Expansion of Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) and its

Implications for Water and Carbon Dynamics in

Montane Mainalnd Southeast Asia

Jefferson Fox

Thomas Giambelluca

Ryan Mudd

Alan Ziegler

Maoyi Huang

Wen Liu

Michael Nullet

Qi Chen

March 2011

East-West Center

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

National University of Singapore

Battelle Pacific NW National Laboratory

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

NR price forecasts to 2011

(It’s the global market . . . ‘stupid’)3/22/2011

$5.15

Prachaya. 2009.

Traditional and non-traditional rubber-growing regions

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

Rubber distribution in 2009 in MMSEA derived from MODIS 250m NDVI time series

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

Rubber Estimates (2008)(non-traditional rubber areas)

Country Area (ha)

Northeast Thailand 348,063 (Thai Rubber 2007)

Xishuangbanna, China (1950s) 334,000 (Reuters 2008)

Laos (1994) 140,665 (NAFRI 2008)

Cambodia 107,901 (ANRPC 2009)

Northeast Myanmar(Kachin and Shan States)

68,723 (Hly Myint 2008)

Vietnam 58,100 (AgroInfo 2008)

Total 1,057,452

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

CLUE Land Cover / Land Use Simulations

• Overall MMSEA Results Increase Decrease

Model Land Cover % 2000 % 2050 % Change

Crops + Grass 12.38 14.81 2.43

Irrigated Crops 9.5 10.11 0.61

Shrubs 2.91 4.6 1.69

Deciduous Forest

(rubber)

12.82 15.28 2.46 (4 mil ha)

Evergreen Forest 36.58 32.85 -3.73

Mixed Forest/

Mosaic

22.99 18.19 -4.8

Hotspots of LCLUC in Mainland

Southeast Asia (1990 to 2008)

F= forest; RP = rice/paddy; PA = protected area; AQ = Shrimp aquaculture;

PT = Perennial trees; NTR = non-traditional rubber. Numbers from FAOSTAT;

FAO World Forests; World Bank World Development Indicators; IUCN

Protected Areas.

Total area in square kilometers Annual rate of increase in %

-80,000

-60,000

-40,000

-20,000

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

F RP PA AQ PT NTR

Cambodia

Laos

Myanmar

Thailand

Vietnam

-10.00

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

F RP PA AQ PT NTR

Cambodia

Laos

Myanmar

Thailand

Vietnam

Prior Study

Guardiola-Claramonte M, Troch Ziegler A, Giambelluca TW, Vogler JB, Nullet M (2008)

Local hydrologic effects of introducing non-native vegetation in a tropical catchment.

Ecohydrology 1: 13–22, DOI: 10.1002/eco.3.

Guardiola-Claramonte M, Troch Ziegler A, Giambelluca TW, Vogler JB, Nullet M (2008)

Local hydrologic effects of introducing non-native vegetation in a tropical catchment.

Ecohydrology 1: 13–22, DOI: 10.1002/eco.3.

Guardiola-Claramonte M, Troch Ziegler A, Giambelluca TW, Vogler JB, Nullet M (2008)

Local hydrologic effects of introducing non-native vegetation in a tropical catchment.

Ecohydrology 1: 13–22, DOI: 10.1002/eco.3.

Research Questions

Hydrology of Hevea brasiliensis Plantations

• What are the hydrological and carbon consequences of conversion of land to rubber plantations in non-traditional rubber growing areas?

• What are the rates of ET in rubber stands, and how does it compare with other land-cover types in the region?

• To what extent are dry-season basin water storage affected by water use of rubber?

Tower Sites

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

Som Sanuk

CRRI

Instruments and Observations

Micrometeorological instruments installed at two rubber (Havea

brasiliensis) plantations to measure water, energy, and carbon

exchange

Som Sanuk, Nong Khai, NE ThailandTrees planted in 1992

Tower installed February 2009

CRRI, Kampong Cham, CambodiaTrees planted in 2004

Tower Installed September 2009

Tower Instrumentation

Cambodia Rubber Research Institute

Kampong Cham, Cambodia

3 air temperature sensors (TC

wire, Omega)

10 biomass temperature

sensors (TC wire, Omega)

3 dimensional sonic anemometer (CSAT3, Campbell Scientific)

infrared gas analyzer (LI-

7500, Licor)

PAR sensor (LI-190, Licor)

4 component radiation

(NR01, Hukseflux)

Temperature and relative humidity (HMP45, Vaisala)

3 wind speed sensors for wind

height profile (014A, Met one)

2 Rain gauges (TI-525, Texas

Instruments)

•Wind speed and direction

(05106, RM young)

Underground sensors

• 2 soil temperaturesensors (20 cm TC probes, Campbell Scientific)

• 4 soil heat flux plates (HFP01, Hukseflux)

• 5 TDR soil moistureprobes – 30 cm (CS616, Campbell Scientific)

– 4 cm horizontal

– 30 cm vertical

– 1 m vertical

– 2 m vertical

– 3 m vertical

• 5 ADR soil moisturesensors (Theta Probe, DeltaT)

– in 2 stands (2001 and 2004)

