Regeneration methods for dipterocarp forests of wet tropical Asia

Dipterocarp forests of the Asian wet tropics have a long history of silvicultural research. This paper provides a review of this history and a summary of the ecological principles guiding the regeneration methods used. Dipterocarp forests are here defined as those of the seasonally wet regions of Thailand, Burma, and India, and those that are considered of the mixed dipterocarp forest type that dominate the aseasonal wet regions of Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and parts of Indonesia and the Philippines. Two silvicultural regeneration methods are described, shelter-woods and their variants, and selection systems. Both systems can be justified but emphasis is given to the development of shelterwood and selection regeneration methods that are tailored to the particular biological and social context at hand. The paper concludes with a call for improved land-use planning and stand typing to better integrate service and protection values with those values focused on commodity production.