The plant diversity in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore

Abstract

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.

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

“…Only the canopy height of 5 some sites in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) was higher, but for BTNR we also 6 included secondary forests and several traps were placed on steep slopes that would be 7 able to sample canopy-active fauna from a lower elevation. With regard to the habitat 8 patches, the fragments were larger for the rainforest and swamp forest than for any of the 9 mangrove sites (tropical rainforest: 1.64 km 2 ; swamp forest: 5 km 2 , mangrove forest 0 fragments: 0.904 km 2 week's worth of insects preserved in molecular grade ethanol. After an ethanol change, the 3 specimens were sorted to order/family level by para-taxonomists, and specimens from 16 4 arthropod orders were extracted for barcoding ( Fig.…”

“…More than half of its species 8 are not found in other habitats, even though coastal forests are adjacent to mangroves. 9 Indeed, after adjusting for sampling effort, the species diversity in Singapore's premier 0 rainforest reserve (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve: 1.64 km 2 ) and largest swamp forest 1 remnant (Nee Soon: 5 km 2 ) is only 50% higher than the diversity of major mangrove sites 2 (PU: 0.904 km 2 , SB: 1.168 km 2 , SM: 0.174 km 2 ). The high diversity encountered in the 3 mangrove sites was particularly unexpected because the rainforests of Bukit Timah Nature 4…”

“…Insects are currently experiencing anthropogenic biodiversity meltdowns with declines having attracted much attention [1][2][3][4] and controversy [5][6][7][8][9][10]. The controversy is 4 largely due to the paucity of high-quality data for arthropods, which is also responsible for 4 imprecise estimates of global animal species richness [11,12] and understanding species The situation is particularly dire for the species-rich tropics, for which so few well known for vertebrates and vascular plants [33,34], but the invertebrate diversity is largely 6 unknown.…”

Butterflies of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore, and its vicinity

“…This very rare Hesperiid is a resident of deep shaded forest habitats, particularly where its caterpillar host plant, Eugeissona tristis or bertam palm grows. At transect T1, a caterpillar of this species was found feeding on the leaves of a palm, presumably Oncosperma horridum, as the bertam palm has never been recorded from Singapore (see Ho et al, 2019). It was collected, but unfortunately did not survive to adulthood.…”

“…& G.Forst. (see Ho et al, 2019) and may help to support the continued survival of the Blue Helen in Singapore.…”