872.949t/ha in dry weight for all living plants and 7.962ha/ha in leaf area, although these values were too large to represent the mean biomass of the dipterocarp forest in the study area because that forest patch included the huge emergent tree.