Synthesis of results from the Comprehensive Biodiversity Survey of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore, with recommendations for management

Chan, Lena; Davison, G.W.H.

doi:10.26492/gbs71(suppl.1).2019-23

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Indeed, after adjusting for sampling effort, the species diversity in Singapore’s premier rainforest reserve (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: 1.64 km 2 ) and largest swamp forest remnant (Nee Soon: 5 km 2 ) is only 50% higher than the diversity of major mangrove sites (PU: 0.904 km 2 , SB: 1.168 km 2 , SM: 0.174 km 2 ). The high diversity encountered in the mangrove sites was particularly unexpected because the rainforests of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve have been protected for more than 50 years [ 78 , 79 ] and have very high plant diversity (e.g., 1250 species of vascular plants [ 69 ] including 341 species of trees [ 80 ] in a small 2 ha plot of the Centre for Tropical Forest Science). Moreover, we extensively sampled the insect diversity in this reserve by placing multiple Malaise traps in primary, maturing secondary, and old secondary forests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mangroves are an overlooked hotspot of insect diversity despite low plant diversity

et al. 2021

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Background The world’s fast disappearing mangrove forests have low plant diversity and are often assumed to also have a species-poor insect fauna. We here compare the tropical arthropod fauna across a freshwater swamp and six different forest types (rain-, swamp, dry-coastal, urban, freshwater swamp, mangroves) based on 140,000 barcoded specimens belonging to ca. 8500 species. Results We find that the globally imperiled habitat “mangroves” is an overlooked hotspot for insect diversity. Our study reveals a species-rich mangrove insect fauna (>3000 species in Singapore alone) that is distinct (>50% of species are mangrove-specific) and has high species turnover across Southeast and East Asia. For most habitats, plant diversity is a good predictor of insect diversity, but mangroves are an exception and compensate for a comparatively low number of phytophagous and fungivorous insect species by supporting an unusually rich community of predators whose larvae feed in the productive mudflats. For the remaining tropical habitats, the insect communities have diversity patterns that are largely congruent across guilds. Conclusions The discovery of such a sizeable and distinct insect fauna in a globally threatened habitat underlines how little is known about global insect biodiversity. We here show how such knowledge gaps can be closed quickly with new cost-effective NGS barcoding techniques.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mangroves are an overlooked hotspot of insect diversity despite low plant diversity

et al. 2021

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“…1). The background and criteria to distinguish these forest types are described by Chan & Davison (2019a), accounting for deviations from ideal botanical sampling methodology, and further details of the floristics within each type are given by Chan & Davison (2019b). The forest types in each of the nine transects are as follows: Description of the Transects 1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The plant diversity in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore

Ho¹,

Lua²,

Ibrahim³

et al. 2019

GBS

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The plant diversity of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) is relatively well studied due to concerted effort over several decades, particularly as part of the worldwide system of ecological plots set up by the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS), now called the Forest Global Earth Observatory. Publications arising from previous works have set baseline data for the species diversity, suggested that the forest resilience was greater than would be expected in such a small forest fragment, but that there was low recruitment of primary forest tree species into the secondary forest. In order to assess the overall vascular plant diversity, and to compare the diversity of the various forest types within BTNR to each other, 52 plots were set up, each 20 × 5 m, along nine different transects that covered the full range of topography and forest types, primary, old secondary and maturing secondary forests, within the reserve. The vascular plant diversity within each plot was recorded. In total, 1250 species in 148 families were recorded, including an additional 167 species newly listed for BTNR. The primary forest had the highest number of species not found in the other forest types. It nevertheless had a very large overlap with species in the old secondary forest but not with the maturing secondary forest.

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“…Indeed, after adjusting for sampling effort, the species diversity in Singapore’s premier rainforest reserve (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: 1.64 km 2 ) and largest swamp forest remnant (Nee Soon: 5 km 2 ) is only 50% higher than the diversity of major mangrove sites (PU: 0.904 km 2 , SB: 1.168 km 2 , SM: 0.174 km 2 ). The high diversity encountered in the mangrove sites was particularly unexpected because the rainforests of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve have been protected for more than 50 years [78, 79] and have very high plant diversity (e.g., 1,250 species of vascular plants [69] including 341 species of trees [80] in a 2 ha plot of the Centre for Tropical Forest Science). Moreover, we extensively sampled the insect diversity in the reserve by placing multiple Malaise traps in primary, maturing secondary, and old secondary forests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mangroves are an overlooked hotspot of insect diversity despite low plant diversity

Yeo

Srivathsan

Puniamoorthy

et al. 2020

Preprint

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We here compare the tropical arthropod fauna across a freshwater swamp and six different forest types (rain-, swamp, dry-coastal, urban, freshwater swamp, mangroves) based on 140,000 specimens belonging to ca. 8,500 species. Surprisingly, we find that mangroves, a globally imperiled habitat that had been expected to be species-poor for insects, are an overlooked hotspot for insect diversity despite having low plant diversity. Mangroves are very species-rich (>3,000 species) and distinct (>50% of species are mangrove-specific) with high species turnover across Southeast and East Asia. Overall, plant diversity is a good predictor for insect diversity for most habitats, but mangroves compensate for the low number of phytophagous and fungivorous species by supporting an unusually rich community of predators whose larvae feed in the productive mudflats. For the remaining habitats, the insect communities have diversity patterns that are largely congruent across guilds. The discovery of such a sizeable and distinct insect fauna in a globally threatened habitat underlines how little is known about global insect biodiversity.

show abstract

Synthesis of results from the Comprehensive Biodiversity Survey of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore, with recommendations for management

Cited by 7 publications

References 38 publications

Mangroves are an overlooked hotspot of insect diversity despite low plant diversity

Mangroves are an overlooked hotspot of insect diversity despite low plant diversity

The plant diversity in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore

Mangroves are an overlooked hotspot of insect diversity despite low plant diversity

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