ORCHIDS OF BUNGO RANGE

Orchids, which belong to the large angiosperm family of Orchidaceae, are valued for their unique floral morphological features and ecological services owing to their sensitivity towards changes in the surrounding environment along with complex interactions with other biotic components. Orchids are widely distributed in Malaysia, from the coastal forests to the mountain peaks, where its highest diversity has been documented predominantly in the mixed dipterocarp forests type (Wood, 1984). It is estimated that the present number of orchids are an astonishing 28,000 species worldwide from 763 genera (the number is most likely to exceed 100,000 species if all the hybrids are accounted for) (Otero, 2012). Approximately 10% of the total species are recorded from the Borneo Island, of which 1,200 species can be found in Sarawak (Beaman et al., 2000). However, it is expected that more species are yet to be documented from this species-rich region as Sarawak is blessed with vast and unexplored forested areas

Malaysian Vanilla: species diversity, threats and conservation action plan

The diversity in Vanilla genus from Malaysia was updated after the checklist by Soto Arenas and Cribb (2010) with the discovery of two undescribed species and few new records which made up the genus to be most likely represented by nine species. In general, wild vanilla populations were difficult to locate and distributed in many habitats. The taxa localized in Peninsular and Borneo showed different physiological behaviour but experiencing similar depleting factors in their natural habitats. The Checklist of CITES Appendices rated Vanilla spp. under Appendix II which are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but their trade must be closely controlled and monitored. Malaysian Vanilla were oberved to be vulnerable to several threats including poor taxonomic information and revision, forest fragmentation, natural disaster and natural leaves abscission phenomenon. A conservatory action plan was proposed to protect the genus from depletion as they served as important secondary gene pool in the crop improvement program of V. planifolia which produce one of the world precious flavouring agent, vanillin

Vanilla montana Ridl.: A NEW LOCALITY RECORD IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA AND ITS AMENDED DESCRIPTION

Among the seven Vanilla species native to Peninsular Malaysia, Vanilla montana was the first species to be described. But due to its rarity, it took more than 100 years for the species to be rediscovered in two other localities. This paper describes the first record of V. montana in Negeri Sembilan with preliminary notes on its floral development and some highlights on the ecological influences. We also proposed a conservation status for the species. The data obtained will serve as an important botanical profile of the species, and it will add to our knowledge gaps on the distribution of this distinctive orchid in Malaysia

Preliminary foliar anatomical assessment of four Vanilla species (Orchidaceae) from Perak, Malaysia

Assessment of the leaf anatomy among Vanilla griffithii, Vanilla kinabaluensis, Vanilla sanguineovenosa and Vanilla sp. 1 from Perak showed generic characterization of the epidermal layer and leaf lamina, suggesting the genus to possess plesiomorphic characters from its progenitor except for the leaf margin outlines. The species were found to differ interspecifically and acknowledged to possess taxonomic value. Leaf margin among the species showed similarity in tapering outline but distinguished in the overall shape and apical curve

THE VEGETATION

Bako National Park was gazetted as a protected area in 1957, making it Sarawak’s oldest Park. With a coverage area of 2742 hectares and located at the tip of the sandstone peninsula of Muara Tebas, the vegetation of Bako is unique in many ways. The word “Bako” originates from the Malay “Bakau”, a mangrove tree species that can be spotted along the Bako river on the way to the Park Headquarters

VANILLA YERSINIANA (ORCHIDACEAE), A NEW RECORD FOR PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

ESA, M. I. M., NORDIN, F. A., GO, R. & RAFFI, A. 2021. Vanilla yersiniana (Orchidaceae), a new record for Peninsular Malaysia. Reinwardtia 20(2): 49 − 53. — The genus Vanilla Plum. ex Mill. from Peninsular Malaysia is now enriched with the discovery of a newly recorded species, Vanilla yersiniana that made up its regional diversity to eight taxa. This species was documented from two adjacent secondary lowland forests in Perak; further south to the southern tail of Thailand. This paper describes the first record of V. yersiniana in Peninsular Malaysia with some high-lights of its morphology and ecology. The data presented will add to the present state of knowledge on the species botanical profile

