Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T13:14:42.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Altitudinal zonation of forest vegetation on Mount Kerinci, Sumatra: with comparisons to zonation in the temperate region of east Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

M. Ohsawa ,
P. H. J. Nainggolan ,
N. Tanaka  and
C. Anwar
M. Ohsawa
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ecology, Chiba University, Chiba 260, Japan.
P. H. J. Nainggolan
Affiliation:
Forest Biology Program, BIOTROP, Bogor, Indonesia.
N. Tanaka
Affiliation:
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba Norin-Kenkyu-Danchi, Ibaraki 305, Japan
C. Anwar
Affiliation:
Forest Kesearch Institute, Bogor, Indonesia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The altitudinal zonation of forests on Mount Kerinci, Sumatra (3800 m) is described and compared with that in the temperate region of east Asia. Nine plots were selected between 1750 m in altitude and the upper limit of vegetation at 3250 m, at intervals of about 200 m in altitude. The plots are distinguished according to their main dominants, and the population structure of the dominant species is examined. The lower forests have species showing the whole range of size classes as well as solitary giants as dominants, but the upper forests lack these giants and are floristically poorer. Between 1750 m (the start of well preserved natural vegetation) and 2950 m (the forest limit) three forest zones are distinguished, and between 2950 and 3250 m a scrub zone. Upper forest zones tend to be dominated by species of the same genus or family which form important understory components of the zone below. Based on floristic comparisons with mountains of higher latitudes (i.e. Himalayas and Japan), the two lower forest zones (up to 2400 m) represent a subtropical zone, and the upper forest zone a warm-temperate zone. Climatic conditions at the forest limit on Mount Kerinci are similar to those at the latitudinal limit of warm-temperate evergreen trees; in the Himalayas the forest limit represents the latitudinal limit of the cool-temperate, and in Japan of the subarctic Altitudinal zonation patterns change with latitude, reaching their most complex on subtropical mountains where the two floristic realms, the Boreal and Palaeotropical, meet. A scheme for the pattern of vegetation zonation in east Asia is proposed.

Keywords

altitudinal zonationeast AsiaforestMount KerinciSumatra
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , August 1985 , pp. 193 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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

Boughey, A. S. 1955. The nomenclature of the vegetation zones on the mountains of tropical Africa. Webbia 11:413–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, J. R. & Curtis, J. T. 1957. An ordination of the upland forest communities of southern Wisconsin. Ecological Monographs 27:325–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Hydrology and Meteorology 1971. Climatological records of Nepal, 1966, 1967 and 1968. H.M.G. of Nepal, Kathmandu. 89 pp.Google Scholar
Flenley, J. R. 1979. The equatorial rain forest: a geological history. Butterworths, London and Boston. 162 pp.Google Scholar
Florin, R. 1963. The distribution of conifer and taxad genera in time and space. Acta Horti Bergiani 20:121–312.Google Scholar
Good, R. 1974. The geography of the flowering plants. Longman, London. 557 pp.Google Scholar
Grubb, P. J. 1977. Control of forest growth and distribution on wet tropical mountains: with special reference to mineral nutrition. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 8:83–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammen, T. van der. 1979. History of flora, vegetation and climate in the Colombian Cordillera Oriental during the last five million years. Pp. 25–32 in Larsen, K. & Holm-Nielsen, L. B. (eds). Tropical Botany. Academic Press, London. 453 pp.Google Scholar
