Flora and vegetation of Pulau Babi Tengah, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Pulau Babi Tengah is a small granitic island, ca. 106 ha, lying off the south-east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Except for plantation of coconut trees in the early 1900s and deforestation by refugees during the Vietnamese civil war, 1975–1981, the island has not been affected by human development and very few species have been introduced. Recently, a tourist resort has opened in the south and has initiated activities for the conservation of biodiversity. As part of that commitment, an exhaustive inventory of all terrestrial vascular plants has been done. The flora contains 312 taxa with 252 genera and 101 families. Several rare species, known only from this group of islands in Peninsular Malaysia, are recorded, as well as four Peninsular Malaysian endemic species. The most striking characteristic of Pulau Babi Tengah is the rarity of the exotic element, which is restricted to the anthropic areas.