ABSTRACT
Tropical forests account for 40% of terrestrial biomass and play vital roles in regulating carbon, water, and energy exchange in the atmosphere (Foody et al., 1997). Over the past two decades, tropical forests in Southeast Asia have experienced more rapid decline than those in Central Africa and Latin America (Mayaus et al., 2005). Under economic and political pressures in this region, vast landscape of forests is converted into agricultural lands or commercial plantation (Jepson et al., 2001).