Hara, H., Chater, A. O. & Williams, L. H. J. 1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. Vol. 3 Trustees of British Museum (Natural History), London. 226 pp.Google Scholar
Hedberg, O. 1951. Vegetation belts of the east African mountains. Svensk Botanisk Tidshrift 45:140–202.Google Scholar
Hnatiuk, R. J., Smith, J. M. B. & McVean, D. N. 1976. Mt. Wilhelm studies 2. The climate of Mt. Wilhelm. The Australian National University, Canberra. 76 pp.Google Scholar
Ishizuka, K. 1947. The distribution of the evergreen broad-leaved trees in the Tohoku district, Japan and the Korean peninsula. Ecological Review 10:98–100. (In Japanese.)Google Scholar
Iversen, J. 1944. Viscum, Hedera and Ilex as climate indicators. Geol For. Stockh. Forh. 66:463–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, M. 1958. Contribution to the botany of Mount Kerintji and adjacent area in West Central Sumatra – I. Annates Bogoriensis III( 1): 45–104.Google Scholar
Janzen, D. H. 1967. Why mountain passes are higher in the tropics. The American Naturalist 101:233–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kira, T. 1948. On the altitudinal arrangement of climatic zones in Japan. Kanti-Nogaku 2:143–173.(In Japanese.)Google Scholar
Kira, T. 1977. A climatological interpretation of Japanese vegetation zones. Pp. 21–30 in Miyawaki, A & Tuxen, R.Vegetation science and environmental protection. Maruzen, Tokyo. 576 pp.Google Scholar
Laubenfels, D. J. de 1975. Mapping the world's vegetation. Regionalization of formations and flora. Syracuse University Press, New York. 246 pp.Google Scholar
Morley, R. J. 1982. A palaeoecological interpretation of a 10,000 year pollen record from Danau Padang, Central Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal of Biogeography 9:151–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Numata, M. 1971. Ecological interpretation of vegetation zonation of high mountains, particularly in Japan and Taiwan. Pp. 288–299 in Troll, C. (ed.) Geoecology of the high-mountain regions of Eurasia. Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, Wiesbaden. 300 pp.Google Scholar
Numata, M. 1979. The relationship of limiting factors to the distribution and growth of bamboo. Pp. 258–275 in Numata, M. (ed.) Ecology of grasslands and bamboolands in the world. VEB Gustav Fischer, Jena. 299 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Numata, M. 1981. The altitudinal vegetation and climate zones of the humid Himalayas. Pp. 1963–1970 in Dong-sheng, Liu (ed.) Geological and ecological studies of plateau II. Science Press, Gordon & Breach, Beijing. 2138 pp.Google Scholar
Ohsawa, M. 1977. Altitudinal zonation of vegetation in eastern Nepal Himalaya. Pedologist 21:76–94. (In Japanese with English summary.)Google Scholar
Ohsawa, M. 1982. Botanical notes on vegetation zonation in Mt. Kerintji, Sumatra. Biological Science (Tokyo) 34:48–56. (In Japanese.)Google Scholar
Ohsawa, M. 1983a. Comparative study on zonation of vegetation in East Asia. Pp. 206–213 in Ikusima, I. et al. (eds) Contemporary ecology of Japan. Kyoritsu Shuppan, Tokyo. 325 pp. (In Japanese.)Google Scholar
Ohsawa, M. 1983b. Distribution, structure and regeneration of forest communities in eastern Nepal. Pp. 89–120 in Numata, M. (ed.) Structure and dynamics of vegetation in eastern Nepal. Chiba University, Chiba 184 pp.Google Scholar
Ohsawa, M. 1984a. Differentiation of vegetation zones and species strategies in the subalpine region of Mt Fuji. Vegetatio 57:15–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohsawa, M. 1984b. Vegetation structure and dynamics in the Yaku-shima Wilderness area, south Japan. Pp. 317–351 in Conservation report of the Yaku-shima Wilderness Area, Kyushu, Japan. Nature Conservation Bureau, Environmental Agency of Japan. 714 pp. (In Japanese with English summary.)Google Scholar
Ohsawa, M., Shakya, P. R. & Numata, M. 1973. On the occurrence of deciduous broad-leave forests in the cool-temperate zone of the humid Himalayas in eastern Nepal. Japanese Journal of Ecology 23:218–228.Google Scholar
