Abstract
Adinandra belukar is a species-poor forest dominated by Adinandra dumosa (Theaceae) found in Singapore and southern Peninsular Malaysia. It is the product of secondary succession after exhaustive agricultural exploitation on land cleared of primary lowland rain forest. A high degree of similarity in vegetation between different sites was found for seven 225 m2 plots in a dinandra belukar in Singapore. Adinandra dumosa was dominant or codominant in all plots, generally found in association with the woody species Dillenia suffruticosa, Fagraea fragrans, and Rhodamnia cinerea, the climber Gynochthodes sublanceolata, the fern Dicranopteris linearis and the terrestrial orchid Bromheadia finlaysoniana. All sites had extremely acidic (pH 3.3–3.9) surface (0–20 cm) mineral soils with very low total nitrogen (0.06–0.14%) and total phosphorus (11–29 μg g-1) contents and very high carbon/nitrogen ratios (33–48). Adinandra belukar is interpreted as a heath forest because of its floristic and physiognomic similarities with this forest formation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allbrook, R. F., 1973. The soils of Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negri Sembilan. Malaysian Forester 36: 22–23.
Allen, S. E. 1989. Analysis of vegetation and other organic materials. In: Chemical analysis of ecological materials (ed S. E. Allen) pp. 46–61. (2nd edn) Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
Anon. 1976. Geology of the Republic of Singapore. Public Works Department, Singapore.
Ashton, P. S. 1964. Ecological Studies in the mixed dipterocarp forests of Brunei state. Oxford Forestry Memoirs 25.
Burkill, I. H. 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur.
Brünig, E. F. 1974. Ecological studies in the Kerangas forests of Sarawak and Brunei. Borneo Literature Bureau, Kuching.
Chandler, G. 1985. Mineralization and nitrification in three Malaysian forest soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 17: 347–353.
Corlett, R. T. 1988a. Bukit Timah: history and significance of a small rain forest reserve. Environmental Conservation 15: 347–353.
Corlett, R. T. 1988b. The naturalized flora of Singapore. Journal of Biogeography 15: 657–663.
Corlett, R. T. 1991a. Vegetation. In: The biophysical environment of Singapore (eds L.S. Chia, A. Rahman and D.B.H. Tay) pp. 134–154. Singapore University Press, Singapore.
Corlett, R. T. 1991b. Singapore. In: The conservation atlas of tropical forests: Asia and the Pacific pp. 211–215. Mac-Millan, London.
Corner, E. J. H. 1952. Wayside trees of Malaya. (2nd Edition). Government Printing Office, Singapore.
Dale, W. L. 1963. Surface temperatures in Malaya. Journal of Tropical Geography 17: 57–71.
Fong, F. W. 1977. Edaphic conditions under bertam (Eugeissona tristis Griff.) on seraya ridge forests. Tropical Ecology 18: 60–70.
Foth, H. D. & Ellis, B. G. 1988. Soil fertility. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Goodall, D. W. 1973. Sample similarity and species correlation. In: Ordination and classification of communities (ed. R. H. Whittaker) pp. 105–156. Dr W. Junk, The Hague.
Greig-Smith, P. 1952. Ecological observations on degraded and secondary forest in Trinidad, British West Indies. I. General features of the vegetation. Journal of Ecology 40: 283–315.
Holttum, R. E. 1954. Adinandra belukar. Malayan Journal of Tropical Geography 3: 27–32.
Howard, P. J. A. & Howard, D. M. 1990. Use of organic carbon and loss on ignition to estimate soil organic matter in different soil types and horizons. Biology and Fertility of Soils 9: 306–310.
Ives, D. W. 1977. Soils of the Republic of Singapore. New Zealand Soil Survey Report 36.
Jeffrey, D. W. 1987. Soil-plant relationships: an ecological approach. Croom Helm, London.
Kochummen, K. M. & Ng, F. S. P. 1977. Natural succession after farming in Kepong. Malaysian Forester 40: 61–78.
