Effects of forest fires on some lichen species in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Developing a simple method for evaluating the damage and recovery from the forest fires in tropical rain forest is required from a forest management standpoint in Indonesia. The purpose of this study is to present a new evaluation method of forest fire damage, especially for field scientists and forest managers. We employed some popular taxonomical groups and their growth forms for evaluation without using any expensive equipment in forests. We surveyed and examined this method in the mixed dipterocarp forest at Bukit Bangkirai, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in 2002. Results showed that the evaluation score became lower at 0-50 cm height zone at the hardly damaged forest as compared with control (no damaged) forest. In low land of East Kalimantan, lichens grow more at low height zone of tree trunks than higher position, which seemed to depend on the moisture from the ground. Forest fires in this area should spread with burning of dry grasses and fallen leaves on ground surface, and lichens at lower height zone might be severely affected. Dictyonema cf. moorei with cyanobacteria as photobionts, which apparently prefers the damaged forests, might be a bio-indicator as pioneer lichen for forest fires. While, Coenogonium sp. with green algae as photobionts, which was observed only control forest, seemed to be a bio-indicator of good/matured tropical lowland rainforests.