Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T18:09:27.604Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Species richness and density of ground herbs within a plot of lowland rainforest in north-west Borneo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Axel Dalberg Poulsen
Axel Dalberg Poulsen
Affiliation:
Department of Systematic Botany, Institute of Biological Sciences, Aarhus University, Nordlandsvej 68, DK-8240 Risskov, Denmark
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In a I-ha plot all ground herb species were recorded. Within the plot selected properties were investigated in three 20 m × 20 m subplots. The number of ground herb species and individuals in the subplots were lowest near to a local hilltop and they increased towards the lowest part of the plot. There was no significant difference in canopy openness, or in thickness of leaf litter layer, between the upper and lower subplots. In the upper subplot the soil layer was thin and the weathered bedrock was close to the surface. In the lower subplot the soil was much deeper. The pH and concentrations of Mg were significantly lower and %loss-on-ignition, total P and total N concentrations were significantly higher in the upper subplot. Elevation and soil moisture were significantly correlated in the upper 10 cm of soil. It is not possible to select any one abiotic property as being the critical determinant of the gradient of ground herbs. However, it is suspected that the availability of water in the topsoil, particularly after droughts, may be more important than the soil nutrients in limiting herb distribution.

Keywords

Borneodipterocarp forestground herbsleaf littersoilspecies richnesstopographic gradient
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , March 1996 , pp. 177 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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

Ashton, P. S. 1964. Ecological studies in the mixed Dipterocarp forests of Brunei State. Oxford Forestry Memoirs 25:1–75.Google Scholar
Austin, M. P., Ashton, P. S. & Greig-Smith, P. 1972. The application of quantitative methods to vegetation survey. Journal of Ecology 60:305–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, M. P. & Greig-Smith, P. 1968. The application of quantitative methods to vegetation survey. II. Some methodological problems of data from rain forest. Journal of Ecology 56:827–844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baillie, I. C. 1976. Further studies on droughts in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Geography 43:20–29.Google Scholar
Baillie, I. E. & Ashton, P. S. 1983. Some soil aspects of the nutrient cycle in Mixed Dipterocarp Forests in Sarawak. Pp. 347–356 in Sutton, S. L., Whitmore, T. C. & Chadwick, A. C. (eds). Tropical rain forest: ecology and management. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Brunig, E. F. 1969. On the seasonality of droughts in the lowlands of Sarawak (Borneo). Erdkunde 23:127–133.Google Scholar
Brummitt, R. K. & Powell, C. E. 1992. Authors of plant names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Google Scholar
Dirzo, R., Horvitz, C. C., Quevedo, H. & López, M. A. 1992. The effect of gap size and age on understorey herb community of a tropical Mexican rain forest. Journal of Ecology 80:809–822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO. 1974. FAO-UNESCO soil map of the world, 1:5 million. UNESCO, Paris.Google Scholar
Kiew, R. 1978. Floristic components of the ground flora of a tropical lowland rain forest at Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Pertanika 1:112–119.Google Scholar
Lieberman, M., Lieberman, D., Hartshorn, G. S. & Peralta, R. 1985. Small-scale altitudinal variation in lowland wet tropical forest vegtetation. Journal of Ecology 73:505–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholson, D. I. 1965. A study of virgin forest near Sandakan, North Borneo. Pp. 67–87 in Proceedings of the symposium on ecological research in humid tropics vegetation. Government of Sarawak and Unesco Science Cooperation Office for Southeast Asia, Kuching, Sarawak.Google Scholar
Pendry, C. A. 1994. Ecological studies on rain forests at three altitudes on Bukit Belalong, Brunei. PhD Thesis, University of Stirling.Google Scholar
Poulsen, A. D. & Balslev, H. 1991. Abundance and cover of ground herbs in an Amazonian rain forest. Journal of Vegetation Science 2:315–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulsen, A. D., Nielsen, I. C., Tan, S. & Balslev, H. 1993. A quantitative inventory of trees in one hectare of mixed dipterocarp forest in Temburong, Brunei. In Proceedings of the conference on tropical rain forest research – current issues. Monographicae Biologicae, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Richards, P. W. 1936. Ecological observations on the rain forest of Mount Dulit, Sarawak. Part I. Journal of Ecology 24:1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. P. 1987. Respuestas de hierbas del sotobosque tropical a claros ocasionados par la caída de árboles. Revistas de Biología Tropical 35(Suppl. I):111–118.Google Scholar
Williams, W. T., Lance, G. N., Webb, L. J., Tracey, J. G. & Connell, J. H. 1969. Studies in the numerical analysis of complex rain forest communities. IV. A method for the elucidation of small-scale forest pattern. Journal of Ecology 57:635–654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar