Forest Environments in the Mekong River Basin, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2007

Deforestation and forest degradation have continued over a long period of time, and the deterioration of forest environment management services is becoming one of the biggest concerns in the world. Especially in large continental river basins, sel? sh political attitudes and individual interests in some regions predispose other regions to problems downstream and bring about international issues. The Mekong is just such a river basin and its water is the most important resource, interdependent with the forest conditions in the region. The lives of millions of people are sustained by the water of the Mekong River, and mutual understanding on water resource mana- ment is essential in this region. Consequently, appropriate environment management to control water resources is required of each country along with scienti? c knowledge of forest management, including forest hydrology. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) was established in 1995 to jointly manage shared water resources and develop the economic potential of the river by the gove- ments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, very limited operational forest management for water resources is being conducted based on reliable sources of information. International cooperation in science and technology has progressed in Southeast Asia. One such activity, the research project ?Changes of Water Cycle in the Mekong River Basin? (CWCM), has been conducted by the Forestry Administration (FA) of Cambodia, the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) of Japan, and several universities, since 2002.

Forest Hydrology.- Runoff Processes in Southeast Asia: Role of Soil, Regolith, and Rock Type.- Impact of Land-Use Development on the Water Balance and Flow Regime of the Chi River Basin, Thailand.- Evaluation of Evapotranspiration in Forested Areas in the Mekong Basin Using GIS Data Analysis.- Severe Drought Resulting from Seasonal and Interannual Variability in Rainfall and Its Impact on Transpiration in a Hill Evergreen Forest in Northern Thailand.- Factors Affecting Interannual Variability in Transpiration in a Tropical Seasonal Forest in Northern Thailand: Growing Season Length and Soil Drought.- Scale Dependency of Hydrological Characteristics in the Upper Ping River Basin, Northern Thailand.- Year-Round Observation of Evapotranspiration in an Evergreen Broadleaf Forest in Cambodia.- Measurements of Wind Speed, Direction, and Vertical Profiles in an Evergreen Forest in Central Cambodia.- Stomatal Response Characteristics of Dry Evergreen and Dry Deciduous Forests in Kampong Thom, Cambodia.- Changes of Vertical Soil Moisture Conditions of a Dry Evergreen Forest in Kampong Thom, Cambodia.- Stable Isotope Studies of Rainfall and Stream Water in Forest Watersheds in Kampong Thom, Cambodia.- Runoff Characteristics and Observations on Evapotranspiration in Forest Watersheds, Central Cambodia.- Forest Management.- Object-Oriented Land Cover Classification Based on Two Satellite Images Obtained in One Dry Season in Cambodia.- Land Cover Change Mapping of the Mekong River Basin Using NOAA Pathfinder AVHRR 8-km Land Dataset.- Effect of Forest Cover Change on Sedimentation in Lam Phra Phloeng Reservoir, Northeastern Thailand.- Seasonally Flooded Community Forest on the Banks of the Songkhram River: A Research Framework.- Forest Ecology.- Forest Environment of Vietnam: Features of Forest Vegetation and Soils.- Principal Forest Types of Three Regions of Cambodia: Kampong Thom, Kratie, and Mondolkiri.- Comparison of the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of Two Types of Dipterocarp Forest on the West Bank of the Mekong River, Cambodia.- Open Woodland Patches in an Evergreen Forest of Kampong Thom, Cambodia: Correlation of Structure and Composition with Microtopography.- Use of ASTER Optical Indices to Estimate Spatial Variation in Tropical Seasonal Forests on the West Bank of the Mekong River, Cambodia.- Soils Under Different Forest Types in the Dry Evergreen Forest Zone of Cambodia: Morphology, Physicochemical Properties, and Classification.- Soil Moisture Conditions in Four Types of Forests in Kampong Thom, Cambodia.- Apparent Change in Soil Depth and Soil Hardness in Forest Areas in Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia.- Effect of Soil Water Content on Water Storage Capacity: Comparison Between the Forested Areas in Cambodia and Japan.- Influence of Large Seasonal Water Level Fluctuations and Human Impact on the Vegetation of Lake Tonle Sap, Cambodia.