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Floristic composition and species diversity at Gunung Inas forest reserve, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia

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Monoculture plantations such as Musang King durian farms on a big scale become a controversial issue due to its potential devastating impact to the diversity of forest reserves at some areas in Kedah including Gunung Inas Forest Reserve. This study intended to determine the floristic composition and species diversity at Gunung Inas Forest Reserve (GIFR), Kedah. Three plots of 70 m x 25 m covering 0.53 ha were established at GIFR. Each tree with diameter at breast height of 5 cm and above in the study plots were tagged, measured and identified up to species level. Voucher specimens were then taken for further identification purposes. The floristic composition of GIFR consists of 53 individuals represented by 16 species from 12 families. Anacardiaceae was the most speciose family with four species recorded. The most dominant species was Swintonia schwenkii (Anacardiaceae) with 14 tree individuals. S. schwenkii (Anacardiaceae) was considered to have an absolute dominance at the study site with Important Value Index (IVi) of 12.48%, meanwhile Myrtaceae recorded 20.87% of IVi, reflecting this family to be relatively dominant than other families. GIFR recorded moderate Shannon-Weiner Diversity index of H’ = 2.66 (H’max = 2.77) and Margalef’s Richness Index of D MG = 8.7. High Evenness Index of 0.71 portrayed that the tree species are almost equally abundant at the study area. The total tree biomass in the GIFR was estimated at 76.26 t/ha, contributed by 66.04 t/ha of above ground biomass and 10.22 t/ha below ground biomass. Data and information from this study can serve as a guideline for future ecological research and particularly in planning conservation efforts to ensure the biodiversity and sustainability of forests for future generations.
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Floristic composition and species diversity at
Gunung Inas forest reserve, Kedah, Peninsular
Malaysia
To cite this article: Afimy Fnd
et al
2024
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2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
1
Floristic composition and species diversity at Gunung Inas
forest reserve, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia
Afimy Fnd1, Faezah Pardi1,2* and Hasya Hannani Ruziman1
1Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
2Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
40450 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
*Corresponding author: faezahpardi@uitm.edu.my
Abstract. Monoculture plantations such as Musang King durian farms on a big scale
become a controversial issue due to its potential devastating impact to the diversity of
forest reserves at some areas in Kedah including Gunung Inas Forest Reserve. This
study intended to determine the floristic composition and species diversity at Gunung
Inas Forest Reserve (GIFR), Kedah. Three plots of 70 m x 25 m covering 0.53 ha were
established at GIFR. Each tree with diameter at breast height of 5 cm and above in the
study plots were tagged, measured and identified up to species level. Voucher
specimens were then taken for further identification purposes. The floristic composition
of GIFR consists of 53 individuals represented by 16 species from 12 families.
Anacardiaceae was the most speciose family with four species recorded. The most
dominant species was Swintonia schwenkii (Anacardiaceae) with 14 tree individuals. S.
schwenkii (Anacardiaceae) was considered to have an absolute dominance at the study
site with Important Value Index (IVi) of 12.48%, meanwhile Myrtaceae recorded
20.87% of IVi, reflecting this family to be relatively dominant than other families. GIFR
recorded moderate Shannon-Weiner Diversity index of H’ = 2.66 (H’max = 2.77) and
Margalef’s Richness Index of DMG = 8.7. High Evenness Index of 0.71 portrayed that
the tree species are almost equally abundant at the study area. The total tree biomass in
the GIFR was estimated at 76.26 t/ha, contributed by 66.04 t/ha of above ground
biomass and 10.22 t/ha below ground biomass. Data and information from this study
can serve as a guideline for future ecological research and particularly in planning
conservation efforts to ensure the biodiversity and sustainability of forests for future
generations.
