, J. van der Kamp

We studied an early succession in Imperata grasslands in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, using plots that last burned 3 years, 4 years and 9 years previously on, secondary and primary forest. The species coverage data were analyzed using CANOCO software. While Imperata decreases, the average percentage of shrubs and young trees clearly increases with time. In the burned plots, Melastoma malabathricum, Eupatorium inulaefolium, Ficus sp., and Vitex pinnata L. strongly increase with the age of regeneration, but these species were rare in the secondary forest. Soils with more than 50 % sand had a slower development towards secondary forest. The number of species was lower on the sandy soils, which showed a stronger increase with time of Pteridium aquilinum L.. This fern slows down subsequent vegetation development. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of the environmental gradient and vegetation showed that pH, bulk density, sand and clay are the factors influencing the distribution of species. Canonical correspondence analysis showed also that soil properties had a strong influence on vegetation composition. Melastoma malabathricum, Vitex pinnata L., Lycopodium cernum, Vernonia arborea Buch.-Ham., Dicranopteris linearis are all species associated with high levels of exchangeable Al and low pH