Commander
28-Jun-2007, 01:12 PM
Tuesday June 19, 2007
Species under threat
The cycad, with its striking trunk structure and palm-like leaves that render it a popular ornamental plant, has, for years, been endangered by unscrupulous collectors.
Stories by Hilary Chiew
A PLANT is missing. Researcher Mariam Jutta is visibly disturbed. Visions of collectors pinching the healthy plant race through her mind as she looks at the neatly-sliced off tape that is attached to a cycad plant that she is studying. Even the identification tag is nowhere to be found.
“It is clear that someone had come up here and removed it,” Jutta voices her suspicion. “It’s not a good sign. Collection of the plant has ceased for some time now and survival of the remaining plants was good. Since we started surveying here, this is the first sign of human disturbance. It’s quite worrying.”
http://www.geocities.com/hexaglider/cycas1.bmp
Local jungle guide Nordin Harun measuring the trunk of a Cycas clivicola. The tallest plant he has collected measures 2.5m.
Her misgiving is not unfounded. Villagers of Gunung Pecah Batu in Perak say commercial gathering of the plant has been rife in the past two decades. Jungle guide Nordin Harun used to help his father collect the plant for nurseries in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. “We collected the plant substantially for about 10 years. The orders were big. Many huge plants were brought down and at times, we required a 3-tonne trailer to transport them,” he recalls.
For Nordin and other villagers, the arduous task of hacking into limestone rock to uproot the plants and cart them downhill is rewarded with prices of between RM50 and RM1,500 per plant. Their striking trunk structure and palm-like leaves make cycad a popular ornamental plant.
Nordin says collection has eased in recent times as demand has dropped, for unclear reasons. However, there is a new trend of direct orders from individual cycad enthusiasts. He also notes that remaining plants are less accessible now as most cling onto cliff walls. “We also realise that continuous collection will cause the plant to disappear. I have stopped collecting,” says the 40-year-old bachelor.
Jutta, a botanist from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia embarked on the project last November to search for the three cycad species found in Malaysia, all belonging to the genus Cycas. The single genus in the family Cycadaceae which is also the oldest family line, Cycas is made up of about 90 species, distributed chiefly in Australia (26 species), Indo-China (about 30 species), the Malesian region, Japan, and extending to the Micronesian and Polynesian islands, Madagascar and East Africa.
The other 10 genera are divided between the families of Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae, constituting the remaining known 210 species.
Cycad study
Since February, Jutta has religiously visited limestone hills in Lenggong, Perak, every month to document the growth of the cycad plant, Cycas clivicola, as part of a bigger research into threatened plants of Peninsular Malaysia.
Clivi means cliff in Latin and this species of cycad thrives on the slopes of limestone hills within the Lenggong valley.
“Based on herbarium records, we know the species can be found here so we just came and to check the hills. There are a few populations of C. clivicola and we chose the one at Gunung Pecah Batu as Nordin is familiar with this forest.
“Nordin was also instrumental in helping me to secure the research site for C. macrocarpa, which was never reported from Lenggong. He told us that there was this plant that is serupa tapi lain (similar yet different) to C. clivicola,” reveals Jutta on the accidental discovery of the site.
http://www.geocities.com/hexaglider/cycas2.bmp
A magnificent trunk of the Cycas macrocarpa drooping off a rocky cliff in the limestone hills of Lenggong, Perak.
To her relief, the Batu Hitam forest hosts a healthy population of C. macrocarpa. Earlier, she was sent on a wild goose chase searching for the species in several forested areas in Kelantan. The first study site is a cliff in Tanjung Gadong, Dungun, in Terengganu, where Jutta began collecting data on C. litoralis, a coastal species.
Assisted by a research assistant and a guide, the botanist will relocate the tagged plants in a typical monthly monitoring exercise. So far, routine surveys of all three sites have been unexciting as most plants do not exhibit significant changes.
“That’s how it is at this moment. They are just sitting there and nothing seems to happen,” explains Jutta, as she scribbled the words “no changes” on her field datasheet whenever her assistants relay the condition of the plants to her. Studies on cycad elsewhere showed that it has a slow reproductive cycle.
Jutta has so far tagged 224 C.litoralis plants, 165 C. clivicola and 247 C.macrocarpa for the phenology study of the species. Fieldwork covering observation of the physical appearance is important for the botanist to understand the biological stages of individual plants, including recording their reproductive behaviours in relation to their pollinators. Another aspect of the field survey is to assess the level of exploitation so that the project can produce a comprehensive conservation plan. At least half of the three-year study period will be spent at field sites gathering data.
Besides the in-situ populations, Jutta is also looking at specimens kept in ex-situ facilities to compare the survival and reproductive abilities.
Twice a month, she goes to Putrajaya Wetlands and the Botanical Gardens of Putrajaya.
She says although C. litoralis has been heavily harvested, the species stands a better chance in the wild, as plant nurseries have been able to propagate it. The other two species, however, cannot adapt to the environment outside their habitats and so are more vulnerable to extraction and habitat destruction. As limestone hills are mined, these habitats will be destroyed.
She says while the challenging terrain of the Lenggong limestone hills has shielded C. clivicola from uncontrolled harvest, it onlytakes a quarry licence to destroy the thriving populations. To protect the species, it is important to preserve the habitat as the plants’ reproductive abilities depend on other organisms in the ecosystem, says Jutta, adding that cycads are generally pollinated by beetles and not enough is known about their biology.
For example, she has observed specimens in ex-situ centres displaying their reproductive features but because there was no pollination, the plants could not produce seeds to ensure their survival.
