Plant Flora Inventory G.brinchang Cameron Highlands

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT :

PLANT / FLORA INVENTORY OF GUNUNG BRINCHANG, CAMERON HIGHLANDS, PAHANG

STUDENT’S NAME

: AZEYLA BINTI AHMAD

MATRIX NUMBER

: A 101871

DATE

: 30TH JUNE 2006

SUPERVISORS

: DR. LIAU TAI LEONG : R.E.A.C.H. COMMITTEE

CONTENTS 1.0 Acknowledgement

3

2.0 Organization Review

3

3.0 Introduction 3.1 Introduction

4

3.2 Aim of Study

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3.3 Methodology

5

4.0 Review of Cameron Highlands 4.1General Review

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4.2 Agro-tourism Review

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4.3 Gunung Brinchang Review

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5.0 Result and Discussion

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6.0 Conclusion

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7.0 References

10

Appendices Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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1.0

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The idea of having a paper on plant/flora inventory of Gunung Brinchang is a start

to establish a nature information centre in Cameron Highlands. For that, I would like to thank R.E.A.C.H. committee for their willingness to accept my application to do my 2 months Industrial Training here. I must also thanked, Prof. Madya Dr. Kamarudin Mat Salleh, my supervisor from National University of Malaysia (UKM) for coming up with the idea of attachment to R.E.A.C.H. and Mr. Balu Perumal who have been a great advisor. For the past days, the committee of R.E.A.C.H. has being my family. Their kindness of providing us with many great informations and their hospitality are really appreciated. Mr. Ramakrishnan Ramasamy A.M.N., R.E.A.C.H. President and Dr. Liau Tai Leong (Vice President) have been great supervisors. Rev. Dr. Vijendra Daniel (Secretary), Mr. Zulkifli Mohd Ariffin P.J.K. (Assistant Secretary), Mr. George Alasandrie Theseira (Treasurer), Mrs. Laura Lau and Mr. Ramasamy (Cikgu Rama) have shown a good example of “a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens that can change the world”. Other members also played their role generously. Dr Cheam May Choo who is a wonderful baker and Mr. Amran with his passion on photography, are very supportive and ready to lend their hands whenever we need them. Mr. Kaliyannan and his colleagues, Mr. Francis and Mr. Kumar are knowledgeable nature guides and have helped me in many ways. Not to be left out is Dilip, who has been a wonderful and helpful companion and Renata Fortuin, who is willing to share her knowledge with me. Without you guys, the project would not succeed. Thank you again. My thanks also to Dr.Gary William Theseira for his help in identifying some of the plants.

2.0

ORGANIZATION REVIEW Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (R.E.A.C.H.) is a non-

profit, community-based organization that was formed by several residents of Cameron Highlands who were concerned about the quality and quantity of their water supply and the rate of development in the district. R.E.A.C.H. was formed after the shortage of water supply in Cameron Highlands in the late 90s. R.E.A.C.H. was officially registered on 6th

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September 2001, with aims “to conserve Cameron Highlands as an area of natural resources and as a natural heritage, a highland resort surrounded by permanent forest reserve and sustainable agriculture with quality drinking water”. The committee of R.E.A.C.H. has 14 main committee members and about 350 ordinary committee members. These members are all volunteers from different backgrounds, but with the same goal. They are teachers and principals, doctors, nature tour guides and businessman, to name a few. Some of their qualities are knowledge on orchids, water, reforestation, ecology, education, hiking and photography. The committee members are divided into five main sections, which are water resources, merchandise, recycling, reforestation and exhibition. Reforestation is one of the core activities of R.E.A.C.H. It involved not only the committee but also corporate groups, school and college students and recently scouts from Singapore. R.E.A.C.H. has an enormous photo collection on topics from beauty of the highlands to the worst of it - environmental degradation. The recent exhibition, “Cameron Highlands : Recollections” was held during the launching of the public library by the Sultan of Pahang. They also conduct environmental monitoring and data collection and documentation on orchids, ferns and birds. Another continuous activity is environmental education, which consists of recycling talks, workshops on fern identification and botanical illustration and also nature walk with explanation of ecology concepts and water monitoring.

3.0

INTRODUCTION 3.1

Introduction

Malaysia is one of the 17 most diverse countries of the world. The other 16 countries are United State, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Madagascar, India, Indonesia, Australia, China, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Almost 60% of Malaysia’s land area is covered by natural forest. From that, about 6.7% or 22,161 km2 is situated above 900m altitude. This is the very essence of the country’s montane forest. Studies have shown that diversity of plants

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and animals is at its highest at the mid-montane altitudes. A smaller and much less diverse group of plants and animals also are found in the cooler, moister montane forest compared to the lowland rain forest. [Balu Perumal, 2001] Basically, there are six main mountains in Cameron Highlands, which are Gunung Brinchang, Gunung Irau, Gunung Jasar, Gunung Berembun, Gunung Perdah and Gunung Mentigi. Cameron Highlands hosts more than 700 species of plants, from which 60% of them are found only in the highlands. Of the total number, 145 species are endemic to Cameron Highlands, with the orchids alone comprising 32 species. [Camerons National Park Proposal]. Gunung Brinchang, at a height of 2,031m is the highest and surely holds a high diversity of endemic plants. Unfortunately, there is still no inventory or database of the plants, which can be found up there. As Cameron Highlands is facing many environmental issues, this inventory is important for us to make sure our future generation can still appreciate the plants of Gunung Brinchang. It is also the initiative of R.E.A.C.H. to make the forests surrounding Gunung Brinchang into a National Park. The inventory is a start to attract more people to come and do research on Gunung Brinchang, and the montane forest in general.

