Abstract
Problem statement: The tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia have been characterized by several researchers. However empirical data on soil characteristics under degraded forest land in tropical rain forest and rehabilitated program are limited. A study was conducted to evaluate the soil morphology, mineralogical and sesquioxide properties of a rehabilitated degraded forest land (19 years after it was planted with various indigenous species) in comparison with an adjacent secondary forest. Approach: Soil samples were air-dried and pass through a 2 mm sieve. Soil morphology was determined based on field observation. The non-crystalline (amorphous) of Al, Fe and Si oxides and hydroxides (Alo, Feo and Sio) were extracted with ammonium oxalate while the dithionate-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) method was used for extracting (crystalline) the Al, Fe and Si oxides and hydroxides (Ald, Fed and Sid). The concentrations of extracted Al, Fe and Si were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Mineralogical compositions were identified by X-ray diffraction method. Results: The A-horizon of secondary forest was darker and thicker than that of the rehabilitated forest. Root mat at the secondary forest was well-developed compared to the rehabilitated forest. The clay minerals were dominated with kaolinite and illite to a lesser extent of goethite and hematite accompanied with low values of activity ratio of Al and Fe oxides and hydroxides, indicating that the soils were highly weathered. Conclusion/Recommendations: The difference between rehabilitated and secondary forests was root abundance where secondary forest had most. Good root penetration in the secondary forest indicates that the soil texture there was not heavy. Soils in the rehabilitated and secondary forests were strongly weathered (high presence of kaolin minerals), but the low presence of sesquioxides suggests that they are yet to reached the ultimately weathered phase. The soil properties in terms of morphology, sesquioxides and clay minerals should be taken into account for better management of forest rehabilitation program in tropical regions.
Highlights
Malaysia is made up of 19.01 million ha or 57.9% of the total land area, with Sabah and Sarawak having the larger proportion of forest than Peninsular Malaysia
A study was conducted to evaluate the soil morphology, mineralogical and sesquioxide of a rehabilitated degraded forest land (19 years after it was planted with various indigenous species) with special reference to the soils in adjacent secondary forests
The Nirwana pedon in the lowland areas of the secondary forest, the surface area was only 0-13 cm in thickness and it was darker than other sites
Summary
Malaysia is made up of 19.01 million ha or 57.9% of the total land area, with Sabah and Sarawak having the larger proportion of forest than Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia has a total area of 16 million ha of natural forest, of which 14.19 million ha are designated as Permanent Forest Estate (PFE) or forest reserve. 10.53 million ha of the PFE are production forests with the remaining 3.66 million ha being protection forests. About 1.8 million ha located outside the PFE are designated as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries (Shahwahid, 2004). From 19631985, 30% of the forests in Sarawak had been lost due to deforestation and logging activities (Leng et al, 2009). Corresponding Author: Arifin Abdu, Department of Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: +60389467177 Fax:+60389432514 389
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