1. Introduction
Bintang Hijau range is ranked as the third leading large mountain range in Malaysia and is situated on
the westicoast of Peninsular Malaysia. Approximately 140 km of this range originate from Bukit Besar,
Thailand and concludes at the central part of Perak state. Gunung Bintang (1,862im) is the highest
summit in this mountain range, followed by Gunung Bintang Utara (1,835im) and Gunung Inas
(1,801im), which is located in the state ofiKedah. Since the abiotic environment of montane forest
ecosystems frequently varies dramatically over elevational gradients, these habitats are an excellent
starting point for research on biogeographic diversity. Montane forests are frequently confined to
constrained geographic regions that are inclined to topographical fragmentation, further endangering
these ecosystems. However, research on tropical montane cloud forest ecosystems has accounted
for only 5% of biodiversity studies in contrast to 74% for lowland forests in Southeast Asia throughout
the past 20 years.
Gunung Inas Forest Reserve (GIFR) is based in the district of Baling, Kedah and is a part of Bintang
Hijau range. This forest reserve is administered by the South Kedah Forest Department. GIFR covers
2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
2
around 37,000 ha of lowland dipterocarp, hillidipterocarp, upper montane and lower montane forests
[1][2]. However, 9,583 ha (2.80%) of total Gunung Inas Forest Reserve (GIFR) was developed for
monoculture plantation, mainly for TLCs and Musang King durian in 2017. This plantation development
is also located on the Ecological Network Area of the Central Forest Spine (Primary Linkage 5), as
detailed in the Central Forest Spine (CFS) Masterplan and National Physical Plan. The CFS has crucial
mountain basins and watersheds that serve about 90% of the Peninsular Malaysia’s population water
supply. It regulates the climate, protects the soil, sequesters the carbon, as well as provides a habitat to
a variety of biota, including the Malayan tiger subspecies and Asian elephants which are critically at
risk of extinction. Monoculture plantation can pose a threat towards the diverse species of flora and
fauna as well as the ecosystem of the forest.
To date, a fair number of studies on species biodiversity have been conducted in the state of Kedah
such as in Ulu Muda forest reserve [3], Sungai Merbok forest reserve [4] with Gunung Inas forest
reserve unexcluded from the list. However, most studies conducted in Gunung Inas Forest Reserve were
mainly focusing on reptiles and amphibians’ diversity rather than tree species diversity. Inventories on
tree species are employed in the forest management activities as a way to ascertain the biodiversity
and distribution of tree individuals in the study area. The total number and the total basal area of
trees represent the spatial distribution of tree individuals within the forest as well as the spatial
distribution of distinct species in relation to one another. This data is beneficial to advance understanding
of the forest diversity whilst supplementing conservation initiatives to prolong the sustainability of the
forest for next generations. Therefore, this study was executed to determine the floristic composition
and diversity of tree species at Gunung Inas Forest Reserve (GIFR), Kedah, as there were lack of tree
species research from this study site.
2. Method
2.1 Study area
This study was carried out at Gunung Inas Forest Reserve, Kedah, Malaysia which is locatedaaround 30
km east of Kulim, Kedah (5° 32’ 60” N and 100° 35’ 60” E) (Figure 1). The forest covers about 36,979
ha and is categorized as lowland dipterocarp forests. A fast flowing, rocky river, Sungai Sedim, flows
through the compartment arising from Gunung Inas and emptying into Sg. Muda. Among the dominant
plant species here are Shorea curtisii (Dark Red Meranti), Shorea leprosula (Red Meranti), Shorea
macroptera (Light Red Meranti), Scorodocarpus borneensis (Bawang Hutan), Artocarpus lanceifolius
(Keledang) and Callophyllum spp. (Bintangor).
Figure 1. The location of Gunung Inas Forest Reserve, Kedah, Malaysia.
2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
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doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
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2.2 Tree sampling
Quadrat sampling was conducted devise tree inventory in which three plots measuring at 70 m x 25 m
(0.53 ha) were randomlyaestablished at GIFR. Each tree possessing diameter at breast height (DBH) of
5 cm and above were tagged and quantified at 1.3 m above the ground [5]. The specimens for all
measured trees such as leaves and fruits were collected for the preparation of voucher specimens and
for species identification. The morphological characteristics were also compared to herbarium
specimens from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the nomenclature was obtained using keys
described in Tree Flora of Malaya by [6]. Besides, Keys in Malaya’s Tree Flora [7] and The International
Plant Name Index [8] was used as a reference for nomenclature of the tree species.
