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Primary forest remnants in MacRitchie : a study of dipterocarp diversity and abundance
Author
Fun, David Chiok Yuen
Supervisor
Lum, Shawn K. Y.
Abstract
Dipterocarps are an important component of Primary forest with both high ecological and economical value. They support the forest structure by providing shelter to young seedlings and animals and thus have high ecological value. However, little detailed work has been done on the dipterocarp populations in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) and this paper looks at the current situation of a dipterocarp community in the CCNR.
Field surveys of the dipterocarp species at the Lornie and Petai Trails were conducted. Enumeration and identification of species and recordings of dipterocarp heights and locations were done to provide information on the distribution, structure and well-being of the dipterocarp community.
A total of 91 and 60 dipterocarp individuals were enumerated and identified at the Lornie and Petai Trails respectively and the results showed that various ecological indices, including diversity and richness, were higher at the Lornie Trail (Shannon- Wiener index (H) =0.696) than the Petai Trail(H=0.332). When the communities of the two trails were compared, it was found that the dipterocarp communities are only 22.8% similar with little correlation to the population types, indicating that the compositions of the dipterocarp populations of both trails are very different. In addition, when comparison of two dipterocarp species between Lornie Trail and Lambir Hills, Malaysia was made, it showed that species density shed additional information on the dipterocarp populations of both study areas and that if the communities were unevenly spread, the grading of the species density will be lowered.
It was also observed that the recruitment and growth of the community is insufficient and the distribution of the dipterocarps was still far from ideal as restricted species distribution was still observed at most sampling areas, which are largely due to fragmentation, irregular flowering and recruitment failure. It was believed that if a more detailed ground survey were performed, the ecological information of the population could be different. Therefore, a continuation of this study with more sampling areas will be required to monitor the status and progress of the dipterocarp populations in the Singapore Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Field surveys of the dipterocarp species at the Lornie and Petai Trails were conducted. Enumeration and identification of species and recordings of dipterocarp heights and locations were done to provide information on the distribution, structure and well-being of the dipterocarp community.
A total of 91 and 60 dipterocarp individuals were enumerated and identified at the Lornie and Petai Trails respectively and the results showed that various ecological indices, including diversity and richness, were higher at the Lornie Trail (Shannon- Wiener index (H) =0.696) than the Petai Trail(H=0.332). When the communities of the two trails were compared, it was found that the dipterocarp communities are only 22.8% similar with little correlation to the population types, indicating that the compositions of the dipterocarp populations of both trails are very different. In addition, when comparison of two dipterocarp species between Lornie Trail and Lambir Hills, Malaysia was made, it showed that species density shed additional information on the dipterocarp populations of both study areas and that if the communities were unevenly spread, the grading of the species density will be lowered.
It was also observed that the recruitment and growth of the community is insufficient and the distribution of the dipterocarps was still far from ideal as restricted species distribution was still observed at most sampling areas, which are largely due to fragmentation, irregular flowering and recruitment failure. It was believed that if a more detailed ground survey were performed, the ecological information of the population could be different. Therefore, a continuation of this study with more sampling areas will be required to monitor the status and progress of the dipterocarp populations in the Singapore Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Date Issued
2009
Call Number
QH541.5.R27 Fun
Date Submitted
2009