BUKU ABSTRAK - Universiti Putra Malaysia

Forestry & Environment
Soil Disturbance from Different Mechanised Harvesting in Hill Tropical Forest,
Peninsular Malaysia
Dr. Mohd. Hasmadi Ismail
Norizah Kamarudin
Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8946 7220; mhasmadi@putra.upm.edu.my
The impacts of mechanised forest harvesting to soil physical properties are the major concern by forest
managers. Malaysia is practicing RIL and applying code of forest harvest practice in forest harvesting and
operations for sustainable forest resources management. In 2001, a machinery called Rimbaka Timber Harvester
R2020-A was introduced for timber extraction for peat swamp forest and later on the machine was introduced
to the hill tropical forest as an alternative to other machines. The study aimed to evaluate soil compaction (cone
index, bulk density, moisture content and pore space) by Rimbaka and crawler tractor KOMATSU D60-A. A total
of five samples were randomly taken using core sampler (50x50mm) diameter at the beneath a lug imprint for
passes 1, 4 and 8. Altogether samples were 45. The locations of sample were to the right and left of each rut centre
for both machines. Treatment effects were evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Result showed that
compaction by Rimbaka machine increased bulk density from 1.14 to 1.43 g/cc, cone index from 1.94 to 3.45 g/
cm3 decreased total pore space by 43% and decreased soil moisture content by 19%. Meanwhile compaction by
KOMATSU D60-A increased bulk density from 1.2 to 1.43 g/cc, cone index from 1.24 to 1.94 g/cm3 decreased
soil moisture content by 11% and total pore space by 6%, respectively. The value increased rapidly as more passes
increased on the track surface. The higher soil disturbance by Rimbaka machine was due to physical design and
specification of the machine. This study also observed that there was significant difference in the total passes of
machinery used in harvesting operation. Although Rimbaka machine shows more effected soil compaction, the
machine is a practical alternative to avoid skid trail and reduce road density in forest area.
Keywords: Soil disturbance, bulk density, cone index, pore space, harvesting operation, rimbaka harvester system, crawler
tractor
Determining and Mapping of Vegetation using GIS and Phytosociological
Approach in Mount Tahan, Malaysia
Dr. Mohd. Hasmadi Ismail
Mohd. Zaki Hamzah, Ismail Adnan Abd. Malik, Pakhriazad Hassain Zaki and Muhammad Fadlli Abdul Yazi
Faculty of Forestry, University Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
+603-8946 7220; mhasmadi@putra.upm.edu.my
The study on lowland tropical forest plants is complicated by the extreme species diversity, very complex
plant mosaic and time constraints. These impediments however do not occur in mountain forest, where habitat
diversity is clearly distinguished by small homogenous plants types. Plant association and composition study
were presented in this work from two locations of Mount Tahan, Malaysia the relatively untrampled and the
trampled site. In each site, plant species number, vegetation cover, plant height, and species cover and frequency
in untrampled and trampled areas were counted or measured. The analysis included a field survey following the
relevance method of Braun-Blanquet and mapping using a GIS. The study focused on altitudinal distribution
of specific plants communities located between 1900 m and 2140 m altitude. The data from field survey were
mapped and analyzed in GIS. The phytosociological classification revealed that untrampled areas in Botak and
Puncak sites were high in species more diversified communities compared to the trampled areas. The results
showed that Leptospermum flavescens was the dominant species most in both sites (Botak and Puncak), with
48%, specifically at the untrampled site. The abundance class and sociability value are also high for this species
with score 4.5 out of 5, respectively. A total number of trees in the area probably play an important role in
quantifying the species richness and diversity parameters. From the study, it can be concluded that GIS technique
is useful in developing a tree mapping system and creating a geo-database for spatial analysis. Further studies are
recommended to integrate more data into the system for better evaluation.
Keywords: Mount Tahan, plant association, phytosociological, GIS, mapping
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