2.3 Data analysis
Data of all tree communities were tabulated and summarized to describe floristic composition of Gunung
Inas Forest Reserve, Kedah. Species accumulation curve was constructed using Ecosim version 7 to
represent the adequacy of the sampling effort in the study area. The abundance parameter includes
density and basal area determination, while the Importance Value Index (IVi) was determined to
estimate the species importance in the community. The IVi was derived by adding the values of each
species or family relative density (RD), relative dominance, and relative frequency (RF) [IVi = RD +
RB + RF)/3] [9]. Three ecological indices which are Shannon-WeineraDiversity Index, Evenness
Index and Margalef’s Richness Index [10] were applied to compute the species diversity and richness
of the study area by using Paleontological Statistic Software Package for Education and Data Analysis
(PAST) Software version 2.17c [11]. Total biomass of tree species was estimated by adding up the above
ground biomass (AGB) [12] and below ground biomass (BGB) [13] using the allometric equations.
3. Results & Discussions
3.1 Floristic composition
A total of 53 trees with diameter of breast height (DBH) of 5.0 cm and above were recorded in the 0.53
ha of study plots at Gunung Inas Forest Reserve (GIFR). Identification of all samples showed that 53
trees belong to 16 species and 16 genera from 12 families (Table 1). Family consisting the most species
number in this study site was Myrtaceae with four recorded species (25% of total species) namely
Eugenia oleina, Gymnacranthera bancana, Palaquium burckii and Pometia pinnata. Myrtaceae also
was recorded as the most abundant family with 14 tree individuals altogether whilst Swintonia
schewenkii (Anacardiaceae) had the highest number of trees with 12 tree individuals, followed with P.
burckii (Myrtaceae) and Eugenia stellata (Myrtaceae) with eight and six tree individuals recorded in
GIFR, respectively. It is also worth noting that there are singleton families or families with single species
and single individuals recorded in the study site which were Dipterocarpaceae, Hypericaceae
Myristicaceae and Sapindaceae.
Table 1. Number of genera, species and individuals for all families encountered in the study plots of
Gunung Inas Forest Reserve, Kedah.
No
Family
Genus
Species
1.
Anacardiaceae
1
1
2.
Annonaceae
1
1
3.
Dipterocarpaceae
1
1
4.
Fabaceae
2
2
5.
Guttiferae
1
1
6.
Hypericaceae
1
1
7.
Lauraceae
1
1
8.
Moraceae
1
1
9.
Myristicaceae
1
1
2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
4
10.
Myrtaceae
4
4
11
Sapindaceae
1
1
12.
Sapotaceae
1
1
TOTAL
16
16
Table 2 shows the comparison of tree species composition from various forest reserves in Peninsular
Malaysia. [14] reported that a total of 63 families from 138 genus and 228 species were encountered in
Lesong Forest Reserve, Pahang. In addition to that, Bukit Panchor State Park, Pulau Pinang [15]
composed a total of 42 families, 112 genera and 171 species whilst [16] recorded 53 species and 47
genera from 25 families in a 0.98 ha Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve, Selangor. As a comparison to this
study with a sample size of 0.53aha, GIFR shows the least total of tree species composition which might
be caused by the smaller sampling size of the study area. This result and comparison also implied that a
larger sampling size supports more species and tree individuals in a forest.
Table 2. Comparison of floristic composition from previous study on various forest types in Peninsular
Malaysia.
References
Location
Size of study
area (ha)
Family
Genus
Species
Norafida et
al. (2013)
Lesong Forest Reserve
(LFR)
1
63
138
228
Norazlinda et
al. (2016)
Bukit Panchor State Park,
Pulau Pinang
1
42
112
171
Zolkfilee et
al. (2022)
Bukit Lagong Forest
Reserve, Selangor
0.98
25
47
53
This study
Gunung Inas Forest
Reserve
0.53
12
16
16
3.2 Species richness, diversity and evenness
Species richness is one of the important characteristics for tropical rainforests in which this parameter
will be incorporated in the calculation of species diversity [17]. Malaysian forests are rich in plant
diversity attributable to Malaysia’s geographically stable conditions which provide desirable living
environment for vast array of plants to thrive [18]. Biodiversity indices such as Shannon-Weiner
Diversity Index is generated to quantify species diversity in different habitats to a similar scale of
comparison. By using Shannon Diversity Index, there are also other indices that can be obtained such
as maximum possible species diversity (H’max) and Evenness index (E).