Species under threat
The cycad, with its striking trunk structure and palm-like leaves that render it a popular ornamental plant, has, for years, been endangered by unscrupulous collectors.
Stories by Hilary Chiew
A PLANT is missing. Researcher Mariam Jutta is visibly disturbed. Visions of collectors pinching the healthy plant race through her mind as she looks at the neatly-sliced off tape that is attached to a cycad plant that she is studying. Even the identification tag is nowhere to be found.
“It is clear that someone had come up here and removed it,” Jutta voices her suspicion. “It’s not a good sign. Collection of the plant has ceased for some time now and survival of the remaining plants was good. Since we started surveying here, this is the first sign of human disturbance. It’s quite worrying.”
http://www.geocities.com/hexaglider/cycas1.bmp
Local jungle guide Nordin Harun measuring the trunk of a Cycas clivicola. The tallest plant he has collected measures 2.5m.
Her misgiving is not unfounded. Villagers of Gunung Pecah Batu in Perak say commercial gathering of the plant has been rife in the past two decades. Jungle guide Nordin Harun used to help his father collect the plant for nurseries in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh. “We collected the plant substantially for about 10 years. The orders were big. Many huge plants were brought down and at times, we required a 3-tonne trailer to transport them,” he recalls.
For Nordin and other villagers, the arduous task of hacking into limestone rock to uproot the plants and cart them downhill is rewarded with prices of between RM50 and RM1,500 per plant. Their striking trunk structure and palm-like leaves make cycad a popular ornamental plant.
Nordin says collection has eased in recent times as demand has dropped, for unclear reasons. However, there is a new trend of direct orders from individual cycad enthusiasts. He also notes that remaining plants are less accessible now as most cling onto cliff walls. “We also realise that continuous collection will cause the plant to disappear. I have stopped collecting,” says the 40-year-old bachelor.
Jutta, a botanist from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia embarked on the project last November to search for the three cycad species found in Malaysia, all belonging to the genus Cycas. The single genus in the family Cycadaceae which is also the oldest family line, Cycas is made up of about 90 species, distributed chiefly in Australia (26 species), Indo-China (about 30 species), the Malesian region, Japan, and extending to the Micronesian and Polynesian islands, Madagascar and East Africa.
The other 10 genera are divided between the families of Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae, constituting the remaining known 210 species.
Cycad study
Since February, Jutta has religiously visited limestone hills in Lenggong, Perak, every month to document the growth of the cycad plant, Cycas clivicola, as part of a bigger research into threatened plants of Peninsular Malaysia.
Clivi means cliff in Latin and this species of cycad thrives on the slopes of limestone hills within the Lenggong valley.
“Based on herbarium records, we know the species can be found here so we just came and to check the hills. There are a few populations of C. clivicola and we chose the one at Gunung Pecah Batu as Nordin is familiar with this forest.
“Nordin was also instrumental in helping me to secure the research site for C. macrocarpa, which was never reported from Lenggong. He told us that there was this plant that is serupa tapi lain (similar yet different) to C. clivicola,” reveals Jutta on the accidental discovery of the site.
http://www.geocities.com/hexaglider/cycas2.bmp
A magnificent trunk of the Cycas macrocarpa drooping off a rocky cliff in the limestone hills of Lenggong, Perak.
To her relief, the Batu Hitam forest hosts a healthy population of C. macrocarpa. Earlier, she was sent on a wild goose chase searching for the species in several forested areas in Kelantan. The first study site is a cliff in Tanjung Gadong, Dungun, in Terengganu, where Jutta began collecting data on C. litoralis, a coastal species.
Assisted by a research assistant and a guide, the botanist will relocate the tagged plants in a typical monthly monitoring exercise. So far, routine surveys of all three sites have been unexciting as most plants do not exhibit significant changes.
“That’s how it is at this moment. They are just sitting there and nothing seems to happen,” explains Jutta, as she scribbled the words “no changes” on her field datasheet whenever her assistants relay the condition of the plants to her. Studies on cycad elsewhere showed that it has a slow reproductive cycle.
Jutta has so far tagged 224 C.litoralis plants, 165 C. clivicola and 247 C.macrocarpa for the phenology study of the species. Fieldwork covering observation of the physical appearance is important for the botanist to understand the biological stages of individual plants, including recording their reproductive behaviours in relation to their pollinators. Another aspect of the field survey is to assess the level of exploitation so that the project can produce a comprehensive conservation plan. At least half of the three-year study period will be spent at field sites gathering data.
Besides the in-situ populations, Jutta is also looking at specimens kept in ex-situ facilities to compare the survival and reproductive abilities.
Twice a month, she goes to Putrajaya Wetlands and the Botanical Gardens of Putrajaya.
She says although C. litoralis has been heavily harvested, the species stands a better chance in the wild, as plant nurseries have been able to propagate it. The other two species, however, cannot adapt to the environment outside their habitats and so are more vulnerable to extraction and habitat destruction. As limestone hills are mined, these habitats will be destroyed.
She says while the challenging terrain of the Lenggong limestone hills has shielded C. clivicola from uncontrolled harvest, it onlytakes a quarry licence to destroy the thriving populations. To protect the species, it is important to preserve the habitat as the plants’ reproductive abilities depend on other organisms in the ecosystem, says Jutta, adding that cycads are generally pollinated by beetles and not enough is known about their biology.
For example, she has observed specimens in ex-situ centres displaying their reproductive features but because there was no pollination, the plants could not produce seeds to ensure their survival.