Large trees play several vital roles in the Angkor monuments landscape. They protect biodiversity, enhance the tourism experience, and provide various ecosystem services to local residents. A clear understanding of forest composition and distribution of individual species, as well as timely monitoring of changes, is necessary for conservation of these trees. using traditional field work, obtaining this sort of data is time-consuming and labour-intensive. This research investigates classification of very high resolution remote sensing data as a tool for efficient analyses. QuickBird satellite imagery was used to clarify the tree species community in and around Preah Khan temple, to elucidate differences in ecological traits among the three dominant species
Population structures of trees were determined using a 14.26ha study plot. Species name, DBH, height, height under the crown and crown area were recorded for all trees over 40 cm in DBH. Tree locations were also recorded so as to provide references for the imagery analysis. Ecological traits of the dominant species were estimated using regressions by an expanded allometric equation for both large and small trees, based on DBH, height, height under the crown and crown width.
The total number of species in the study plot was 45. From a spatial perspective, the three dominant species over 100 cm in DBH were segregated from each other.