Forest Structure and Species Composition in Forest Restoration under Demonstrated Farm of the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit (Foresty), Ang Thong Province

Abstract

Forest restoration is the high challenge of Royal Forest Department. Then, many degraded areas were planted to restore the previous ecosystems. This study aimed to clarify tree species regeneration after planting under the Royal Patronage of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand (Forestry), Ang Thong province. In 2013, a 1 ha, 100 x 100 m, was established in two different planted systems, random and regular planting, and monitored in 2018. All trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) larger than 4.5 cm were tagged, measured, identified, and recorded location in plot. The comparison of forest structure and species composition was done between the restoration areas. The results showed higher species number was found in the random planted system than regular planted systems (67 and 28 species, respectively), and corresponded to species diversity based on Shannon-Weiner (H?= 3.35 and H?= 2.37, respectively). Tree growth based on the basal area cover also was found the same trended (18.25 and 14.63 m2.ha-1, respectively), indicating high average growth in the random planted system. Considering on tree regeneration based on tree diameter class distribution, both planted systems had the negative exponential form or L-shape, indicating they had no different to maintain their forest structure in the future.