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Rattan composition and diversity assessment in tropical rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia for conservation

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Abstract

Rattan is one of the most valuable non-wood forest products and in recent years is threatened by extensive harvests as well as land clearing. Meanwhile, the role of edaphic and climatic factors affecting rattan population diversity and composition in Malaysia remains almost unexplored. With an aim to associate edaphic and climatic properties with rattan diversity and composition, a total of 20 study sites were explored in Peninsular Malaysia. Three transect belt lines were established measuring 100 m × 20 m in each study site. Temengor Park recorded significantly highest rattan species diversity (H′ = 2.74) however, Royal Belum State Park recorded highest number of rattan species richness with 21 species. This study revealed that rattan species richness and abundance were significantly affected by high disturbance rate, light intensities and relative humidity. In terms of soil physico-chemical properties, the variables which greatly influencing rattan abundance and distribution were soil moisture content, soil pH, soil bulk density, concentration of potassium (K) and calcium (Ca). These findings reflect the variation of forest types and ecological conditions across various locations in Peninsular Malaysia, which covers lowland and highland areas, coastal forests as well as undisturbed and protected forests. Most rattans do well in forested habitats nearby watersides and regions with equally distributed precipitation. Thus, protection of low land rainforest should be given higher priority for the sustainable management of rattan diversity.

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Adapted from—Omar and Misman 2018)

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Universiti Sains Malaysia through the support of Research University Grant “Demographic variation across successional stages and their effects on the population dynamics of the non-climbing rattan complex (1001.PBIOLOGI.8011031)” as part of the first author PhD research. We would like to thank the School of Biological Sciences, USM for the technical and logistic support. We also acknowledge the Jabatan Perhutanan Semenanjung Malaysia and States Forestry Department for giving permission to carry out field work at reserve forests all over Peninsular Malaysia.

Funding

Research University Grant, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Code-1001.PBIOLOGI.8011031.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang, 11800, Malaysia

    Fasihah Zarifah Rozali & Asyraf Mansor

  2. Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, 3114, Bangladesh

    Kazi Mohammad Masum

  3. Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, 43600, Malaysia

    Mohammad Saiful Mansor

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  1. Fasihah Zarifah Rozali
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  2. Kazi Mohammad Masum
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  3. Mohammad Saiful Mansor
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  4. Asyraf Mansor
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Contributions

FZR—Design, Data collection and analysis, Writing; KMM—Writing, Critical review; MSM—Materials, Supervision; AM—Conception, Design, Supervision.

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Correspondence to Kazi Mohammad Masum.

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This study was done by the authors. State Forestry Department ensured security inside the forest.

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The study has been done with permission from Jabatan Perhutanan Semenanjung Malaysia and States Forestry Department.

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The manuscript has not been submitted to other for simultaneous consideration. The submitted work is an original one and has not been published elsewhere in any form or language.

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Communicated by Daniel Sanchez Mata.

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Rozali, F.Z., Masum, K.M., Mansor, M.S. et al. Rattan composition and diversity assessment in tropical rainforests of Peninsular Malaysia for conservation. Biodivers Conserv 30, 2907–2928 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02226-3

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