Aim To (1) identify floristic regions in the lowland (below 500 m a.s.l.) tropical dipterocarp rain forest of Borneo based on tree genera, (2) determine the characteristic taxa of these regions, (3) study tree diversity patterns within Borneo, and (4) relate the floristic and diversity patterns to abiotic factors such as mean annual rainfall and geographical distance between plots.Location Lowland tropical dipterocarp rain forest of Borneo.
a b s t r a c tModelers involved in environmental policy assessments are commonly confronted with the lack of uptake of model output by policy actors. Actors have different expectations of models, condensed into three quality criteria: credibility, salience, and legitimacy. The fulfilment of quality criteria is also dynamic as expectations vary, change, and possibly counteract each other. We present a checklist for modelers involved in model-based assessments that is aimed at the identification and monitoring of issues, limitations and trade-offs regarding model quality criteria. It draws upon the literature of integrated assessments as well as case study analysis of environmental policy assessments for the Dutch government, based on expert interviews and embedded experience. The checklist is intended to be consulted during assessments; its application may result in greater awareness among modelers involved in assessments regarding model quality criteria, and may positively affect the uptake of model-based knowledge from environmental policy assessments by policy actors.
Commodity prices, exchange rate, infrastructural projects and migration patterns are known and important drivers of Amazon deforestation, but cannot solely explain the high rates observed in 1995 and 2003-2004 in six Brazilian Amazon states. Deforestation predictions using those widely applied drivers can underestimate deforestation rates by as much as 50%. We show that years with the highest deforestation rates also correlate with large administrative shifts caused by presidential elections which results in periods of managerial instability associated with episodic inefficiency, leading to weak institutions unable to properly combat illegal deforestation. Although surveillance and regulatory action plans to combat deforestation have held back deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon since 2005, our results suggest that environmental management institutions should be aware such administration shifts set a burden on the policy targets associated with conservation policies. Institutional vulnerability immediately after major elections is an acknowledged fact in Brazil, though it has been mostly disregarded as an indicator of ecological threat.
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