Mueller-Dombois, D. & Ellenberg, H. 1974. Aims and methods of vegetation ecology. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Müller, M. J. 1982. Selected climatic data for a global set of standard stations for vegetation science. Dr W. Junk, The Hague.
Nelson, D. W. & Sommers, L. E. 1982. Total carbon, organic carbon, and organic matter. In: Methods of soil analysis, Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties (ed A.L. Page) pp. 539–579. ASA-SSSA, Madison.
Panton, W. P. 1955. Soil survey report No. 2. A part of west Singapore Island. Malayan Agricultural Journal 38: 2–26.
Pearce, K. G. 1987. Vegetation of young secondary forest in relation to edaphic and climatic factors. Occasional Papers, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia No. 11.
Phua, P. B. & Corlett, R. T. 1989. Seed dispersal by the lesser short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis, Pteropodidae, Megachiroptera). Malayan Nature Journal 42: 251–256.
Proctor, J., Anderson, J. M., Chai, P. & Vallack, H. W. 1983. Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. I. Forest enviroment, structure and floristics. Journal of Ecology 71: 237–260.
Rahman, A. 1991. Solis. In: The biophysical environment of Singapore (eds L. S. Chia, A. Rahman and D. B. H. Tay) pp. 89–133. Singapore University Press, Singapore.
Rai, S. N. 1990. Restoration of degraded tropical rain forests of Western Ghats. Indian Forester 116: 179–188.
Rendig, V. V. & Taylor, H. M. 1989. Principles of soil-plant interrelationships. McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., New York.
Richards, P. W. 1952. Tropical rain forest—an ecological study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Ridley, H. N. 1930. The dispersal of plants throghout the World. L. Reeve & Co., Ashford.
Riswan, S. 1989. Trend of soil nutrient movements in two different soil types after clear-cut with or without burnt in Kalimantan, Indonesia. In: Nutrient management for food crop production in tropical farming systems (ed J. van der Heide) pp. 261–270. Institute for Soil Fertility, Haren, Netherlands.
Russell, E. W. 1973. Soil conditions and plant growth. Tenth Edition. Longman, London.
Sandrasegaran, K. 1971. Stocking and yield of Tiup-tiup (Adinandra dumosa Jack) in Johore, Malaysia. Research Pamphlet, Forest Research Institute, Kepong, No.60.
Turner, I. M. & Tan, H. T. W. 1991. Habitat-related variation in tree leaf form in four tropical forest types on Pulau Ubin, Singapore. Journal of Vegetation Science 2: 691–698.
Watts, I. E. M. 1955. Rainfall of Singapore Island. Journal of Tropical Geography 7: 1–71.
Wee, Y. C. 1964. A note on the vegetation of Singapore Island. Malayan Forester 27: 257–66.
Wee, Y. C. & Corlett, R. T. 1986. The city and the forest, plant life in urban Singapore. Singapore University Press, Singapore.
Wells, N. 1977. The role of soils in the utilisation of sewage sludge in Singapore. New Zealand Soil Bureau Scientific Report 30.
Wells, N. & Leamy, M. L. 1980. Genetic properties of Singapore soils and their implications for soil management. In: Proceedings of the conference on classification and management of tropical soils (ed K. T. Joseph) pp. 230–243. Malaysian Society of Soil Science, Kuala Lumpur.
Whitmore, T. C. 1975. Tropical rain forests of the Far East. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Whitmore, T. C. 1989. Tropical forest nutrients, where do we stand? A tour de horizon. In: Mineral nutrients in tropical forest and savanna ecosystems (ed J. Proctor) pp. 1–13. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
Wyatt-Smith, J. 1963. A manual of Malayan silviculture for inland forests. Malayan Forest Records 30.
Yamakura, T. & Sahunalu, P. 1990. Soil carbon/nitrogen ratio as a site quality index for some South-East Asian forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6: 371–378.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sim, J.W.S., Tan, H.T.W. & Turner, I.M. Adinandra belukar: an anthropogenic heath forest in Singapore. Vegetatio 102, 125–137 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044729
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044729