Effects of Altitude and Microclimate on the Distribution Ferns in and Urban Areas

Abstract

The aim of the research is to explore the potential of fern species as natural ecological indicator agent to forecast microclimate changes in the urban area. Ferns which also known as pteridophyte are not only valuable in term of its ethno-botanical uses such as food and medicine but also useful in ecological values. Other than that it can be used to treat unhealthy environment such as absorbing methane gas, fertilizing land and treating heavy metal such as arsenic as well as can be used as a potential ecological indicator agent for microclimate changes. In this research, observation and measurement were made at two different environments which are natural environments; Gunung Jerai, Kedah and Lata Jarum, Pahang and manmade setting environments; Hospital Serdang, Serdang and Secret Garden, Kuala Lumpur. Interestingly results from two case studies of natural environments indicated that the distribution and abundance of fern species strongly influenced by differences in altitude. Twelve fern species were found at different elevations at Gunung Jerai, Kedah whereas 20 fern species were found at Lata Jarum, Pahang. Among the species found at Gunung Jerai were Selaginella willdenowii, Arcypteris irregularis, Adiantum caudatum, Pityrogramma calomelanos, Histiopteris stipulacea, Athyrium cordifolium, Osmund wachellii, and Cyathea contaminans. Whereas the species found at Lata Jarum are Dicranopteris linearis, Phymatodes scolopendria, Antrophyum callifolium, Arcypteris irregularis, Phymatodes crustachea, Selaginella willdenowi, Angiopteris evecta and Aglaomorpha heraclea. Another factor that influences the occurrences of the fern species is microclimate particularly atmospheric factor. Results observed from both case studies showed that light intensity, relative humidity and temperature also influenced the distribution of fern species. Therefore fern species are excellent ecological indicator which can be used as phytoindicator for unhealthy environment such as harsh environment or to predict microclimate changes at urban area.

Taxonomic Diversity of Ferns of Two Recreational Forests in Kedah, Malaysia

“…The higher fern species richness and diversity observed at Bukit Hijau forest than Sungai Sedim could be due to high shade, high humidity, and low light intensity, which characterize tropical primary forests (Anthony et al, 2016). Most of the ferns are shade-and high moisture-loving plants and consequently will prefer more shady forest to open forest (Othman, Latiff, Tukiman, & Hashim, 2015). However, our observation is subjective, as there was no quantitative measurement of these microclimatic conditions.…”

“…Also, a higher Simpson index of the Bukit Hijau forest indicated that it is dominated by several fern species with higher incidences across the forest. The lushness of ferns in a forest could be an indicator of the stability and quality of such forest (Beukema & van Noordwijk, 2004;Othman et al, 2015). Moreover, the presence of ferns could also be used to assess the suitability of forests as habitats for other plant functional groups (Duque et al, 2005;Large & Braggins, 2004).…”

Modelling the distribution of a potential invasive tropical fern, Cyclosorus afer in Nigeria

“…The environmental variables used for the species distribution modelling included the bioclimatic and elevation variables. We decided to use the bioclimatic variables because the occurrence and distribution of ferns are generally influenced by microclimatic conditions especially light intensity, temperature and humidity in their respective habitats (Othman, Latiff, Tukiman, & Hashim, ). Therefore, we based our model on general reports that bioclimatic factors do influence the productivity of plant species in an environment and also influence their distributions at local and global scales (Gogol‐Prokurat, ; Lennon, Greenwood, & Turner, ).…”

Characteristic of the material deposits, microclimate profile, epiphyte abundance, and bacteria populations in the above-ground ecosystem of oil palm

“…According to Saharizan et al (2021), the diversity and abundance of ferns in an oil palm plantation are dependent the environment, the age of the host, and the agronomic practices applied. In addition, elevation significantly impacts fern distribution (Othman et al 2015), with Saharizan et al (2021) showing that terrestrial pteridophytes are more frequent in oil palm plantations at lower elevations. It supported the findings of this study, where pteridophyte species were substantially less numerous in SM (583 m a.s.l.)…”