Comparison of the Diversity of Nepenthaceae, Orchidaceae and Zingiberaceae in Disturbed and Undisturbed Forests in Johor, Malaysia

Abstract

This study was carried out to compare the diversity of Nepenthaceae, Orchidaceae, and Zingiberaceae families in central Johor. The chosen locations are the Belumut Forest-Eco Park, Mo'akil Permanent Forest Reserve, and Soga-Perdana Permanent Forest Reserve, which have forest types categorized as, undisturbed forest, disturbed forest, and recovered forest, within each of the areas respectively. This research aims to compare the diversity of Nepenthaceae, Orchidaceae, and Zingiberaceae between the forest types and the study areas. A checklist of species belonging to the three families for the three study areas was created and updated and the determination of the effects of disturbance on the diversity of species that belong to the three families. The collection of data and specimens was done by the line transect method in triplicates per study site in each of the study areas (100 m long and 6 m wide). Specimens were collected, tagged along with their location and habitat details recorded. The Belumut Forest-Eco Park did not record any Nepenthes species out of the eight species present. The Mo'akil Permanent Forest Reserve had recorded eight species represented by all three families. The Soga-Perdana Permanent Forest Reserve had all three families represented with 6 species. Overall, twenty species from the three families were recorded (three Nepenthes species, five orchid species, and 13 Zingiberaceae species with three that were identified). Two of the species of Zingiberaceae are Peninsular Malaysia endemics which are Scaphochlamys johorensis from the Belumut Forest-Eco Park and S. endauensis from the Mo'akil Permanent Forest Reserve. The diversity of species varied depending on the level and the type of disturbances with the Mo'akil Permanent Forest Reserve being the most diverse for the three families due to there being environmental factors such as large variability between forest types and forest patch size.