– 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 cm all horizontal

Collaboration with Kumagai Lab of Kyushu University for

sap flow measurements

Sa

p flu

x (

kg

m-2

s-1

)

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

5/19 5/20 5/21 5/22 5/23 5/24 5/25 5/26

Som Sanuk, Thailand

Som Sanuk, Thailand

Preliminary Eddy Flux Results from Som Sanuk

Annual Mean Diurnal Cycles

-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 0:00

Rnet

G

H

LE

Mean Rnet = 124 W m-2

Mean G = 2 W m-2

Mean H = 27 W m-2

Mean ET = 87 W m-2

ECE = 8 W m-2

ECR = 91%

Rubber Energy Balance

Som Sanuk, NE Thailand

Preliminary Eddy Flux Results from Som Sanuk

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Feb-09 Apr-09 Jun-09 Aug-09 Oct-09 Dec-09 Feb-10 Apr-10

Rnet

G

H

LE

Rubber Energy Balance

Som Sanuk, NE Thailand

Seasonal Cycle Related to Leaf Area

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Feb-09 Apr-09 Jun-09 Aug-09 Oct-09 Dec-09 Feb-10 Apr-10

Rnet

G

H

LE

Rubber Energy Balance

Som Sanuk, NE Thailand

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

Feb-09 Apr-09 Jun-09 Aug-09 Oct-09 Dec-09 Feb-10 Apr-10

17 yr old

12 yr old

6 yr old

Leaf Area Index

Preliminary Eddy Flux Results from Som Sanuk:

Mean Diurnal NEE Cycles

NEE ( mol m-2s-1)

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48

30-minute Timesteps

NE

E

Jan

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

AugJun

Jul

May

Preliminary Eddy Flux Results from Som Sanuk:

Mean Diurnal NEE Cycles

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

NE

E

Feb 09 Mar 09 Apr 09 May 09 Jun 09 Jul 09 Aug 09 Sep 09 Oct 09 Noc 09 Dec 09 Jan 10 Feb 10 Mar 10

NEE ( mol m-2s-1)

Mean Annual ET: 1100 mm

Site Land Cover LE:Rnet

Borneo Tropical rainforest 0.89

Amazon Tropical rainforest 0.86

Som Sanuk Rubber plantation 0.70

Chiang Mai Hill evergreen 0.60

Mato Grosso Transitional forest 0.66

Weimin Ju，Fangmin Zhang, Jingming Chen, Shuanghe Shen, Shaoqiang Wang,

Guirui Yu, Xinquan Zhao, Shijie Han, J. Asanuma (2010) Trends of

evapotranspiration in East Asia from 1982 to 2006 simulated using a remote

sensing-driven ecological model. Presented at HESSS2, 22 June 2010, Tokyo.

Ecosystem Model Must Incorporate Vegetation Dynamics

Bonan (2008, Science 320: 1444-1449)

100 yearsInitialization

200 years 300 years

Simulation of forest biomass density in Mainland Southeast Asia

Simulations of the forest biomass density with the incorporation of land use/cover change

Beginning 100 years 200 years

300 years 400 years 500 years

Preliminary verification of

carbon

Carbon map of Laos 2010 Modeled carbon density after

500 years of land use

Summary

• Rubber ET may be higher than forest ET

• Seasonal cycle significantly changed with lower Sep-Jan ET and higher Mar-Jul ET

• Annual Carbon flux cycle strongly influenced by the phenology of rubber

• Question:

– What effect does the altered annual cycle have on basin water storage and river discharge at the start of rain season?

– How does the annual and long-term carbon budget of rubber plantations compare with those of land covers that rubber is replacing?

• Further work:

– Continued monitoring-both sites

– Integrate EC and Sapflux observations

– Leaf level measurements

– Installation of carbon profile monitoring equipment

– Carbon stocks and budget

Thank You

Rubber Estimates (2008)(non-traditional rubber areas)

Country Area (ha)

Northeast Thailand 348,063 (Thai Rubber 2007)

Xishuangbanna, China (1950s) 334,000 (Reuters 2008)

Laos (1994) 140,665 (NAFRI 2008)

Cambodia 107,901 (ANRPC 2009)

Northeast Myanmar(Kachin and Shan States)

68,723 (Hly Myint 2008)

Vietnam 58,100 (AgroInfo 2008)

Total 1,057,452

Jeff Fox, EWC, 2010

Hotspots of LCLUC in Mainland

Southeast Asia (1990 to 2008)

F= forest; RP = rice/paddy; PA = protected area; AQ = Shrimp aquaculture;

PT = Perennial trees; NTR = non-traditional rubber. Numbers from FAOSTAT;

FAO World Forests; World Bank World Development Indicators; IUCN

Protected Areas.

Total area in square kilometers Annual rate of increase in %

-80,000

-60,000

-40,000

-20,000

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

F RP PA AQ PT NTR

Cambodia

Laos

Myanmar

Thailand

Vietnam

-10.00

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

90.00

F RP PA AQ PT NTR

Cambodia

Laos

Myanmar

Thailand

Vietnam

CRRI