Land Cover and Land Use Change in West Kalimantan, Indonesia:
Implications for Carbon Dynamics and Biodiversity

Lisa Curran, Principal Investigator, Yale University
Eric Kasischke, Co-Investigator, University of Maryland at College Park
Kathleen Bergen, Co-Investigator, University of Michigan
Simon Trigg, University of Maryland at College Park
Alice McDonald, University of Maryland at College Park

West Kal Dipterocarp forest Dipterocarp forest undergoing conversion to plantation

The tropical forests of Indonesia represent one of the most biologically diverse regions on Earth, as well as a significant terrestrial reservoir for atmospheric carbon. In Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), the dominant canopy and timber species are the Dipterocarpaceae. Dipterocarps employ a unique reproductive strategy in which inter-annual mast fruiting events are synchronized across large land masses only in ENSO years. However, the ability of dipterocarps to reproduce, sustain vertebrate populations and sequester carbon are now being disrupted by habitat fragmentation. The major causes of fragmentation include illegal logging and conversion of primary forest to logging concessions and oil palm plantations. The extent and rapidity of fragmentation now necessitates investigations at local to regional scales, to not only understand how changes in land use and land cover alter human-ecological interactions, ecosystem processes and carbon dynamics, but to also help suggest possible solutions. Focusing on West Kalimantan, our research aims to: (1) develop a regional-scale database that can be used to quantify variations in terrestrial carbon storage as a function of the major forest cover and land use types found throughout the region, (2) map vegetation, land use/land cover change and fires, (3) model carbon fluxes as a function of the factors driving land cover change, (4) model past, present and future trends in carbon source/sink relationships, and (5) perform a detailed assessment of recent loss in lowland forest from protected areas and suggest mitigating measures. Our approach combines data gathered from diverse sources, including satellite sensors (Ikonos, Landsat TM, ERS, MODIS) and field and aerial surveys; these data are integrated and analyzed in a Geographic Information System.

We thank NASA's Land Cover Land Use Change Program for supporting this Carbon Cycle Science research.