GIFR recorded the Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’) of 2.66 (H’maxa= 2.77) which was lower
in comparison to other tropical rainforests (Tablea3). For instance, a study conducted by [21] revealed
that Gunung Belumut Recreational Forest has a H’ value of 4.82 (H’ max = 5.66) whereas Redang Island
with H’ = 4.05 (H’ max = 4.52) [20] and Kota Damansara Forest Reserve at H’ = 3.43 (H’max = 4.54)
[22]. The low value of the diversity index indicates that GIFR has poor level of species diversity which
correlates with the stature of GIFR as a secondary forest. The previous deforestation causes the forest
to be less diverse than the primary forest. Low Shannon-Weiner Diversity index value obtained in the
present study was also caused by the small sampling area (0.53 ha) compared to the other studies
mentioned in Table 3. In addition to that, the abiotic components of GIFR could be less hospitable for
variety of tree species and limiting them to inhabit the forest reserve. Different species inhabit different
ecosystems according to their growth requirement [23] such as elevation and edaphic factor.
This study recorded Evenness index (E) of 0.71 and Margalef index (DMG) of 8.7 (Table 3). As of
evenness index, the value is constrained from 0 to 1, with the value of 1 signifying a condition in which
all species are distributed equally within the study area. Nonetheless, the value is considered low
compared to the other tropical rainforests such as Gunung Belumut Recreational Forest with E = 0.85
2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
5
and DMG = 21.37 and Bangi Permanent Forest Reserve (E = 0.85 and DMG = 18.8). It can be inferred that
the low species richness is associated to the anthropogenicaactivities that occurred in the present study
thus, impacting the abundance of tree species. According to [10], Margalef’s richness index relies on
the size of the sample which are the number of trees and number of species that are present at the study
area. Thus, this explains low richness index obtained in GIFR because of the number of tree individuals
at only 53 trees and 16 species encountered altogether in the study area in comparison to other study site
such as Bukit Panchor State Park where higher Margalef index of DMG = 23.19 is recorded because of
higher number of trees (n = 488) and species (n = 149).
Table 3. Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’), H’max, Evenness (E) and Margalef Index (DMG) values
from this study and other studies from various forest types in Malaysia.
Study site
Shannon Diversity
Index (H’)
H’ max
Evenness
Index (E)
Margalef Index
(DMG)
Gunung Inas Forest Reserve
2.66
2.77
0.71
8.7
Redang Island (Mahmud et al.,
2015)
4.05
4.52
0.89
21.54
Gunung Belumut Recreational
Forest (Norafida et al., 2018)
4.82
5.66
0.85
21.37
Kota Damansara Forest Reserve
(Ruziman et al., 2022)
3.43
4.54
0.89
8.45
3.3 Species accumulation curve
Species accumulation curve (SAC) can be defined as the graph recording the cumulativeanumber of
species of living things recorded in a particular environment [24]. Species accumulation curve depicts
how species richness increase until eventually the curve levels off with increasing sample size and the
number of individuals inventoried. The SACs displayed a positive correlation between species richness
and sampling effort (Figure 2), signifying that additional species discoveries are probable with increased
sampling intensity. Notably, the curves did not plateau within the 0.53 ha area encompassed by our
plots. This outcome suggests that the current sampling effort might not have been sufficient to capture
the complete spectrum of tree species residing within GIFR. Moreover, tropical ecologist believed that
tree species richness in some area can reach an asymptote at 1-3 ha [25]. This fact is in line with previous
study of 1.0 ha of Ulu Muda Forest Reserve, Kedah which had reach an asymptotic condition indicating
that the sampling size had captured maximum proposition of species richness [14].
Figure 2. Species accumulation curve plotted for each tree plots in GIFR Note: Total is the
combination of all individuals in three plots of GIFR.