Systematics, DNA barcoding and conservation of Vanilla species from Peninsular Malaysia

Among the 25 000 orchid species in Orchidaceae family, Vanilla is the most appreciated as it is the only genus with species of high commercial agriculture value for its vanillin production. The species from Peninsular Malaysia which represents the secondary gene pool of the cultivated Vanilla planifolia serves as valuable resources for genetic improvement in Vanilla. However, the potential of each species still remain in secrecy as the genus is not comprehensively studied yet. This study was conducted to assess the native species through systematics and molecular investigations. The data obtained will be used in their conservation management. Therefore, efforts in locating, collecting and documenting local Vanilla were initiated. The field samplings were conducted from 2011 to 2017 in the states of Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. In general, wild Vanilla populations in Peninsular Malaysia were difficult to locate because they were found in many habitats. The diversity in the genus was updated with the discovery of two new species to science, Vanilla norashikiniana R. Go et A. Raffi and Vanilla sanguineovenosa R. Go et A. Raffi which made up the total count from this region to be represented by seven confirmed species. Vanilla spp. most likely could tolerate the cardinal temperature of 17 to 27 oC, relative humidity of 72 to 92% and 64 mm to 733 mm of monthly precipitation. Five important growth events and their interactions with different environmental cues were presented with the emphasized on the flowering stages. The fluctuations of temperature and high light intensity were seen as the natural flowering promoters. Anthesis in Vanilla spp. were ideal to be categorized into five important phases: floral evocation, floral bud emergence, ovary development, size increment in bud and ovary and anthesis. Ephemeral flowering sequences of both newly described taxa were photographed where the anthesis and senescence processes were completed within 24 hours. Investigations at the histological level on accessions from Perak revealed the taxonomic value of the marginal outlines from leaf transverse sections. Somatic chromosome counts (2n) among selected accessions including two new species were found to be different in their most frequent number but shared a common denominator of 2n= 24. Species discrimination inferred by the phylogenetic trees generated from nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) region had classified the accessions into their respective genotypes with two unidentified genotypes suggesting presence of additional species in this region. Barcoding gap was also reported in genetic distance analysis with the speciation threshold recommended to be at 1.5% divergence. Finally, provisional conservation action plan was proposed based on the identified threats of which natural disasters and over collection from the wild were noted as the major threats. Five approaches were evaluated to be pragmatic and should be incorporated in the genus conservation action plan which were species mapping based on the documented localities, local community involvement of Orang Asli, propagation via stem cuttings using BAP, DNA barcodes deposition in BOLD and GenBank and also public education via MyBIS. This project as a whole has successfully documented important findings in the botany and natural history of the genus Vanilla from Peninsular Malaysia and these data are beneficial to the species strategic management planning

Estimating soil organic carbon at Takasago UNIMAS Educational Forest for forest rehabilitation

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) has long been known as an indicator of soil health. This study aims to estimate the amount of SOC at Takasago-UNIMAS Educational Forest, a postconstruction site, for forest rehabilitation. Since 2018, rehabilitation approaches have been conducted in the UNIMAS campus to restore these land areas via enrichment planting. The estimation of SOC was conducted at three sites; Secondary Forest (SF), Enrichment Planting site (2018) (EP18) and Enrichment Planting site (2019) (EP19). In each study plot, soil samples from different depths were collected for further analysis. Our findings showed that the soils in SF portray the highest amount of Total Carbon and Nitrogen, suggesting that this site may not have been considerably affected due to the past land use. Moreover, the estimation of SOC in all sites indicated that SF shows the highest mean at 2007.0 g/m2 at the soil depth of 0-30cm, followed by EP18 and EP19. From the estimation, it can be concluded that although the period of establishment in EP18 and EP19 may have contributed to the lower SOC as compared to SF, the SOC estimation from this study could be a value-added option in determining the state of soil recovery and, possibly, the effectiveness of enrichment planting for forest rehabilitation