DIVERSITY OF BEGONIA (BEGONIACEAE) IN BORNEO – HOW MANY SPECIES ARE THERE?
ABSTRACT: A total of 126 species
are currently named and described from Borneo (Brunei – 16 species, Kalimantan
– 5 species, Sabah – 41 species and Sarawak – 72 species). However, based on
our survey of the Begonia collection in the Sarawak Herbarium, the un-named
taxa (about 110 species) significantly outnumber the 72-named species. The
situation is probably the same for Sabah, so with many more new species than
the 41 named ones at a conservative estimate the Sabah Begonia flora can be
expected to exceed 100 species. For Kalimantan (5 named species), the total
number of un-named species is likely to be even higher considering that
Kalimantan occupies a larger land area, its begonia-rich mountains and
limestone areas are hardly collected, and the Begonia flora has hardly been
studied at all. We can therefore expect the Begonia flora of Borneo to exceed
600 species. In view of the high level of narrow endemism (80% of species are
known from a single locality), expeditions to unexplored areas are necessary to
document, in particular, areas that are experiencing irreversible land-use
change. Alpha-taxonomy on a large scale is needed to tackle the backlog of
literally hundreds of new undescribed species.
Author: JULIA SANG, RUTH KIEW
Journal Code: jpbiologigg140034
