Sediments

All of the seedlings that we counted in the inventory at Ban Sobphuan (see Thin Red Line) were covered with a thin film of fine sediment. Apparently, earlier in the year the nearby Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric dam released a large amount of excess water and flooded most of the forests at Ban Sobphuan. Sediment load in the water suggests that the flooding caused quite a bit of erosion. [NOTES: The World Bank-funded Nam Theun 2 dam, with an estimated constructed cost of US $1.3 billion, is the largest foreign investment in Laos to date. Rattan seedling is Calamus solitarius T. Evans & al.].