Figure 1.
Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve in the state of Perak on the West coast of Peninsular Malaysia (A) (dotted square represents the study zone); (B) Location (yellow circle with red dots) of the Virgin Jungle Reserve (VJR) and the Managed Mangrove Forest (MF with 15, 20 and 30 year old vegetation) blocks considered for silvimetric measurements in the present study (image source: Landsat 7 dated 27 Dec 1999 from the NASA's Earth Observatory).
Figure 2.
Schematic representation showing the Matang mangrove management system (A); (B) the present observations on Rhizophora apiculata – (a) stem size (D130) and, (b) biomass distribution at different forest blocks: (i) VJR: Virgin Jungle Reserve, (ii) MF15: Managed Forest at 15 years old, (iii) MF20: Managed Forest at 20 years old and, MF30: Managed Forest at 30 years old; B (I–II): the computed biomass of R. apiculata after the first and second thinnings.
The green coloured rectangle (dashed box) in B (ii-a to iv-a) shows the expected/required stem size by the State Forestry Department of Perak.
Figure 3.
The distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) showing variations between virgin and managed mangrove forest blocks in relation to their – (A) juvenile, (B) young and, (C) adult vegetation at the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve.
While density of the juvenile and the young vegetation was estimated for nos. ha−1, the adult tree density was estimated for no. stems ha−1 (VJR: Virgin Jungle Reserve; MF15, MF20 and MF30: Managed Forest blocks at 15, 20 and 30 years old) (circles in all panels represent correlation circles, and the orientation of mangrove species' lines approximate their correlation to the ordination axes).
Table 1.
Adult tree density (stems ha−1) and frequency (%) at Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve.
Table 2.
Density (no. ha−1) and frequency (%) of the juvenile and young vegetation at Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve.
Figure 4.
A comparative account on – (A) tree density, (B) Stem diameter (D130) and, (C) harvestable (total) biomass range, as observed by the field- and the simulation-based investigations at Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MF15, MF20 and MF30: Managed Forest blocks at 15, 20 and 30 years old).
While ‘observed’ stands for the present (field-based) study, ‘simulated’ indicates the results obtained from Fontalvo-Herazo et al. (2011). Similarly, ‘required’ is the stem size as expected by the State Forestry Department of Perak.
Table 3.
A comparative account on the above ground biomass of Rhizophora spp. from representative mangrove sites.
Figure 5.
Schematic chart showing the century-old mangrove management at the Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve (MMFR) as a global reference for sustainable silviculture.
While the bold-line arrows indicate the features available for Matang (A–B), the dotted-line arrows show the features that could be considered by other mangrove locations for their improved/sustainable mangrove management. Some of the ongoing silvicultural and ecological concerns (C) represented by dotted-arrows, are applicable to the both MMFR and other mangrove locations elsewhere.