Pteridophytes diversity in the summit region of Gunung Ledang, Johor, Malaysia
A study of pteridophytes diversity was conducted in Gunung Ledang, Johor which is the highest peak of the southern Peninsular Malaysia and gazette as Johor National Parks. It is a virgin forest undisturbed by human activities which consists of endemic plants found only in this mountain. Destructi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/89849/1/FS%202020%2011%20ir.pdf |
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| Summary: | A study of pteridophytes diversity was conducted in Gunung Ledang, Johor
which is the highest peak of the southern Peninsular Malaysia and gazette
as Johor National Parks. It is a virgin forest undisturbed by human activities
which consists of endemic plants found only in this mountain. Destruction of
ecosystems and climate changes may cause extinction of species of
pteridophytes in this mountain. Studies on pteridophytes flora and diversity in
Gunung Ledang, Johor have been conducted several times but none was
officially documented and published except for Ridley in 1901. Hence, this
study was conducted to reveal the diversity of pteridophytes in summit region
of Gunung Ledang, Johor after a gap of eleven decades. Several field works
were carried out from November 2015 to January 2016, and five sampling
plots sized 20m x 20m (400m2) were developed to study the diversity of
pteridophytes based on cardinal direction (North, South, East, West) and at
peak of the mountain. The number of individuals of each species in the plots
was counted and their relative abundance was obtained from calculation. A
total of 27 species from 16 families and 21 genera were identified and
recorded. The largest family is Gleicheniaceae (four species) followed by
Selaginellaceae and Pteridaceae (three species) respectively. The majority
of the pteridophytes are terrestrial (85%) while the remaining 11% are
epiphytic and 4% are litophytic. The highest density of pteridophytes
collected in this study was Pteridium aquilinum while the highest frequency
of pteridophytes was Dicranopteris linearis and Taenitis dimorpha with 60%
population distribution. The diversity indices reveals that Plot C (West) has
higher diversity of pteridophytes where Shannon’s index value was 1.84 and
Simpson’s index value show of 0.80. In comparison with previous records,
there are 16 species are new recorded in Gunung Ledang, including Taenitis
dimorpha, which is endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. As this study reveals the
16 new records and an endemic species, it is essential for Gunung Ledang,Johor National Parks to systematically and comprehensively study its
pteridophytes flora so that its diversity status can be ascertained. |
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