TITLE:
Effectiveness of Direct Seeding for Forest Restoration on Severely Degraded Land in Lampang Province, Thailand
AUTHORS:
Farzana Hossain, Stephen Elliott, Sutthathorn Chairuangsri
KEYWORDS:
Direct Seeding, Forest Restoration, Lignite Mine, Soil Treatments, Suitability Score
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.4 No.5,
October
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study tested the
effectiveness of direct seeding to establish framework tree species, for restoring
forest ecosystems at an opencast lignite mine in Lampang Province, Thailand. A
randomized complete block design (RCBD) experiment tested five tree species (Afzelia
xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib, Eugenia
cumini (L.) Druce, Ficus
racemosa Roxb., Gmelina
arborea Roxb. and Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken) with 5
substrate amelioration treatments and 3 replicates. Germination percent was the
highest for Afzelia xylocarpa (88.1%) and lowest for Ficus racemosa (5.9%). The substrate amelioration treatments had no significant effects on
both seed germination and seedling establishment for all species tested. Schleichera
oleosa had the highest seedling establishment percent (45%) followed by Afzelia
xylocarpa (40%). A suitability
scoring system indicated that these two species were the most suitable for
direct seeding to complement other techniques of mine site rehabilitation in
northern Thailand, where establishment of indigenous forest tree species is
required for biodiversity recovery.