Soil-Related Floristic Variation in a Hyperdiverse Dipterocarp Forest

Abstract

A 52 hectare permanent research plot was established in Lambir Hills National Park to enable long-term study of factors controlling the origin and maintenance of tree diversity. In this chapter we summarize some of our recent work on the relationships between floristic variation and edaphic heterogeneity in the Lambir forest. First, we provide a general description of the floristic composition of this hyperdiverse forest. Second, we use a detailed survey of soil chemistry to test whether floristic composition changes in relation to edaphic characteristics. We also assess the extent to which individual species have non-random distributions in the forest with respect to edaphic heterogeneity. Finally, to investigate the influence of habitat variation on floristic diversity we compare our results from the heterogeneous forest at Lambir Hills with a more homogeneous forest in Peninsular Malaysia. [References] PT - Article