Tropical Forest Carbon, Habitat Structure, And Faunal Biodiversity: Implications For Conservation

热带森林是生物多样性、碳储存和气候调节的关键生态系统，但持续的森林砍伐和气候变化的不确定影响对这些生态系统构成重大风险。森林砍伐和森林退化造成了全球约15%的温室气体排放，在包括印度尼西亚在内的一些国家，森林砍伐和森林退化是温室气体的主要来源。热带森林的碳通量很大，但这些生态系统的碳平衡的现状和未来轨迹仍然不确定。生物量的长期记录对于了解生态系统碳动态的趋势和驱动因素及其与重要保护指标的关系至关重要，但此类数据集很少。卫星数据现在被广泛用于研究更大空间尺度上的森林生物量，这些记录的长度不断增加，也使得能够研究时间动态。然而，地面实况数据对于验证卫星测量和相关的碳储量估计至关重要。在过去的12年里，Wallacea行动一直通过在印度尼西亚布顿岛的三个地点进行广泛的树干直径测量来监测森林生长（Harrison等人，2019年）。布顿岛是苏拉威西岛群的一部分，位于Wallacea，这是一个独特的地理区域，标志着从东南亚到澳大拉西亚的过渡（Supriatna 2017）。Wallacea具有丰富的生物多样性，但特别值得注意的是非常高水平的动物区系特有性：超过40%的鸟类和90%的（陆地）哺乳动物（Martin 2017）。苏拉威西岛是一个高度全球保护的重要性，由于其高度特有性，这也与其复杂的地质有关，但仍然很少研究。监测点位于热带低地石灰岩喀斯特森林的大片区域内，这是该地区最濒危的森林类型之一，但迄今为止，尚未对该数据集进行详细调查（Cannon等人，2007年）。除了树木生长数据外，还从这些地点收集了动物群生物多样性数据，为调查生态系统碳与生物多样性和特有性保护指标之间的关系提供了独特的机会。该项目将涉及分析现有的Wallacea行动数据集、卫星数据和实地测量，以调查影响热带森林碳动态的因素，并探索生境结构、生物多样性和特有性之间的新关系。

Tropical forests are critical ecosystems for biodiversity, carbon storage and climate regulation, but ongoing forest clearance and the uncertain impacts of climate change pose significant risks to these ecosystems. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for about 15% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally and in some countries, including Indonesia, are the main source of GHGs. Carbon fluxes in tropical forests are large, but uncertainty remains as to the current state and future trajectory of the carbon balance of these ecosystems. Long-term records of biomass are critical for understanding trends and drivers of ecosystem carbon dynamics and their relationship with important conservation metrics, but such datasets are rare. Satellite data is now widely used to study forest biomass over larger spatial scales, and the increasing length of these records enables the study of temporal dynamics as well. However, ground-truth data is essential for the validation of satellite measurements and associated estimates of carbon stocks.For the last twelve years, Operation Wallacea have been monitoring forest growth through extensive stem diameter measurements at three sites on Buton Island, Indonesia (Harrison et al 2019). Buton Island is a part of the Sulawesi island group and is located in Wallacea, a distinctive biogeographical region that marks the transition from South-east Asia to Australasia (Supriatna 2017). Wallacea is rich in biodiversity but is particularly notable for very high levels of faunal endemism: upwards of 40% of birds and 90% of (land-based) mammals (Martin 2017). Sulawesi is an ecoregion of high global conservation importance due to its high endemism, which is also related to its complex geology, but remains poorly studied. The monitoring sites are located within large tracts of tropical lowland limestone karst forest, one of the more endangered forest types of the region, but to date this data set has not been interrogated in great detail (Cannon et al 2007). In addition to the tree growth data, faunal biodiversity data has been collected from the sites, providing a unique opportunity to investigate relationships between ecosystem carbon and conservation metrics of biodiversity and endemism. This project will involve analysis of existing Operation Wallacea datasets, satellite data and field measurements to investigate factors influencing tropical forest carbon dynamics, as well as explore novel relationships between habitat structure, biodiversity and endemism.