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doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
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3.4 Stand structure
Table 4 shows the DBH classes for number of tree individuals including all study plot at GIFR. DBH of
trees at GIFR ranges between 5.0 cm to 65.0 cm. Most of the tree recorded in this study falls into DBH
class II (15.0-24.9 cm) which was represented by 20 individuals from eight families, eight genus and
ten species. The second most tree individuals were recorded in DBH class I (5.0-14.9 cm) at 16 trees
belonging to seven families, seven genus and 11 species. Meanwhile, only one individual represented
DBH class VI (55.0-64.9 cm) which can be classified as large tree. S. schwenkii was the leading large
tree species in the present study at a recorded DBH of 58.2 cm.
Table 4. DBH classes of number of tree individuals of all study plot at GIFR.
DBH Class
No.
DBH Class
(cm)
Number of
individual
Number of
species
Number of
genera
Number of
family
I
5 14.9
16
11
7
7
II
15 24.9
20
10
8
8
III
25 34.9
8
3
3
3
IV
35 44.9
4
3
3
3
V
45 54.9
4
3
3
3
VI
55 64.9
1
1
1
1
According to [26], the changes in population structure and species composition of forest ecosystem can
be indicated by the tree size. Figure 3 shows the stand structure of trees in all study plots at GIFR and it
results in an inverse J-shaped pattern of DBH classes. The inverse J-shaped reveals negative exponential
relation in population size between DBH classes. In this study, the distribution of trees clearly displays
the characteristic of the inverse J-shaped distribution in which the number of tree individual decreases
as the DBH of tree increases. This generally indicates that stands are developing and regeneration in the
forest is present. Natural regeneration is dependent on the availability of mother trees, fruiting pattern
and favourable conditions [27]. J-shaped pattern indicates smaller tress are dominating the forest
compared to large trees in relation to DBH. Although it is not a perfectly inverse J-shape, the pattern
was similar and in line with several studies conducted in various types of forest such as Pulau Timun
Forest Reserve [28], Pulau Langkawi Forest Reserve [28], Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, Kuala Lumpur
[29] and Bangi Permanent Forest Reserve [19]. Thus, it is proved that the inverse J-shape is common in
tropical forest as a lot number of juvenile tree growing and a smaller number of old trees in tropical
forest.
Figure 3. Stand structure in all study plots at GIFR.
3.5 Importance value index
Importance value index (IVi) is a metric used in ecology to quantify the relative dominance of a
particular tree species or family within a specific forest area [30]. This index will be calculated to find
2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
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doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
7
out the dominanceaof a family or species at this study site. According to [9], in order for an individual
to be considered to have absolute dominant over the other the rest of other individuals (strongly influence
the community), the value of IVi is required to exceed 40% on the family level whilst the IVi must
exceed 10% on species level. Species with highest IVi in the present study was S. schwenkii with
12.48%, followed by E. oleina with species importance value index (SIVi) of 8.09%, Parashorea
stellata with SIVi at 1.73%, P. burckii with SIVi at 1.0% and Cinnamomum camphora with SIVi of
0.88% (Table 5). From the findings, we can conclude that S. schwenkii strongly influenced the
community with SIVi more than 10% while the other species such as E. oleina, Cynometra malaccensis,
Palaquium burkii and Artocarpus schortecinni has no absolute dominance but they are just relatively
dominant compared to other species in the present study.
Table 5. Importance value index of three leading species in the study plots at GIFR.
No.
Species
Relative
frequency
(%)
Relative
density (%)
Relative
dominance
(%)
1.
Swintonia schewenkii
(Anacardiaceae)
7.41
22.64
37.43
2.
Eugenia oleina
(Myrtaceae)
3.70
13.21
24.28
3.
Parashorea stellata
(Annonaceae)
7.41
11.32
3.01
Family
1.
Anacardiaceae
14.29
22.64
37.43
2.
Myrtaceae
14.29
28.30
20.02
3.
