Distribution of Endangered Dipterocarps in the Freshwater Swamp Forest of Parit Forest Reserve, Perak

Abstract

Many endangered tree species suffered reductions in their population sizes due to forest fragmentation. A field survey was conducted to study the demographic structure of five threatened Dipterocarps species and to map their spatial distribution in freshwater swamp forests at Parit Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia. Of five species recorded, Shorea hemsleyana exhibited the highest number of individuals (i.e., 198), followed by Dipterocarpus semivestitus (35), S. macrantha (24), Hopea apiculata (14) and Vatica flavida (6). While the spatial distribution of D. semivestitus, S. macrantha, H. apiculata and V. flavida are appreared to be spatially dispersed, S. hemsleyana’s appears to be more localized