Canopy Structure of Toh-Daeng Primary Peat Swamp Forest at Narathiwat Province, Southern Thailand

Abstract

Twelve of 10x50 m plots were sampled at 500 m interval at the northern portion of Toh-Daeng primary peat swamp forest, Narathiwat Province. Tree density and basal area of nine undisturbed plots were used for analysis. A polythetic agglomerative cluster analysis was used to classify sample plots into three groups: Macaranga pruinosa community, mixed peat swamp with M. pruinosa community and mixed peat swamp community. Structure of each community was described. Tree density, basal area and number of species are highest for mixed peat swamp community and less for M. pruinosa community.