The loss of the forest, located on the island of Borneo and regarded as a unique ecosystem, would put a huge dent in the global economy. Dipterocarps are the main family of rain forest canopy trees in Indonesian Borneo. The trees synchronize their reproduction, called masting, to the onset of the El Ni o Southern Oscillation, which occurs about once every four years. It's like Thanksgiving in the forest. Wild boar, orangutans, parakeets, jungle fowl, partridges and other animals congregate to stuff themselves.
Local villagers collect baskets of seeds called illipe nuts to sell as a cash crop.
Yet, since so much seed is produced, there is still enough leftover to germinate and produce a carpet of new seedlings. The problem, the researchers discovered, is that intensive logging on the island around the Gunung Palung National Park over the past decade has reduced seed production from 175 pounds per acre in 1991 to 16.5 pounds per acre in 1998, even though 1998 was a major El Ni o year. According to the research, logging appears to reduce the local density and biomass of mature trees, reduces the spatial extent of masting and alters the forest's response to El Ni o by disrupting soil conditions or causing extended drought stress. Seed predators, who can not find food outside the park, move inside the park to eat the dipterocarp seeds before they germinate. In 1998 the scenario worsened when massive forest fires on nearby logging plantations destroyed an area the size of Costa Rica, brought pollution and intensified El Ni o's drought, killing the few remaining dipterocarp seedlings.