Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T12:20:36.569Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecological relationships between lianas and trees in lowland rain forest in Sabah, East Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

E. J. F. Campbell  and
D. McC. Newbery
E. J. F. Campbell
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
D. McC. Newbery
Affiliation:
Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Numbers of lianas ≥2 cm gbh were recorded on trees ≥30 cm gbh in two 4 ha plots of dipterocarp forest. Associations between lianas and trees of the 12 commonest families and 16 commonest species were analysed. Liana density was 882 ha-1. Fifty-seven per cent of trees supported lianas and the mean number lianas per tree was 2.1. Lianas were highly aggregated on individual trees in most families; numbers of lianas per tree followed the negative binomial distribution for the Dipterocarpaceae but not Euphorbiaceae. Dipterocarpaceae and Euphorbiaceae differed in susceptibility, with 41 and 64% of their trees respectively supporting lianas. The proportions of trees with lianas (i.e. % trees laden) were correlated between plots at the species, but not the family, level. They were not related to tree girth; differences in proportions between families and species were maintained for trees in the 30–40 cm gbh class. At the species level, proportions of trees with lianas and the mean number of lianas per tree were significantly inversely correlated with mean branch-free bole height of trees in the 30–40 cm gbh class. Increased branch-free bole height and associated branch shedding may therefore decrease the susceptibility of trees to lianas and explain the lower susceptibility in the Dipterocarpaceae than the Euphorbiaceae.

Keywords

aggregationbole heightDipterocarpaceaeEuphorbiaceaelianasMalaysiarain forestSabahtree morphology
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , November 1993 , pp. 469 - 490
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Appanah, S. & Putz, F. E. 1984. Climber abundance in virgin dipterocarp forest and the effect of pre-felling climber cutting on logging damage. Malaysian Forester 47:335–342.Google Scholar
Caballé, G. 1986. Essai sur la dynamique des peuplements de lianes ligneuses d'une fôret du nord-est du Gabon. Revue d'Ecologie (Terre el Vie) 39:3–35.Google Scholar
Campbell, E. J. F. 1990. The ecological relationship between lianas and trees in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, E. Malaysia. MSc Thesis, University of Stirling. 91 pp.Google Scholar
Fox, J. E. D. 1968. Logging damage and the influence of climber cutting prior to logging in the lowland dipterocarp forests of Sabah. Malayan Forester 31:326–347.Google Scholar
Fox, J. E. D. 1972. The natural vegetation of Sabah and natural regeneration of dipterocarp forests. PhD thesis, University of Wales.Google Scholar
Gentry, A. H. 1991. The distribution and evolution of climbing plants. Pp. 3–49 in Putz, F. E. & Mooney, H. A. (eds). The biology of vines. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 526 pp.Google Scholar
Hallé, F. & Ng, F. S. P. 1981. Crown construction in mature dipterocarp trees. Malaysian Forester 44:222–233.Google Scholar
Hegarty, E. E. 1991. Vine-host interactions. Pp. 357–375 in Putz, F. E. & Mooney, H. A. (eds). The biology of vines. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 526 pp.Google Scholar
Hegarty, E. E. & Caballé, G. 1991. Distribution and abundance of vines in forest communities. Pp. 313–335 in Putz, F. E. & Mooney, H. A. (eds). The biology of vines. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 526 pp.Google Scholar
Hubbell, S. P. & Foster, R. B. 1986. Commonness and rarity in a neotropical forest: implications for tropical tree conservation. Pp. 205–231 in Soulé, M. E. (ed.). Conservation biology: science of scarcity and diversity. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts. 584 pp.Google Scholar
Liebman, J., Lasdon, L., Schrage, L. & Waren, A. 1986. Modeling and optimization with GINO. The Scientific Press, San Francisco. 193 pp.Google Scholar
Liew, T. C. 1973. The practicability of climber cutting and tree marking prior to logging as a silvicultural tool in the management of dipterocarp forest in Sabah. Malaysian Forester 36:80–122.Google Scholar
Ludwig, J. A. & Reynolds, J. F. 1988. Statistical ecology. Wiley, New York. 337 pp.Google Scholar
Marsh, C. W. & Greer, A. G. 1992. Forest land-use in Sabah, Malaysia: an introduction to the Danum Valley. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, Series B 335:331–339.Google Scholar
Mood, A. M., Graybill, F. A. & Boes, D. C. 1974. Introduction to the theory of statistics. (3rd edition). McGraw-Hill, Singapore. 564 pp.Google Scholar
Newbery, D. McC., Campbell, E. J. F., Lee, Y. F., Ridsdale, C. E. & Still, M. J. 1992. Primary lowland dipterocarp forest at Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia: Structure, relative abundance and family composition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, Series B 335:341–356.Google Scholar
Ng, F. S. P. 1977. Shyness in trees. Nature Malaysiana 2:34–37.Google Scholar
Nicholson, D. I. 1965. A review of natural regeneration in the dipterocarp forests of Sabah. Malayan Forester 28:4–26.Google Scholar
Proctor, J., Anderson, J. M., Chai, P. & Vallack, H. W. 1983. Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. I. Forest environment, structure and floristics. Journal of Ecology 71:237–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putz, F. E. 1982. Natural history of lianas and their influence on tropical forest dynamics. PhD Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca.Google Scholar
Putz, F. E. 1984a. How trees avoid and shed lianas. Biotropica 16:19–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putz, F. E. 1984b. The natural history of lianas on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecology 65:1713–1724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putz, F. E. & Chai, P. 1987. Ecological studies of lianas in Lambir National Park, Sarawak. Journal of Ecology 75:523–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putz, F. E., Lee, H. S. & Goh, R. 1985. Effects of post-felling silvicultural treatments on woody vines in Sarawak. Malaysian Forester 47:214–226.Google Scholar
Southwood, T. R. E. 1978. Ecological methods: with particular reference to the study of insect populations. (2nd Edition). Chapman & Hall, London. 524 pp.Google Scholar
Wright, P. S. 1975. Western parts of Tawau and Lahad Datu districts. The soils of Sabah, volume 3. Land Resource Study 20, Ministry of Overseas Development, UK.Google Scholar