Understanding Natural Regeneration in Burned Tropical Peatland: A Strategy to Accelerate the Forest Recovery Process

Abstract

The 2015’s massive forest fires have left large areas of burned peatlands that need to be restored, demanding substantial number of resources. To understand natural regeneration on burned peatland and how planting might accelerate its recovery process, we measured recruitment on burned peatland with different fire frequency. Three transects were established each consisting of five 20x20 m²plots developed at a 30 m interval. Our finding suggests that the absence of remnant trees due to frequent or severe fires does not always impede the emergence of new recruitments, although diversity of forest regrowth is likely to be affected by its proximity to forest remnant. The floristic composition also showed a domination of pioneer species, giving evidence that forest recovery is initiated. We conclude that to support the recovery process through planting activity, the successional stage of the designated sites should be determined first. During the early phase of succession, stand initiation should be addressed first by the colonization of rapidly recruiting species to ensure continuous regeneration. Therefore, the common planting method on large areas with mixed climax-high valuable trees is unbeneficial unless the restoration sites have reached the later stages of succession.