As promised in my last post, below are some significant findings made by those botanists who took part in the 2008 scientific expeditions to the various forest reserves in Melaka.
1. There are 46 species names in 31 families which took the name of malaccense or malaccensis etc. According to Ahmed Zainuddin (AZ) only 39 are left, the others had become synonyms. We are not surprised as Malacca was Straits Settelements and many colonial btnaists and naturalists were there. AZ also commented on the Melaka tree, Phyllanthus pectinatus
2. Nasir Mohamad or Cik Gu Nasir of Pusat Latihan Perhutanan Kepong reported the observation of 38 species in 5 genera of the dipterocarps; Shorea (21 species), Dipterocarpus (7), Anisoptera (4), Hopea (4) and Vatica (2).
3. Dr. Mohd. Nazre Salleh reported the observation of more than 281 species in 51 families, excluding orchids, climbers etc. A total of 17 species are believed to be endemic in Peninsular Malaysia. We feel there is need to prepare a fuller document on the "Plants of Melaka".
4. Dr. Rusea Go only found a total of 21 species of orchids, she believed the total number recorded for Melaka is over 100 species with 5 endemics. Many of the earlier records are difficult to observe and find because of the much disturbed forests now.
5. Dr. Wan Juliana reported a total of 87 exclusive species of mangroves out of the possible total of 104 in Peninsular Malaysia. After all only 92.18 ha of mangroves are left in the state. The existence of Browslowia tersa needs some efforts to conserve.
6. The mosses are represented by 33 species (ca. 6.8%) in 21 genera and 9 families; 22 taxa are new records for Melaka.
7. Ms Chan Yoke Min reported the occurrence of 4 species of rare plants in a small patch of Bukit Senggeh FR; they are Begonia herveyana (believed to occur here, Pulau Tioman and Pulau Tinggi), Impatiens albo-flava (occurs also in Perak and Pahang), Peperomia malaccensis (only here) and Argostemma tenue (known also from Bukit Tampin). These four rare species need effort for in situ and ex situ conservation efforts as they are under great threats of a transmission lines running across the forest reserve.
In the next post I will discuss the fauna. Thanks
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2 comments:
Did anyone not discuss anything related to the ecological conditions of forest reserves in malacca?
Apparently Dr. Nizam who is supposed to present a paper couldn't attend the seminar. However, Nik Hazlan did present a paper on community ecology of Cape Rachado
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