3.2

Aim Of Study 3.2.1 To set up a plant/flora checklist for Gunung Brinchang. 3.2.2 To set up a library or database for R.E.A.C.H.’s future reference. 3.2.3 To attract researches and tourists as part of R.E.A.C.H.’s initiative to establish a National Park in Cameron Highlands.

3.3

Methodology 3.3.1 Specimen collections (fieldwork) followed by plant labelling, pressing and drying. 3.3.2 Photographs of specimens 3.3.3 Species identification 3.3.4 Database development for future work/references

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4.0

REVIEW OF CAMERON HIGHLANDS 4.1

General Review

Cameron Highlands is the smallest district of the state of Pahang, Malaysia and is situated in the Main Range (Banjaran Titiwangsa). Other hill stations in the Main Range are Fraser’s Hill and Genting Highlands, which are also famous tourist attraction due to the cold weather. The Main Range contains the largest continuous block of natural forest left in the peninsula. Over 25% of the country’s total flora can be found here [WWFM, Duniaku, July/1995]. With 71,199.3 ha., Cameron Highlands is only 1.98% of the state. From about 400ft. to 6,666ft., this district offers a variety of enchanting sceneries, which draws many tourists not only from Malaysia but a lot of foreigners. The highest peak is Gunung Brinchang at a height of 2,031m above sea level (a.s.l.) and also holds the highest accessible road in Peninsular Malaysia. [EIA Cameron Highlands, 1995]. The main economic source of the locals is agriculture. 4.2

Agro-tourism Of Cameron Highlands

Generally, Cameron Highlands is an agro-tourism area. The main economic activity is farming and as a spin-off, agro-tourism developed.

Most of the

vegetables and flowers here are of the temperate varieties, which are very rare in the Tropics. To be exact, there are a few farms in the ecologically sensitive Gunung Brinchang itself. The Mountain Strawberry Farm, Boh Tea Plantations and vegetable farms not only act as a normal farm, but also attract local and overseas tourist. 4.3

Gunung Brinchang Review

The forest formation of Gunung Brinchang can be classified into lower montane forest and upper montane forest. At the height of about 1,200 m to 1,500 m a.s.l., the floristic zone of the lower montane forest is the oak-laurel with Fagaceae and Lauraceae as the important groups, which are smaller than those can be found in the lowland rainforest. As for the upper montane forest with elevation above

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1,500 m a.s.l., Coniferae, Ericaceae, and Myrtaceae are the important groups. Here, the montane forest consists of small trees with a canopy height of 10-15 m. (Refer Fig. 1 in Appendix 1).

There are also other plants which may seem impossible to be in a tropical climate country like Malaysia such as rhododendrons, magnolias, mosses, pitcher plants, orchids and many other epiphytic plants. The higher the elevation, the shorter the trees are and this is where mosses, orchids and other epiphytic plants increases in number. The orchids and pitcher plants are listed in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The formation and vegetation of highland plants are affected by certain factors. The low temperature of the highlands, lack of nutrients of the soil and the acidity of the soil contribute to the small size of the plants. In Cameron Highlands alone, there are 56 mammals, 199 birds, 58 reptiles and 14 amphibians recorded. [Camerons National Park Proposal].

5.0

RESULT AND DISCUSSION Below is the complete list of flora/plants at Gunung Brinchang according to their

family (including ferns).

FAMILY Actinidaceae

SPECIES Saurauia sp. Saurauia sp.

Acanthaceae

Asystasia cf. nemorum (Asystasia cf. intrusa)

Araceae

Arisaema sp.

Araliaceae

Schefflera sp.

Balanophoraceae

Balanophora sp.

Balsaminaceae

Impatiens oncidioides

Begoniaceae

Begonia cf. sinuata

Campanulaceae

Lobelia aff. angulata (Pratia aff. begoniifolia)

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Celastraceae

Euonymus javanicus

Compositae

Pluchea cf. indica

Convallariaceae (Liliaceae)

Disporum cantoniense (Disporum pullum)

Davalliaceae (Fern)

Davallia sp.

Ericaceae

Rhododendron malayanus Vaccinum aff. scortechinii Gaultheria sp.

Euphorbiaceae

Homalanthus populheus

Gesneriaceae

Aeschynanthus longicalyx Didysandra aff. filicina Epithema cf. saxatile Henkelia sp.

Gleicheniaceae (Fern)

Dicranopteris sp.

