Floristic Composition and Growth Dynamics of Riparian Forests in North-East Vietnam

In NE Vietnam, especially in the context of uneven topographical characteristics, the riparian forests are well known for their role in controlling water sources, water runoff, flood, drainage, and navigation improvement for the basin regions and stream bank erosion. In spite of the important ecological role, natural riparian forests in NE Vietnam have been subject to human disturbances. They are continuously degraded by anthropogenic activities in which tree harvesting and exploiting are prominent. These interventions have resulted in fragmented, degraded, and narrow riparian forest strips. The number of valuable tree species has been reduced drastically. Consequently, along most of big rivers in the NE, riparian forests do not exist any more. The remaining forests now occur along Branch Rivers or streams as overexploited forests or bamboo mixed forests. The restoration of these forests demands an understanding of linkages between processes, the former and past management history of the vegetation communities, and the riparian vegetation and river process in the context of the site conditions. The research complied information about vegetation composition and the structure and dynamics of the riparian forests as well as the plant responses to the specific site conditions in two riparian forest areas in NE Vietnam. In order to fulfil the research objectives, two riparian forest stands in Tuan Dao and Khe Ro, NE Vietnam were choosen in the present work.