What Is Bukit Timah Nature Reserve?
Large trees have higher growth rates in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Introduction
Tropical rainforests are one of the most endangered habitats in the world. Many factors threaten these forests, possibly leading to deforestation and decrease of species within a forest. In South-East Asia, the point where tropical rainforests can only exist as preserved fragments in nature reserves is approaching very fast (Aiken & Leigh, 1985). One example is a nature reserve named “Bukit Timah” in Singapore.
Next to the problem of habitat loss, fragmentation can cause a lot of other trouble to species living in the remaining parts of the forest by increasing side effects in the forest (Murcia, 1995). First of all, fragmentation can cause parts of a forest to …show more content…
Inside the forest is a mixture between coastal hill dipterocarps and lowland dipterocarps (Corlett, 1988). The amount of fauna individuals has decreased by 50% due to both habitat loss and poaching (Corlett, 1995, Lim, 1992). So is the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve isolated from the close by forest in the Central Catchment Reserve because of the construction of urban buildings and human transport networks (Ercelawn, 1998). In Bukit Timah the fern species that are very dependent on the moist soils are feared to disappear due to the increasing temperatures (Wee, 1995). In Bukit Timah it is believed that these increased winds are causing a higher mortality rate in recruiting trees.
This plot was divided in 50 quadrats and all trees within these quadrats were tagged and scored for their species, diameter at breast height and their status (alive or not) (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 2005).
Data …show more content…
When looking at recruitment rate, trees of different size classes do not seem to differ significantly between 1993 and 1995 in comparison to years between 1995 and 2004 (p<0.05, two way ANOVA). However, when looking at recruitment rate over the entire time span (1993-2004), the small trees have a significantly higher recruitment rate than the medium and large trees (p<0.05, two way ANOVA).
Furthermore, for mortality rate, there was no significant difference between the size groups within the 1993-1995 and 1995-2004 time span (p<0.05, two way ANOVA). Nonetheless, mortality rate between 1993 and 2004 turned out to be significantly higher for small sized trees compared to medium sized trees (p<0.05, two way ANOVA).
Small and medium sized trees did not appear to be significantly different in any time interval (p<0.05, two way ANOVA). In contrast, large trees proved to grow significantly more over all time intervals (1993-1995, 1995-2004 & 1993-2004) than small and medium sized trees (p<0.05, two way
Introduction
Tropical rainforests are one of the most endangered habitats in the world. Many factors threaten these forests, possibly leading to deforestation and decrease of species within a forest. In South-East Asia, the point where tropical rainforests can only exist as preserved fragments in nature reserves is approaching very fast (Aiken & Leigh, 1985). One example is a nature reserve named “Bukit Timah” in Singapore.
Next to the problem of habitat loss, fragmentation can cause a lot of other trouble to species living in the remaining parts of the forest by increasing side effects in the forest (Murcia, 1995). First of all, fragmentation can cause parts of a forest to …show more content…
Inside the forest is a mixture between coastal hill dipterocarps and lowland dipterocarps (Corlett, 1988). The amount of fauna individuals has decreased by 50% due to both habitat loss and poaching (Corlett, 1995, Lim, 1992). So is the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve isolated from the close by forest in the Central Catchment Reserve because of the construction of urban buildings and human transport networks (Ercelawn, 1998). In Bukit Timah the fern species that are very dependent on the moist soils are feared to disappear due to the increasing temperatures (Wee, 1995). In Bukit Timah it is believed that these increased winds are causing a higher mortality rate in recruiting trees.
This plot was divided in 50 quadrats and all trees within these quadrats were tagged and scored for their species, diameter at breast height and their status (alive or not) (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 2005).
Data …show more content…
When looking at recruitment rate, trees of different size classes do not seem to differ significantly between 1993 and 1995 in comparison to years between 1995 and 2004 (p<0.05, two way ANOVA). However, when looking at recruitment rate over the entire time span (1993-2004), the small trees have a significantly higher recruitment rate than the medium and large trees (p<0.05, two way ANOVA).
Furthermore, for mortality rate, there was no significant difference between the size groups within the 1993-1995 and 1995-2004 time span (p<0.05, two way ANOVA). Nonetheless, mortality rate between 1993 and 2004 turned out to be significantly higher for small sized trees compared to medium sized trees (p<0.05, two way ANOVA).
Small and medium sized trees did not appear to be significantly different in any time interval (p<0.05, two way ANOVA). In contrast, large trees proved to grow significantly more over all time intervals (1993-1995, 1995-2004 & 1993-2004) than small and medium sized trees (p<0.05, two way