On the detection of dynamic responses in a drought-perturbed tropical rainforest in Borneo

The dynamics of aseasonal lowland dipterocarp forest in Borneo is influenced by perturbation from droughts. These events might be increasing in frequency and intensity in the future. This paper describes drought-affected dynamics between 1986 and 2001 in Sabah, Malaysia, and considers how it is possible, reliably and accurately, to measure both coarse- and fine-scale responses of the forest. Some fundamental concerns about methodology and data analysis emerge. In two plots forming 8 ha, mortality, recruitment, and stem growth rates of trees >=10 cm gbh (girth at breast height) were measured in a 'pre-drought' period (1986-1996), and in a period (1996-2001) including the 1997-1998 ENSO-drought. For 2.56 ha of subplots, mortality and growth rates of small trees (10-