Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T19:12:49.583Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Forest composition and inferred dynamics in Jengka Forest Reserve, Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

C. C. Ho ,
D. McC. Newbery  and
M. E. D. Poore
C. C. Ho
Affiliation:
Department of Genetics and Cellular Biology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 59100, Malaysia
D. McC. Newbery
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
M. E. D. Poore
Affiliation:
‘Evenlode’, Stonesfield, Oxon OX7 2PX, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

1211 trees of 3 ft (0.91 m) girth or more were enumerated in 288 1-ch2 (about 400 m2) quadrats forming a 11.7 ha plot on the mainly Segamat soil series, Jengka Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia, in 1964. Of the 261 taxa, 84% were identified to species. Five per cent of the area was of the permanently wetter Akob soil series. The plot was topographically flat and lay about 3 km west of the plot on the Batu Anam soil series, described in an earlier paper. Data on the chemical composition of the three soils are summarized here from a survey in 1967.

The vegetation on the Segamat series is of the Shorea-Dipterocarpus type of lowland dipterocarp forest. It has an unusually high abundance of the Euphorbiaceae (25% of trees) and a clear dominant species, Elateriospermum tapos. E. tapos, which regenerates profusely in the shade, grows up in small gaps and is strongly clumped, and appears well suited to the very friable, relatively nutrient-rich soil of the Segamat series, with lower soil-water holding capacity especially in dry periods.

Forest on the Segamat series is floristically very different from that on the Batu Anam series. This is most likely due to large differences in soil properties, the latter being of lower clay content, less nutrient-rich and, having a greater soil-water holding capacity at least in dry periods. It was dominated by Dipterocarpaceae.

Classification of quadrats on the Segamat series highlighted four classes; vegetation of the main E. tapos-dominated type on relatively dry soil (54% of plot area), vegetation on the wet Akob soil (21%), an association of shade-tolerant, mainly understorey trees beneath non-E. tapos-associated emergents (11%), and an association of long-lived, light-demanding pioneer trees of late-successional stages (11%); 3% of plot had no enumerated trees. Ordination showed that the plot was largely homogeneous with respect to edaphic factors but clearly displayed stages in forest succession.

The possible dynamics of the Segamat forest are inferred in terms of species autecology. Two hypotheses are advanced to explain the composition of the Segamat forest: (a) a dynamic equilibirum, (b) a non-equilibrium recovery from a recent catastrophe. The latter was thought more likely. Compared with the more benign Batu Anam environment, where co-dominants might be ‘ecologically equivalent’, the more selective soil conditions on the Segamat leads to reduced equivalence, with accidents of regeneration playing a smaller role in the local distribution of the most abundant species.