Graminae

Eriachne aff. pallescens

Hymenophyllaceae (Fern)

Hymenophyllum sp.

Lauraceae

Litsea pipericarpa

Lycopodiaceae (Fern)

Lycopodium sp.

Melastomataceae

Medinilla clarkei Sonerilla rudis Dissochaeta cf. celebica Melastoma malabathricum

Merattiaceae (Fern)

Angiopteris evecta

Moraceae

Ficus sp. Ficus sp.

Myrsinaceae

Ardisia cf. colorata Ardisia aff. crispa/crenata Labisia pumila var. pumila

Nepenthaceae

Nepenthes marcfalanei Nepenthes senguniae

Oleandraceae (Fern)

Nephrolepis sp.

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Orchidaceae

Bulbophyllum sp. Chelonistele sulphurea Eria sp. Platanthera angustata Trichotosia sp.

Palmae

Pinanga sp.

Passifloraceae

Passiflora sp.

Piperaceae

Piper ribesiodes

Polygalaceae

Epirixanthes sp.

Polygonaceae

Persicaria chinensis var. chinensis (Polygonum chinense) Persicaria aff. chinensis var. ovalifolia (Polygonum aff. malaicum) Persicaria cf. barbata var. gracilis (Polygonum cf. barbatum)

Rosaceae

Rubus moluccanus

Rubiaceae

Argostemma aff. spinulosum Argostemma cf. yappii Argostemma sp. Hedyotis cf. insularis (Hedyotis cf. glabra) Lasianthus cf. oblongus Mycetia cf. malayana

Sterculiaceae

Sterculia sp.

Verbenaceae

Clerodendrum sp.

Zingiberaceae

Camptandra latifolia Geostachys megaphylla

From the list, there are approximately 37 families with 63 species of plant recorded. 9 species are recognized as endemic to Malaya (Refer Appendix 2). Geostachys megaphylla is endemic to Cameron Highlands. The most dominant family is Rubiaceae in which includes Argostemma aff. spinulosum, Argostemma cf. yappii, Argostemma sp., Hedyotis cf. insularis (Hedyotis cf. glabra), Lasianthus cf. oblongus and Mycetia cf.

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malayana. Camptandra latifolia is common. Apart from that, there are quite a number of introduced plants. The most common species are Camellia sinensis, which is the tea plants and also Fragaria sp., the strawberry plants, which are also important economic plants.

Note the name in bracket is the old name of the species.

6.0

CONCLUSION After all the hard works, a plant/flora inventory of Gunung Brinchang is made

possible, though there are still a lot of study and research to be done for a complete inventory. The information needs to be updated as there might be slight changes to the botanical names. As one of the more ecologically sensitive area of Cameron Highlands, a lot of afford need to be done to ensure that Gunung Brinchang will remain untouched by developments, hence preserving an area of pristine forest. Besides, it is one of the main catchment areas, which supplies clean water to residents of Cameron Highlands and the state too. Results of the basic study show the biodiversity richness of the flora of our montane forest that need to be preserved due to their significant role in stabilizing the ecosystem.

7.0

REFFERENCES 7.1

A.G. Piggott.1988.Fern of Malaysia in Colour.Tropical Press Sdn.Bhd.

7.2

E.J.H. Corner.1952.Wayside Trees of Malaya Vol.I & II. University Lecturer in Botany, Cambridge.

7.3

M.R. Henderson.1954.Malayan Wild Flower Monocotyledon. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.

7.4

M.R. Henderson. 1959. Malayan Wild Flower Dicotyledon. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur.

7.5

Earl of Cranbook & David S Edwards.1994.A Tropical Rainforest:The Nature of Biodiversity in Borneo at Belalong, Brunei.

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7.6

Turner, I.M. June 1995.A Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya Vol. 47 (Part 1). National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens.

7.7

Turner, I.M. Dec 1995.A Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Malaya Vol. 47 (Part 2). National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens.

7.8

Antony van der Ent, Chantal Termeer.2005.Organization Review R.E.A.C.H. Saxion University Deventer, The Netherlands.

7.9

Balu Perumal.2003.Ecology and Biodiversity Studies in the Lower Montane Forests of Peninsular Malaysia.Faculty of Science and Technology, UKM, Bangi.

APPENDICES Appendix 1 Fig. 1 : Vegetation zones on the main mountains of Malaya Appendix 2 Table 1 : List of endemic species to Malaya

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Appendix 1

Fig. 1

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Appendix 2

FAMILY

SPECIES

Balsaminaceae

Impatiens oncidioides Ridl. ex Hook. f.

Gesneriaceae

Aeschynanthus longicalyx Ridl.

Melastomataceae

Medinilla clarkei King var. crassiramea (M.R. Hend.) J.F. Maxwell Sonerila rudis Stapf

Nepenthaceae

Nepenthes macfarlanei Hemsl. Nepenthes sanguinea Lindl.

Rubiaceae

Argostemma yappii King

Zingiberaceae

Camptandra latifolia Ridl. Geostachys megaphylla Holttum

Table 1 : List of endemic species to Malaya

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