Regeneration Potential of the North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest (NSPSF)

Peat Swamp Forest is known for its unique ecosystem and having a high proportion of endemic species. The logging activities in peat swamp forests has significant impacts on residual trees. A study was undertaken to determine the status of regeneration of logged-over forest of a peat swamp forest in Selangor. The study was conducted in the North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest (NSPSF), covering an area of approximately 72,816 hectares. The NSPSF was classified by the Forest Department to 7 categories of Forest Classes based on crown coverage. Based on this forest classification, a forest management inventory was carried out using cluster sampling technique. A total of 550 plots arranged in 110 clusters were randomly located within the seven forest classes. Data on tree species, diameter at breast height, height, quality of poles, etc. were collated. Results show that the number of stems per hectare (sph) for size class 5.0 em diameter at breast height (dbh) and above and size class 5.0-10.0 em dbh are in Forest Class 5. Wlereas for size class 10. 1-14.9 em dbh the highest number of sph is in Forest Class 4. The lowest number of sph for all size classes are in Forest Class 7. It is also found that more than 80% of the inventoried poles in all the Forest Classes are of Quality 1 and 2. As for poles of Quality 3 and 4, the highest percentage is in Forest Class 5 and the lowest in Forest Class 4. The number of seedlings per hectare are generally high with Forest Class 5 recording the highest at 19,621 and the lowest in Forest Class 7 at 7,133. The stocking of dipterocarp seedlings is very small with respect to all Forest Classes i.e. between o per cent in Forest Class 7 to 2.81 per cent in Forest Class 6. The nondipterocarp seedlings seem to dominate all Forest Classes in the NSPSF with an overall percentage of more than 97.0 per cent. The NSPSF suprisingly possess high q-value, calculated at an average of 1.73. The highest being recorded for Forest Class 4 at 1.93 and the lowest for Forest Class 7 at 1.65. The results of this study show that the NSPSF appears to have most of the elements of a forest undergoing regeneration process. Based on the q-value findings, the NSPSF has a good representation of smaller diameter size trees for all Forest Classes, thus further supporting the fact that the NSPSF is in a dynamic stage of recovering from the effect of forest disturbance. The only element which is absent as compared to a natural successional Peat Swamp Forest, is the lacking of sufficient number of high value commercial species for all size classes, which in this case refers to Shorea uliginosa, Gonystylus bancanus, Kompassia malaccensis and Shorea platycalpa. Some suggestions for future management of this type of forest are also highlighted

Floristic Composition And Economic Valuation Of 2-Ha Plots Of Hill Forest In Langkawi

Floristic composition data are a valuable tool in sustainable forest and environmental management. A 2.0-ha permanent plot (200 m x 100 m) located between 300 and 750 m a.s.l. was each established at Gunung Matchingchang Forest Reserve (GMFR) and Gunung Raya Forest Reserve (GRFR) in Langkawi for the purpose of inventoring hill floral diversity. The research sites comprised of two 2.0-ha plots each of which was located in GMFR and GRFR and was further divided into fifty 20 m x 20 m subplots. In GM_FR and GRFR, there were a total of 12,530 trees and 7,967 trees respectively. All trees with abundant species, family, diameter breast height (DBH), total biomass (TB) and stumpage value were identified, assessed and recorded. The largest species in GMFR was recorded by Hydnocarpus filipes (Flacoutiaceae) with as many as 2,591 individuals. In GRFR, Diospyros ismailii (Ebenaceae) recorded the highest number with 799 individuals

Vanilla norashikiniana R. Go et A. Raffi sp. nov., A New Orchid Species From Peninsular Malaysia

A new species, Vanilla norashikiniana R. Go et A. Raffi, from Peninsular Malaysia is described and other aspects of interest discussed. It is so far known from a population in lower dipterocarp forests in Hutan Lipur Chemerong, Hulu Dungun, Terengganu and Hutan Simpan Semangkok, Selangor. A field key to the Peninsular Malaysian taxa (including Vanilla shenzhenica) is also provided

Author Correction: Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from conversion of peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation (Nature Communications, (2020), 11, 1, (407), 10.1038/s41467-020-14298-w)

The original version of this article contained an error in Fig. 2a, in which additional tick marks were added to the y-axis. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article

Peat swamp forest conservation withstands pervasive land conversion to oil palm plantation in North Selangor, Malaysia

Tropical deforestation remains one of the major global challenges of the twenty-first century driven to a large extent by the conversion of land for agricultural purposes, such as palm oil production. Malaysia is one of the world’s largest palm oil producers and has seen widespread conversion to oil palm from primary forest, including peat swamp forest (PSF). This study investigates the rate and extent of pervasive oil palm expansion in and around North Selangor Peat Swamp Forest (NSPSF) over the last three decades, exploring how land conversion has affected the region’s tropical forests, and assessing the relative success of PSF conservation measures. Time-series Landsat imagery was used to assess thematic land cover change and improvement in vegetation condition since NSPSF was given protected status in 1990. The results show a near tripling in oil palm cover throughout North Selangor, from 24,930 ha in 1989 to 70,070 ha in 2016; while at the same time tropical forest cover shrank from 145,570 ha to 88,400 ha. Despite concerns over the sustainability and environmental impact of such rapid oil palm conversion at a regional level, at the local scale, NSPSF represents a relative conservation success story. Effective land stewardship by government and non-governmental organization (NGO) management actors has limited illegal encroachment of oil palm around the reserve boundary. PSF rehabilitation measures have also markedly improved vegetation condition in NSPFS’s interior. These findings have broad significance for how oil palm agriculture is managed and especially for PSF stewardship and conservation, and the approaches described here may be usefully adopted elsewhere in Southeast Asia and around the world