The overarching goal of this thesis is to explore the extent to which different forest restoration interventions can help speed up the recovery of degraded tropical forests impacted by logging. The thesis itself is structured into three main chapters. In Chapter 1 I begin by providing an introduction to tropical forest ecosystems; their value for biodiversity, climate and people; and the threats they face as a result of tropical forest loss and degradation. I then move onto exploring methods for restoring degraded tropical forests and how best to monitor their effectiveness at scale using emerging remote sensing technologies such as LiDAR. In Chapter 2 I then use one of the world’s largest and longest running forest restoration experiments – the Sabah Biodiversity Experiment in Malaysian Borneo – to put these ideas to the test. Specifically, I leverage airborne LiDAR data acquired at two points in time to test how tree planting and liana cutting impact the 3D structure of forest canopies during the initial decades of post-logging recovery. Finally, in Chapter 3 I explore the implication of my results in more detail in the context of tropical forest restoration and climate change mitigation, and discuss how I think these approaches could be developed further through future avenues of research.
Restoring the 3D structure of tropical ecosystems – how important is tree diversity?
Christiansen, N. A. (Author). 3 Oct 2023
Student thesis: Master's Thesis › Master of Science by Research (MScR)