Keywords

dynamicsElateriospermum taposlong-lived pioneersMalaysiaordination and classificationrain forestSegamat soils
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , February 1987 , pp. 25 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Aminuddin, H. M. 1982. Light requirements of Dyera costulata seedlings. Malaysian Forester 45:203–208.Google Scholar
Appanah, S. 1982. Pollination of androdioecious Xerospermum intermedium Radlk. (Sapindaceae) in a rain forest. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 18:11–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashton, P. S. 1964. Ecological studies in the mixed dipterocarp forests of Brunei State. Oxford Forestry Memoirs 25, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Ashton, P. S. 1977. A contribution of rain forest research to evolutionary theory. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 64:694–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashton, P. S. 1982. Dipterocarpaceae. Flora Malesiana Series I, VoL 9(2). Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.Google Scholar
Austin, M. P., Ashton, P. S. & Greig-Smith, P. 1972. The application of quantitative methods to vegetation survey. III. A re-examination of rain forest data from Brunei. Journal of Ecology 60:305–324.Google Scholar
Baillie, I. C. & Ashton, P. S. 1983. Some soil aspects of the nutrient cycle in mixed dipterocarp forests in Sarawak. Pp. 347–356 in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C. & Chadwick, A. C. (eds). Tropical rain forest: ecology and management. British Ecological Society Symposium. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Bachik, A. T., Raveendran, N., Wong, S. P. & Pushparajah, E. 1984. Manganese toxicity symptoms in Hevea. Pp. 67–74 in Bachik, A T. & Pushparajah, E. (eds). Soils and nutrition of perennial crops. Proceedings of an International Conference, Malaysian Society of Soil Science, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Brokaw, N. V. L 1985. Treefalls, regrowth, and community structure in tropical forests. Pp. 53–69 in Pickett, S. T. A. & White, P. S. (eds). The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Connell, J. H. 1979. Tropical rain forests and coral reefs as open non-equilibrium systems. Pp. 141–163 in Anderson, R. M., Turner, B. D. & Taylor, L. R. (eds). Population dynamics. British Ecological Society Symposium No. 20. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Corner, E. J. H. 1952. Wayside trees of Malaya (2nd edition) Vol. I. Government Printing Office, Singapore.Google Scholar
Corner, E. J. H. 1978. The freshwater swamp-forest of south Johore and Singapore. Gardens' Bulletin Supplement No. 1. Botanic Gardens Parks and Recreational Department, Singapore.Google Scholar
Cousens, J. E. 1965. Some reflections on the nature of Malayan lowland rainforest. Malaysian Forester 28:122–128.Google Scholar
Denslow, J. S. 1985. Disturbance-mediated coexistence of species. Pp. 307–323 in Pickett, S. T. A. & White, P. S. (eds). The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dymamics. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Edwards, J. P. 1930. Growth of Malayan forest trees as shown by sample plot records, 1913–19. Malayan Forest Records No. 9.Google Scholar
Greig-Smith, P. 1983. Quantitative plant ecology (3rd edition).. Blackwell Scientific Publications,Oxford.Google Scholar
Hill, M. O. 1973. The intensity of spatial pattern in plant communities. Journal of Ecology 61:225–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, M. O. 1979a. DECORANA - A FORTRAN programme for detrended correspondence analysis and reciprocal averaging. Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
Hill, M. O. 1979b. TWINSPAN - A FORTRAN programme for arranging multivariate data in an ordered two-way table by classification of the individuals and attributes. Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.Google Scholar
Hill, M. O. & Gauch, , 1980. Detrended correspondence analysis: an improved ordination technique.Vegetatio 42:47–58.Google Scholar
Hubbell, S. P. 1984. Methodologies for the study of the origin and maintenance of tree diversity intropical rainforest. Pp. 8–13 in Maury-Lechon, G., Hadley, M. & Younes, T. (eds). The significance of species diversity in tropical forest ecosystems. International Union of Biological Sciences Special Issue No. 6. Paris.Google Scholar
Hubbell, S. P. & Foster, R. B. 1986. Biology, chance and history, and the structure of tropical rain forest tree communities. Pp. 314–329 in Diamond, J. & Case, T. J. (eds). Community ecology. Harper & Row, New York.Google Scholar
Huston, M. 1979. A general hypothesis of species diversity. American Naturalist 113:81–101.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, C. S. 1972. Volcanic activity. Pp. 177–214 in Gobbett, D. J. & Hutchinson, C. S. (eds). Geology of the Malay Peninsula. J. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Ives, D. W. 1967. Reconnaisance soil survey of south-east Pahang. Malayan Soil Survey Report No. 4. Department of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Leamy, M. L. 1966. Proposals for a technical classification of Malayan soils. Malayan Soil Survey Report No. 3/1966. Soil Science Division, Department of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Lee, P. C. 1966. Temerloh District, Pahang. Forest Resources Reconnaisance Survey of Malaya No. 5. Forest Research Institute, Forest Department, Malaya.Google Scholar
