THE VEGETATION OF LAMBUSANGO FOREST, BUTON, INDONESIA
ABSTRACT: The vegetation of
Lambusango Forest, Buton, Indonesia. Reinwardtia 14(2): 265 – 286. ― Lambusango
Forest is a tropical rainforest on the island of Buton, which lies close to
south east Sulawesi. The forest covers an area of about 95.000 ha, with
different parts of the forest having different levels of conservation
protection. It lies on rocks of both calcareous (limestone) and non-calcareous
(sandstone, conglomerate, peridotite and chert) nature, which give rise to
soils with varying pH values, nutrient levels and water-holding capacities. The
climate is seasonal, with a dry season of three months and considerable
year-to-year variability due to El Niño and La Niña events. The vegetation on
the different soils and in different habitats has been studied. Over 300
species of vascular plants found in the forest and surrounding areas are
listed, including trees and shrubs, herbs, climbers, epiphytes, ferns and
club-mosses. Two genera, Calamus with 18 species and Ficus with 29 species, are
particularly species-rich, apparently due to their ability to occupy numer-ous
edaphic and ecological niches. Species of these two genera are also good
colonists and so better able to reach Buton in the recent past than other
species. The plants of the forest indicate that Buton is floristically very
similar to Sulawesi, with at least 83% of the species found in the forest also
being known from Sulawesi. Most of the plant families and genera present on
Buton are common in SE Asia, indicating colonisation primarily from that
continent. Many fewer families and genera have colonised from the Australasian
continent. The conservation of plant diversity is necessary for the forest to
continue as a functioning ecosystem, to the benefit of the animals of the
forest and also the local people.
Author: ANDREW POWLING, AURORA
PHILLIPS, ROSIE PRITCHETT, SIMON T. SEGAR, REBECCA WHEELER, ANI MARDIASTUTI
Journal Code: jpbiologigg150016