Fabaceae
9.52
9.43
12.13
Family-wise, Myrtaceae has the highest family importance value index (FIVi) at 20.87%, followed by
Anacardiceae (24.78%), Fabaceae (10.36%), Annonaceae (7.30 %) and the last but not least, Lauraceae
at 6.57% (Table 5). The result shows that none of the families in the study plots can be considered to
have absolute dominance because the FIVi obtained is less than 40%. Nonetheless, these five leading
families can be considered relatively dominant as compared to other families in the study plot. [14]
revealed, Euphorbiaceae as the most important family in Bukit Bauk Virgin JungleaForest (BBVJR),
Lesong ForestaReserve (LFR) and Gunung Belumut RecreationalaForest (GBRF) with FIVi of 27.95%
(BBVJR), 26.09% (LFR) and 27.16% (GBRF). In addition, the predominant species based on the highest
SIVi for all of the study plots was Dryobalanops aromatica with IVi of 17.81%, 23.01% and 16.25% in
BBVJR, LFR and GBRF, respectively. Obviously, D. aromatica could be considered to have an absolute
dominance among the tree communities of the study plot.
3.6 Biomass estimation
The total biomass of trees in the present study was estimated at 76.3 t/ha. From this amount, a total of
66.04 t/ha was contributed by the above ground biomass (AGB) and 10.22 t/ha was contributed by the
below ground biomass (BGB). Estimating biomass of a tree typically requires the use ofaallometric
equations. The value was formerly derived from destructive sampling of trees to measure their biomass
directly, after which biomass is correlated with non-destructive measurements, such as diameter and
height [31]. Based on Table 6, Anacardiaceae contributed the highest biomass in GIFR with 31.28 t/ha
(41%), followed by Myrtaceae at 12.93 t/ha (17%), Dipterocarpaceae at 9.95 t/ha (13%). Anacardiaceae
also recorded as the highest contributor of biomass in a forests of other studies such as Bukit Panchor
State Park with 250.7 t/ha (36.5%) [15] and also Redang Island with a total of 141.36 t/ha of estimated
biomass (39%) [20].
2nd International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 2023
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1316 (2024) 012005
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doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1316/1/012005
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Table 6. Total biomass of three leading families in the study plots at GIFR.
Family
AGB
(t/ha)
BGB
(t/ha)
Total biomass
(t/ha)
Percentage (%)
Anacardiaceae
27.02
4.26
31.28
41
Myrtaceae
11.23
1.69
12.93
17
Dipterocarpaceae
8.61
1.34
9.95
13
At species level, the highest value for total biomass was dominated by S. schwenkii with 31.29 t/ha
(43.1%), followed by E. oleina with 19.39 t/ha (25.4%), C. malaccencis with 3.28 t/ha (4.26%), P. burkii
and Artocarpus scortechinii with 3.28 t/ha (4.26%) and 2.59 t/ha (3.39%), respectively. For total
biomass of trees at DBH of 5 cm and above in the Bukit Bauk Virgin Jungle Reserve (BBVJR) plot was
estimated at 701.30 t/ha, whilst the Lesong Forest Reserve plot value was estimated at 739.44 t/ha and
GBRF plot value was estimated at 606.29 t/ha. D. aromatica had the highest tree biomass in all of the
study plots with a value of 292.88 t/ha at BBVJR plot, 421.85 t/ha at the LFR plot and 273.01 t/ha at the
Gunung Berumut Reserve Forest plot. This shows that different forest habitats support different forest
structure that resulted in variation of biomass.
4. Conclusion
This study displayed that GIFR has a small size of floristic composition and supports low tree species
diversity. The floristic composition and species diversity of trees in GIFR could also be influenced by
various abiotic factors such as edaphic factor and topography. This study is only at its preliminary stage,
thus, to gain more accurate results and more understanding on the abiotic factor impacting the
distribution of trees, it is recommended to further conduct this study in a larger sample size. GIFR have
a little scarcity of information in floristic composition of tree species, thus a larger sampling area will
contribute to more discovery of tree species that inhabit the forest reserve. In future, it is recommended
to take into account the soil parameter as one of the factors that might influence tree species distribution.
This study has potential to support the conservation and preservation of any species of interest in GIFR.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia (FDPM) and the Department
of Forestry, Kedah, Malaysia for allowing us to conduct this research at Gunung Inas Forest Reserve in
Kedah. The gratitude is extended for the financial assistance from Malaysian Ministry of Higher
Education under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS)-FRGS/1/2021/WAB03/UITM/02/1
and Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia through GIP research award 600-
RMC/GIP 5/3.
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