WOODY PLANTS ON DUNE LANDSCAPE OF TERENGGANU, PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Abstract

JAMILAH MS, NUR-FAIEZAH AG, SITI KEHIRAH A, SITI MARIAM MN & RAZALI MS. 2014. Woody plants on dune landscape of Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. The coastal landscape of Terengganu is dominated by dune landscape formed on dune ridge-originated soil. It supports three distinct natural vegetation types, namely, lowland mixed dipterocarp forest, heath vegetation and Melaleuca swamp. A study was conducted to update the checklist of woody plant species in the first two formations. A belt transect plot of 50 m × 100 m was set up at the Jambu Bongkok Forest Reserve to enumerate trees with 5 cm and larger diameter at breast height (dbh). In the heath vegetation, two belt transect plots of 20 m × 20 m were established at each site of Jambu Bongkok and Lembah Bidong. A total of 44 species from 22 families of woody plants were documented with Shorea materialis (Dipterocarpaceae) dominating in Jambu Bongkok, suggesting that site soil conditions might favour this species over other common coastal species. Most trees had stem diameter of 6–15 cm dbh with only 18 from 451 stems measuring > 50 cm. Soil conditions might limit tree growth resulting in a more uniform stem size. Heath vegetation in Jambu Bongkok supported higher diversity of woody plants than Lembah Bidong. Woody species from 10 families present at both sites could be indicator species for dune landscapes. This paper provides an updated checklist of woody plants on dune landscape of Terengganu.