Paijmans, K. 1976. Vegetation. Pp. 23–105 in Paijmans, K. (ed.) New Guinea vegetation. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 213 pp.Google Scholar
Richards, P. W. 1952. The tropical rain forest. An ecological study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 450 pp.Google Scholar
Ridley, H. N. 1930. The dispersal of plants throughout the world. Reeve, Kent. 744 pp.Google Scholar
Sakai, A. 1975. Freezing resistance of evergreen and deciduous broad-leaf trees in Japan with special reference to their distribution. Japanese Journal of Ecology 25:101–111. (In Japanese with English summary.)Google Scholar
Sakai, A. & Kurahashi, A. 1975. Freezing resistance of conifers in Japan with special reference to thei distributions. Japanese Journal of Ecology 25:192–200. (In Japanese with English summary.)Google Scholar
Sakai, A. & Malla, S. B. 1981. Winter hardiness of tree species at high altitudes in the east Himalaya Nepal. Ecology 62:1288–1298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salisbury, E. J. 1926. The geographical distribution of plants in relation to climatic factors. Geographical Journal 67:312–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steenis, C. G. G.J. van 1962. The mountain flora of the Malaysian tropics. Endeavour 21:183–193.Google Scholar
Steenis, C. G. G.J. van 1972. The mountain flora of Java. E.J. Brill Leiden. 90 pp.Google Scholar
Steenis, C. G. G. J. van & Schimppers-Lammertse, A. F. 1965. Concise plant-geography of Java. Pp. (l)–(72) in Backer, C. A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink, R. C. Jr (eds). Flora of Java 2.Google Scholar
Su, Horng-Jye 1984. Studies on the climate and vegetation types of the natural forests in Taiwan (II). Altitudinal vegetation zones in relation to temperature gradient. Quarterly Journal of Chinese Forestry 17:57–73.Google Scholar
Troll, C. 1948. Der asymmetrische Aufbau der Vegetationszonen und Vegetationsstufen auf der Nord- und Sudhalbkugel. Jahresbericht der Geobotanisches Forschungsinstitutes Rubel i Zurich f. 1947.(Zurich) 46–83.Google Scholar
Troll, C. 1955. Der jahreszeitlich Ablauf des Naturgeschehens in den verschiedenen Klimagurteln der Erde. Studium Generale, Jg. 8:713–733.Google Scholar
Troll, C. 1960. The relationship between the climates, ecology and plant geography of the southern cold temperate zone and of the tropical high mountains. Proceedings of Royal Society of London B529–532.Google Scholar
Tuhkanen, S. 1980. Climatic parameters and indices in plant geography. Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 67, Uppsala. 105 pp.Google Scholar
Wade, L. K. & McVean, D. N. 1969. Mt Wilhelm studies I. The alpine and subalpine vegetation. The Australian National University, Canberra. 255 pp.Google Scholar
Walter, H., Harnickell, E. & Mueller-Dombois, D. 1975. Climate-diagram maps of th individual continents and the ecological climatic regions of the earth. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 36 pp. with 9 separate maps.Google Scholar
Wang, Chi-Wu 1961. The forest of China with a survey of grassland and desert vegetation. Maria Moors Cabot Foundation Publication No. 5, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 313 pp.Google Scholar
Whittmore, T. C. 1975. Tropical rain forests of the Far East, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 282 pp.Google Scholar
Whittaker, R. H. 1975. Communities and ecosystems. Macmillan, New York. 385 pp.Google Scholar
Wissman, H. von 1939. Die Klima-und Vegetationsgebiete Eurasiens. Zeitschrift der Gesselschaft fur Erdkunde Berlin 1939:1–14.Google Scholar
Yamada, L. 1976. Forest ecological studies of the montane forest of Mt Pangrango, West Java. IL Stratification and floristic composition of the forest vegetation of the higher part of Mt Pangrango. Tonan Ajia Kenkyu (The Southeast Asian Studies) 13:513–534.Google Scholar
Yoshioka, K. 1963. The northern limits of the natural forest of Shiia sieboldii. Science Report of Tohoku University Ser. IV, 29:327–336.Google Scholar