Tropical rainforests provide a wide range of ecosystem services. Ecosystem goods and services are the benefits that humans derive, directly or indirectly, from ecosystem functions. Ecosystem services of tropical rainforests include climate regulation, water supply and regulation, maintenance of biodiversity, carbon storage, pollination and cultural values, among others (MEA 2005). The loss of these ecosystem services due to deforestation and forest degradation is of global concern and of particular importance to rural populations that rely on natural resources for their livelihoods.

Carbon stored in forest biomass has been increasingly attracting attention in recent decades, as deforestation and tropical land-use change...

Seram, an island in the Moluccas archipelago in eastern Indonesia, lies between latitudes 02°46′ and 03°53′ south of the equator and covers an area of about 18,000 km². Seram’s lowlands have a permanently humid tropical climate, and mean annual temperatures at sea level vary between 25 °C to 30 °C. Precipitation is generally distributed throughout the year but is affected by monsoon regimes and mountain ranges. Mountains run through the island from east to west; as a result, the northern side has its rainfall peak during the west monsoon and the southern side is wettest during the southeast monsoon (Edwards...

The diameter class distribution in the two forests showed that most individuals were in the smallest size class (10.0–19.9 cm dbh), with numbers getting smaller for the bigger size classes (Figure 4). The distribution of diameters was the same in the secondary and primary forests (Mann–Whitney U test: p = 0.846). The secondary forest (n = 537) contained fewer stems ≥10 cm dbh than the primary forest (n = 657). The stand basal area for trees ≥10 cm dbh in the secondary forest (17.9 m² ha^–1) was smaller than that in the primary forest (26.5 m² ha...

In this study, the AGB values and carbon stocks in a secondary forest were calculated and compared with those for an adjacent primary forest on limestone in Seram, in the Moluccas in eastern Indonesia. In the secondary forest, destructive sampling was carried out and a site-specific allometric equation was developed to estimate AGB in this forest type. Existing allometric equations were used for comparisons of biomass estimates in the secondary forest and to estimate the biomass in the primary forest.

The diameter distribution in both the secondary and the primary forest showed that the populations included many more juveniles than...

The above-ground biomass (AGB) and carbon stocks from trees ≥10 cm dbh in an old secondary forest on limestone (140.7 Mg ha^–1; 70.3 Mg C ha^–1) were 2.5 times lower than the values for an adjacent primary forest (349.9 Mg ha^–1; 175.0 Mg C ha^–1) in Seram, the Moluccas, Indonesia.

The AGB in the secondary forest in this study differs from published biomass values for secondary forests in other areas within the region, because the type and intensity of disturbance, recovery time and original forest type are non-uniform. The AGB value for the primary forest is...