Kim Hy Proposed Nature Reserve - Frontier-publications.co.uk

Scrub with trees is the most widespread land cover category within the existing proposed
boundary except for medium limestone forest, and covers the majority of the regeneration
zone which forms the north of Kim Hy (sub-regions 171,172,165 and 173), much of
Luong Thuong (sub-regions 164 and 174) and central Lang San. The land supporting this
habitat is of a much better quality than that of scrub without trees: although tree cover
extent is variable depending upon location and slope angle, a number of regenerative
species are present. The principle species include Crotoxylon sp. (Clusiaceae), Litsea
sp.,(Lauraceae), and Lithocarpus sp. (Fagaceae) (FIPI, 1997). Once again, this habitat
tends to border areas of scrub, hill cultivation and poor forest, making it a ‘transitional
habitat’ for flora and fauna; it supports a number of faunal species which also utilise the
limestone forest block. It is suitable for natural regeneration and for mixed
rehabilitation/cultivation schemes in areas proximate to human settlement.
The remaining non-limestone forest in zones II and III of the proposed reserve is made up
of patches of bamboo forest and degraded/regenerative forest generally on the higher,
less accessible sloping land. Bamboo forest is divided by FIPI into two categories
according to dominance of ‘Vau’ and ‘Nua’ bamboo [Sic.], both being scattered across
the northern areas of Kim Hy, Luong Thuong and Lang San. This has grown naturally
near wet areas (such as near streams or rivers), taken over degraded forest edges after
previous forest destruction for cultivation, and usurped woody species after exhaustive
over-exploitation of forest timber. Poor quality forest also has a patchy distribution north
of the main limestone forest area, with distinctions between shrub forest, scrub with trees
and regenerative forest being somewhat blurred. For this reason, FIPI have again devised
different categories as shown in figure 3.5; IIA2 and IIA1 describe forest recovering from
hill cultivation which took place during the co-operative era of the 1960s and 1970s, with
the latter having the least potential for natural recovery. IIB forest is in later stages of
recovery, and IIIA1 is degraded principally from over-exploitation for timber, firewood
and NTFPs (FIPI, 1997). Once more, these categories should be treated more as a
continuous scale in actuality, but help to distinguish the natural history and disturbance
regimes which have shaped their respective species composition, soil quality and
structural dynamics. Regenerative species such as Lithocarpus sp. and Phoebe sp.
(Lauraceae) are typical species here, with much disrupted patterns of dominance and
structure, and often extensive presence of competitive woody and non-woody pioneer
species (FIPI, 1997; Kim Hy FPD, pers comm.). This type of forest is also extensive in
the areas south and west of the villages of Cao Son commune inside and adjacent to the
FREC boundary, and is often in close proximity to human settlements.
Frontier Vietnam Forest Research Programme Technical Report No.24. 31