Royal Forest Department

Cork oak (Quercus suber) forests are vital for maintaining ecological balance and supporting socio-economic stability in Morocco. However, these forests face significant degradation driven by climate change, human activities, and inadequate regeneration practices. A critical factor influencing successful cork oak regeneration is the timing of acorn harvesting, which directly impacts germination rates and seedling quality. This study aimed to determine the optimal acorn harvesting periods to maximize germination and produce robust seedlings suitable for nursery and field planting. Conducted at the Center for Innovation, Research and Training under the National Agency for Water and Forests, the research involved collecting acorns from the Maâmora forest across six harvesting periods: August, September, early-October, mid-October, November, and December. The methodology included acorn sorting, phytosanitary treatments, and standardized nursery substrate preparation. Key parameters such as germination rate, seedling height, collar diameter, survival rate, and root system development were systematically monitored. Results indicated that acorns harvested in mid-October and November yielded the highest germination rates (86% and 85%, respectively), superior seedling growth (average heights of 21.40 cm and 10.09 cm), and better survival rates (95% and 75%). In contrast, acorns harvested in August showed the lowest germination (50%) and reduced seedling vigor, reflecting the detrimental effect of immature acorns. Early harvests in August and September corresponded with slower growth and lower survival. The findings underscore the critical influence of harvest timing on cork oak regeneration success. Acorns collected during mid-October and November demonstrated faster germination, enhanced seedling vigor, and robust root development. The study recommends focusing on these optimal harvesting windows, combined with proper storage and nursery management, to improve reforestation efforts and support the sustainable restoration of Morocco’s cork oak ecosystems.

Abstract. Srisuwan S, Sungkaew S, Wachrinrat C, Asanok L, Kamyo T, Thinkampheang S, Kachina P, Hermhuk S, Phumphuang W, Yarnvudhi A, Marod D. 2024. Diversity and spatial distribution of Lauraceae tree species in Lower Montane Forest at Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Northern Thailand. Biodiversitas 25: 3510-3520. Montane forests are characterized by high plant diversity, including a notable representation by the Lauraceae family, which offers a variety of ecological and economic benefits. This study aimed to assess the species diversity, spatial distribution, and habitat suitability of the Lauraceae family in the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Northern Thailand. A Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was employed to determine the spatial distribution of the dominant Lauraceae species, whereas the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model was used to assess habitat suitability for key species. A total of 24 species across 10 genera were found. The most species-rich genera were Cinnamomum and Litsea, followed by Cryptocarya, Machilus and Phoebe, and Actinodaphne, Persea, Beilschmiedia, and Neocinnamomum. Habitat suitability for important Lauraceae species was categorized into low-, medium-, and high-potential areas. The elevation and soil organic matter were the most significant factors influencing species abundance. Additionally, soil properties also played a role in species distribution. The spatial distribution of Lauraceae species was primarily influenced by elevation. However, this distribution is also influenced by the interplay between elevation, soil properties, climate, and human activity. Thus, a comprehensive knowledge of these determinants can inform conservation strategies and ensure the long-term viability of Lauraceae populations in montane forests.

Ground station receivers or networks’ location uses different geodetic datums. The geodetic datum defines size and shape of the Earth model and origin of orientation of coordinate systems used to map the Earth. They are modified to converge to the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). The Thailand geodetic reference frame has been maintained by the Royal Thai Survey Department (RTSD); currently, it is based on GNSS permanent networks. Precise orbit and clock solutions, earth orientation parameters and tropospheric gradients are applied as fixing parameters to estimate station positions using a network approach where all station coordinates are simultaneously adjusted; defined as a zero-order network. They are determined with respected to ITRF with centimetre precisions and accuracies. The shape of the Earth varies over time due to oceanic tides and plate movements. Changing are more gradually when earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen. ITRF and other geodetic datums are changing continually; therefore, frame transformations are required. The latest adjusted coordinates are based on ITRF2005, 2008 and 2014 frame and velocities are set at the epoch 2008.83, 2013.81 and 2021.93 respectively. Constraints are cast in form of transformation parameters. The grid shift is then generated to transform from global coordinate systems to local geocentric reference frames. GNSS measurements obtained from another set of ground stations are used as check coordinates. Transformed coordinates are at 1 centimetre-level of accuracy both horizontally and vertically at 95 percent confidence level. Coordinate transformations can be applied to map Thailand based on one map on one datum policy.