Lieberman, D., Lieberman, M., Peralta, R. & Hartshorn, G. S. 1985. Mortality patterns and stand turnover rates in a wet tropical forest in Costa Rica. Journal of Ecology 73:915–924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClure, H. A. 1966. Flowering, fruiting and animals in the canopy of a tropical forest. Malayan Forester 29:182–203.Google Scholar
Medway, Lord. 1972. Phenology of a tropical rain forest in Malaya. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 4:117–146.Google Scholar
Newbery, D. McC. & Proctor, J. 1984. Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. IV Associations between tree distribution and soil factors. Journal of Ecology 72:475–493.Google Scholar
Nicholson, D. I. 1965. A study of virgin forest near Sandakan, North Borneo. Pp. 67–87 in Symposium on ecological research in humid tropics vegetation. Government of Sarawak and UNESCO Science Cooperation Office for Southeast Asia, Kuching, Sarawak.Google Scholar
Ng, F. P. S. 1966. Age of first flowering in dipterocarps. Malaysian Forester 29:290–295.Google Scholar
Ng, F. S. P. (ed.) 1978a. Tree flora of Malaya. Vol. 3. Longman, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Ng, F. S. P. 1978b. Strategies of establishment in Malayan forest trees. Pp. 129–162 in Tomlinson, P. B. & ZimmermanM, H. M, H. (eds). Tropical trees as living systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ng, F. S. P. 1980. Germination ecology of Malaysian woody plants. Malaysian Forester 43:406–437.Google Scholar
Ng, F. S. P. & Tang, H. T. 1974. Comparative growth rates of Malaysia trees. Malaysian Forester 37:2–23.Google Scholar
Paramananthan, S. & Eswaran, H. 1984. Problem soils of Malaysia: their characteristics and management. Pp 1–12 in Problem Soils in Asia. Book Series No. 29, Food and Fertilizer Technology Centre, Taiwan.Google Scholar
Poore, M. E. D. 1964. Integration in the plant community. Journal of Ecology (Supplement) 52:213–226.Google Scholar
Poore, M. E. D. 1968. Studies in Malaysian rain forest. I. The forest on triassic sediments in Jengka Forest Reserve. Journal of Ecology 56:143–196.Google Scholar
Raemaekers, J. J., Aldrich-Blake, F. P. G. & Payne, J. B. 1980. The forest. Pp. 29–61 in Chivers, D. J. (ed.). Malaysian forest primates. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Richards, P. W. 1952. The tropical rainforest. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ridley, H. N. 1922. The flora of the Malay Peninsula. Vol. I. Reeve & Co., London.Google Scholar
Robbins, R. G. & Wyatt-Smith, J. 1964. Dry land forest formations and forest types in the Malayan Peninsula. Malayan Forester 27:188–216.Google Scholar
Smallwood, H. A. 1966. Schematic-reconnaisance soil survey of the Segamat-Gemas-Tangkak region of north Johore. Malayan Soil Survey Report No. 2/1966. Soil Science Division, Department of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur.Google Scholar
Soepadmo, E. 1972. Fagaceae. Flora Malesiana. Series I, Vol. 7 (2). Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.Google Scholar
Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton, & Hunting Technical Services. 1967. The Jengka Triangle report. I. The Outline Master Plan; II Map Annexure; III Appendices. Federal Land Development Authority, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Webb, L. J., Tracey, J. G. & Williams, W. T. 1972. Regeneration and pattern in the subtropical rain forest. Journal of Ecology 60:675–695.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. (ed.) 1972 (revised 1983). Tree flora of Malaya. Vol. 1. Longman, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. (ed.) 1973a. Tree flora of Malaya. Vol. 2. Longman, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. 1973b. Frequency and habit of tree species in the rain forest of Ulu Kelantan. The Gardens’ Bulletin, Singapore 26:195–210.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. 1982. On pattern and process in forests. Pp. 45–59 in Newman, E. I. (ed.). The plant community as a working mechanism. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.`Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. 1984. Tropical rain forests of the Far East (2nd edition). Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Wong, I. F. T. 1974. Soil-crop suitability classification for Peninsular Malaysia. Soils and Analytical Services Bulletin No. 1. Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Malaysia.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. 1952. Malayan forest types. Malayan Nature Journal 7:45–55.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. 1954. Manual of Malayan timber trees: Lauraceae. Research Pamphlet No. 5. Forest Research Institute, Malaya.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. 1961. A note on the fresh-water swamp, lowland and hill forest types of Malaya. Malayan Forester 24:110–121.Google Scholar
Wyatt-Smith, J. 1966. Ecological studies on Malayan forests. I. Composition of and dynamic studies in lowland evergreen rain-forest in two 5-acre plots in Bukit Lagong and Sungei Menyala Forest Reserves and in two half-acre plots in Sungei Forest Reserve, 1947–59. Research Pamphlet No. 52. Forest Research Institute, Malaysia.Google Scholar