Forest Patches in Northeast Luzon (the Philippines): Their Status, Role, and Perspectives for Conservation in Integrated Land-Use Systems

In the literature, the term forest patches generally refers to a diversity of habitats and management conditions, ranging from patches of trees in pastures, gallery forest along creeks, and lines of trees along field boundaries to managed forests and large fragments of primary forests. It includes both forest remnants and remnant forests. As opposed to forest remnants, ‘‘which may be patches of living dead or even single trees,’’ the remnant forests are characterized as forests in the true sense of the word, that is, ‘‘naturally regenerating forest communities’’ of any size (Alcorn, 1996). From a management perspective, the remnant forests are ‘‘largely unused fragments of old-growth forest, including forest intentionally uncleared for watershed protection, wildlife conservation, and other benefits, or patches that simply have not been cleared yet because of inaccessibility or recency human

1996). vary in structure and species composition because of differences in management and local biophysical conditions, but they all have one characteristic in common: trees andwoody shrubs predominate in the aboveground biomass.