Implementing Agency:
Department For International Development (NRRD)

Managing Institute:
NRIL (Natural Resources International)

Contractor:
University of Oxford (School of Geography)

Project Code: R4739 583-656-003	Start Date: Feb. 1, 1992	End Date: July 31, 1993
Commitment: £59 770	Status: Completed	Type of Funding: Bilateral - TDR

Project Background:
Knowledge of the conditions that tropical rainforest progresses through during its recovery from major disturbances is important for the management of forest areas that have been degraded by human activities. Data for achieving this objective is being collected from studies in the Sunda Straits region of Indonesia. The programme makes use of the unique natural experiment in forest re-building provided by the Krakatau Islands, sterilised by eruptions in 1883. The data sources consist of a mix of field survey data - largely from a field phase undertaken as part of this project in 1992 - and of herbarium and literature sources.

Project Objectives:
The objectives of this project are: Permanent vegetation sites established in 1989 on the Krakatau Islands were re-recorded as a means of monitoring change in composition, and of growth rates and turnover within early successional forests of varying types The ecological characteristics of these forests are being analysed in terms of their component species dispersal characteristics (and needs in terms of associated animal species), habitat requirements, life forms and other ecological characteristics Additional permanent plots were established on Krakatau and on the mainland peninsular of the Ujing Kulon National Park (W. Java), to provide baseline data comparable with the first objective This data will be combined with the limited existing data from other sites in the region that may be extant, enabling an assessment of variability in forest structure and functioning Imbalances in composition, consequent upon isolation of recovering forest, will be identified by comparison of Krakatau and mainland data. Key groups of species have been identified (e.g. figs, lianes) for detailed attention.