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A geostatistical analysis of plant diversity of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Singapore
Author
Samsina Rahmat
Supervisor
Goh, Kim Chuan
Abstract
Data from the National Parks Board indicates the stratification of tree communities of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve into different levels of maturity based on the sample survey conducted by Wong Yew Kwan, Chew Ping Ting and Ali Bin Ibrahim (1994). Considering the percentage sample was only 0.8, a large area was still not quantified. Using the inventory of the survey and geostatistical techniques, estimates of the floristic composition of the Reserve were obtained by means of kriging, the only known interpolation method in which statistical errors are minimised. Of over-riding importance prior to kriging, is the semi-variogram modelling in which relationship between sampling points are quantified first.
Maps produced initially show that the Reserve is generally represented by a limited range of species such that its diversity is hard to measure. It was found that diversity of the Reserve is best quantified by means of mischungsquotient (the ratio of the number of individuals per species) as compared to the absolute species number. The dominance of dipterocarps in only a few separated localities indicates the existence of patches of primary forests within the Reserve This study shows that kriging displays 95 percent confidence when more sampling sites were included in the interpolation as compared to 75 percent confidence when interpolation was based on the sampled sites of the survey. Thus, the trial output maps show that the eastern region of the smaller study area is made up of a more complex forest structure as compared to the western region.
The ability to map reliable estimates of floristic composition speedily makes it a technically feasible, economically viable and helpful tool in conservation management. Geostatistics have proven to be an effective means in that regard because estimation of plant diversity at unmeasured sites can be quantified, thus saving the laborious task of inventorying tree communities at every site.
Maps produced initially show that the Reserve is generally represented by a limited range of species such that its diversity is hard to measure. It was found that diversity of the Reserve is best quantified by means of mischungsquotient (the ratio of the number of individuals per species) as compared to the absolute species number. The dominance of dipterocarps in only a few separated localities indicates the existence of patches of primary forests within the Reserve This study shows that kriging displays 95 percent confidence when more sampling sites were included in the interpolation as compared to 75 percent confidence when interpolation was based on the sampled sites of the survey. Thus, the trial output maps show that the eastern region of the smaller study area is made up of a more complex forest structure as compared to the western region.
The ability to map reliable estimates of floristic composition speedily makes it a technically feasible, economically viable and helpful tool in conservation management. Geostatistics have proven to be an effective means in that regard because estimation of plant diversity at unmeasured sites can be quantified, thus saving the laborious task of inventorying tree communities at every site.
Date Issued
1997
Call Number
QK983 Sam
Date Submitted
1997