Floristic and structural vegetation composition of two types of tropical rain forests at the Belum-Temengor Complex, Malaysia Peninsular

Floristic and structural vegetation composition of two types of tropical rain forests at the Belum-Temengor Complex, Malaysia Peninsular

^1,3Mohd Syaiful Mohammad, ^1,2Onrizal, ¹Mashhor Mansor, ¹Rahmad Zakaria, ¹Asyraf Mansor

¹School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800, Minden, Penang, Malaysia

²Forestry Sciences Department, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155, Sumatera Utara

³Pulau Banding Rainforest Research Centre. Pulau Banding 33200, Grik Perak, Malaysia

The stand structure and floristic compositions of the two forest types at Belum-Temengor Complex were studied. The two survey sites were situated at Sungai Enam, Temengor Forest Reserve (TFR), and the other one at Sungai Kejar, Royal Belum Forest (RBF). Two 0.1 ha plots, each divided into 10 contiguous 10 x 10 m² subplots, were established in the two forest types. The stems over 10 cm dbh were measured and the plant species were identified. The stem density and tree height and basal area of the TFR reflected a RBF (96.8% for stem density, and 92.6% for tree height). On the other hand, the basal area of the TFR is higher than the RBF (149.9%). There were major differences in the floristic and species diversity. The number of species and number of families in each sampling plot (0.1 ha) were 52 (± 0.0) and 20 (± 2.1) for the TFR plots and 58 (± 6.4) and 28 (± 0.7) for the RBF, respectively. The TFR was dominated by Shorea leprosula (Dipterocarpaceae) with IVI 15.7 and Intsia palembanica (Fabaceae) with IVI 12.0, whereas, the RBF was dominated by Intsia palembanica (Fabaceae) with IVI 29.0 and Palaquium maingayi (Sapotaceae) with IVI 12.8. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index was 3.83 for the TFR plots and 3.94 for the RBF plots; the Jaccard’s coefficient of similarity was 22%. Variation in both tree species composition and structural pattern reflected variation in intensity of disturbance among the forest types. However, it is rather short for a forest system to reach climax. The forest structure of the TFR shows a closer resemblance to the RBF than does the floristic compositions.

Keywords: Belum-Temengor Complex, vegetation structure, tree species composition

 

Corresponding author: sifu_nyetok@yahoo.com

 

Paper presented at the 1st Joint Symposium of ITB – USM (1JSIU): Science for Sustainable Development and a Better Life. Bandung, Indonesia, 20-21 Dec. 2010

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Understory vegetation succession following tsunami catastrophe at coastal areas in Aceh, Indonesia

Understory vegetation succession following tsunami catastrophe at coastal areas in Aceh, Indonesia

 

^1,2Onrizal and ²Mashhor Mansor

¹Forestry Sciences Department, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155, Sumatera Utara

²School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800, Minden, Penang, Malaysia

 

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused catastrophic destruction to coastal vegetation communities. Based on the ecological view, the natural disturbance is an important factor in structuring ecological communities. In order to observe and record the emergence of several existing plant species as well as new ones that were caused by the tsunami, the survey was carried out on September 2005 and December 2009. Four areas, namely aquaculture ponds, dry lands, mangrove forests, and up-lifting areas were selected. One year after tsunami, mangrove palm Nypa fruticans, mangrove fern Acrostichum aureum and coastal herb Sesuvium portulacastrum are recorded growing well in tidal areas. Five year after tsunami, species of Thypa latifolia and mangrove fern Acrostichum aureum populations colonizing  open areas that were left by mangrove plant communities or unmanaged aquaculture ponds. Most of the disturbed habitats, including drylands and up-lifting areas are occupied with weedy species such as Calotropis gigantea and the noxious weedy species Mimosa pigra. This result indicated that understory species with wind-dispersed seeds played a major role in the succession of coastal vegetation recovery. The different successional patterns along the environmental gradient could result from different strategic approaches in the establishment ability and the growth rate of the dominant plants which are closely depended on the four habitat types.

Keywords: tsunami, understory vegetation, seed dispersal, succession, Aceh

Corresponding author: onrizal@gmail.com

Paper presented at the 1st Joint Symposium of ITB – USM (1JSIU): Science for Sustainable Development and a Better Life. Bandung, Indonesia, 20-21 Dec. 2010

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