In Ranong province, southern Thailand, the biomass and net primary production of secondary mangrove forest stands were estimated and compared with the amount of mangrove wood used for the charcoal industry. Using the naturally regenerated mangrove stands, the net primary production was calculated by the allometric equation and the summation method. The wood amount used for the charcoal factory in Ranong province was calculated from the kiln volume, the burning frequency, and the wood packing capacity of the kilns. The balance between the biological production and the human utilization is discussed concerning the secondary mangrove forests.

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Above ground tree biomass was estimated in Bruguiera parviflora, B. sexangula, and Rhizophora apiculata communities of a mangrove forest in Talidendang Besar, East Sumatra, Indonesia. The research was carried out from December 1990 to January 1991, and allometric relation method was used to estimate the above ground biomass of tree species having a diameter of 10 cm and over. The above ground biomass in this forest ranged from 42.94 to 89.68 t d.wt/ha in a B. parviflora community; 75.99 to 279.03 t d.wt/ha in a B. sexangula community; and 40.70 t d.wt/ha in a R. apiculata community.

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Foraging behavior of male euglossine bees (four Euglossa spp.) was observed in a caged setting in Panama. Bees visiting feeders markedly preferred sucrose solutions of 51 and 34% sugar to those providing 17% sucrose and water, but probed the latter if these were placed where there had previously been a preferred solution. Given unlimited resources, each species fed five times during 24 h, leaving approximately six h for other activities, such as displaying for females and searching for floral fragrances. Foraging at rich resources thus precludes ‘trap lining’ by Euglossa.

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Uiu Gadut valley, West Sumatra is characterized by an extreme humid climate and the richest tree flora in the tropics. We recorded 304 tree species (stem diameter > 8 cm) from an onehectare plot, Pinang Pinag in this area, and 75 families and 704 species (stem diameter > 5 or 8 cm) from 6 permanent plots totaling 2.6 hectares. Except a few cases, these tree species have local naming by usually wood and stem characters such as latex, bark color, wood texture, resin, smell and so on.
In South East Asia we have a few of ethnobotanical records on wood use. The PROSEA report (1989) recorded 1517 tree species as timber trees, mainly wood for commerce. Acccording to Mr. Satar, a villager of Ulu Gadut, over 50 % of recorded woody species of this area were useful for house constructions, and many tree species were used for various purposes based on the wood characters. Tree groups based by local name with botanical identities are given in Table 1, and an example of used wood in local house building in Table 2. In Ulu Gadut, woods are usually cut by hand saw in the forest and carried out by man hands. Therefore many tree species with difficulty of sawing cannot be used by local people, such as some species of Canarium and Shorea, Hopea dryobalanoides, Swintonia schwenkii, and most part of Fagaceous trees (Lithocarpus and Quercus).

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