Abstract. Kaewgrajang T, Yamato M, Polamart T, Sangwanit U. 2023. A comparison between the ectomycorrhizal fungal communities associated with the natural and plantation populations of Dipterocarpus alatus. Biodiversitas 24: 2088-2098. Dipterocarpus alatus Roxb. is a native tree species of Southeast Asian countries and one of the most economically important dipterocarp species. We investigated the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi associated with D. alatus using molecular identifications on putative fruiting bodies and ECM roots collected from three natural forests and 10 D. alatus plantations. In this investigation, we aimed to report the ECM fungal communities of D. alatus in natural forests and plantations. Combining the results of fruiting bodies and ECM roots, 82 taxa belonging to 12 families were identified as ECM fungi. The ECM fungal community comprised many rare species and a few frequently found species. The Sebacina genus was found the most frequently in natural forests and plantations. The ECM fungal diversity was higher in plantations compared to natural forests. However, the frequently occurring ECM fungal taxa were not different between the natural forests and plantations. The result suggests that ECM fungal communities could be maintained in D. alatus plantations even if a reduction occurs in the natural population of dipterocarp forest.

Microbial fuel cells (CS-UFC) utilize waste resources containing biodegradable materials that play an essential role in green energy. MFC technology generates “carbon-neutral” bioelectricity and involves a multidisciplinary approach to microbiology. MFCs will play an important role in the harvesting of “green electricity.” In this study, a single-chamber urea fuel cell is fabricated that uses these different wastewaters as fuel to generate power. Soil has been used to generate electrical power in microbial fuel cells and exhibited several potential applications to optimize the device; the urea fuel concentration is varied from 0.1 to 0.5 g/mL in a single-chamber compost soil urea fuel cell (CS-UFC). The proposed CS-UFC has a high power density and is suitable for cleaning chemical waste, such as urea, as it generates power by consuming urea-rich waste as fuel. The CS-UFC generates 12 times higher power than conventional fuel cells and exhibits size-dependent behavior. The power generation increases with a shift from the coin cell toward the bulk size. The power density of the CS-UFC is 55.26 mW/m2. This result confirmed that urea fuel significantly affects the power generation of single-chamber CS-UFC. This study aimed to reveal the effect of soil properties on the generated electric power from soil processes using waste, such as urea, urine, and industrial-rich wastewater as fuel. The proposed system is suitable for cleaning chemical waste; moreover, the proposed CS-UFC is a novel, sustainable, cheap, and eco-friendly design system for soil-based bulk-type design for large-scale urea fuel cell applications.

Phanera mekongensis, a new species from Phu Wua Wildlife Sanctuary, NortheasternThailand, is described and illustrated. The morphological description of the new species is provided and discussed in comparison with closely related species. The molecular data from nuclear and chloroplast markers show that the new taxon is robustly positioned in a well-supported Phanera clade that includes the type species of the genus, P. coccinea.

Due to global climate change, drought phenomena are becoming longer.As a result, water availability is insufficient to meet demand for agriculture during the cultivation seasons and many areas have affected by drought.These can cause difficulties in water resources management.The main objectives of this study were to establish the spatial distribution of drought phenomena at sub-basin scales in the Lam Khan Chu and Lam Nam Chi Part II watersheds, which is the major headwater of the Chi River Basin, Thailand.The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was used to synthesize streamflow data at the sub-basins of the watersheds.To estimate drought severity, the Streamflow Drought Index (SDI) was computed from the time series of the synthesized streamflow data during 2008 to 2019.The simulated streamflow of the SWAT model was acceptable based on the R 2 , Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Percent bias (PBIAS) reaching good levels in both calibration and verification.According to the SDI calculation, the most severe drought in the study period was in the year 2016.During January and April of 2016, the affected areas of about 3%, 30%, 14%, 30 and 23% of the study area were identified as none, mild, moderate, severe and extreme droughts, respectively.The integration of the hydrological model and drought index to monitor drought severity in space and time will be a useful tool for assessing drought severity.Moreover, the results can support managers for water resources management.

Abstract. Water diversion systems play crucial roles in assuaging flood risk by diverting and redistributing water within and among basins. For flood and drought assessments, including investigations of the effects of diversion systems on river discharge worldwide, the explicit inclusion of these systems into global hydrological models (GHMs) is essential. However, such representation remains in the pioneering stage because of complex canal operations and insufficient data. Therefore, we developed a regionalized canal operation scheme and implemented it in the H08 GHM for flood diversion in the Chao Phraya River basin (CPRB), Thailand, which is a complex river network with several natural and artificial diversion canals and has been subject to severe flooding in the past, including recent years. Region-specific validation results revealed that the enhanced H08 model with the regionalized diversion scheme could effectively simulate the observed flood diversion pattern in the CPRB. Diverted water comprises approximately 49 % of the annual average river discharge in the CPRB. The simulations further confirmed that the presented canal scheme had the potential to reduce flood risk in the basin by significantly reducing the number of flooding days. A generalized canal scheme with simple input data settings was also constructed for future global applications, providing insights into the maximum level of discharge reduction achievable with diversion of nearly 57 % of the annual average river discharge of the CPRB. Overall, the enhanced H08 model with canal schemes can be adapted and applied to different contexts and regions, accounting for the characteristics of each river network by maintaining the basic principles unaltered.