Title

Long-term litter production in a lowland dipterocarp forest, Peninsular Malaysia from 1992 to 2017

Authors

Kaoru Niiyama¹*, Azizi Ripin², Masatoshi Yasuda³, Tamotsu Sato¹, Nur Hajar Zamah Shari ⁴

1 Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

2 Green Forest Resources, No.31, Jalan Kemboja 4A/1 Bukit Sentosa 3, 48300 Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia

3 Kyushu Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kurokami 4-11-16, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto, 860-0862, Japan

4 Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong, Selangor, 52109, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: Dr. Kaoru Niiyama

Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

E-mail: niiya@ffpri.affrc.go.jp

Tel.: +81 29 829-8223

Abstract

Tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia dominated by Dipterocarpaceae show a unique reproductive event, general flowering. This paper records long-term seed production of a tropical rainforest in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. Study site is a lowland dipterocarp forest dominated by Dipterocarpaceae and Fabaceae. Seed and other litter production data is essential for analyzing general flowering and evaluating NPP (Net Primary Production) of rainforest ecosystems under climate change. Unfortunately, there is a lack of long-term litter production data in Dipterocarp forests. This paper presents such a long-term litter data from 1992 to 2017. We collected litter samples every month from May 1992 to December 2017 in Pasoh F.R., Peninsular Malaysia (2ﾟ59´N, 102ﾟ18´E, 120-152 m a.s.l.). Litter was collected using 100 litter traps spaced evenly within a 2-ha core area of the 6-ha study plot. Each litter trap was made of 1 mm mesh with a circular area of 0.5 m² from 8 May 1992 to 22 December 1998. Then litter trap was changed to a square type with 4 mm mesh until now. Litter samples were collected and separated to leaf, flower, seed and others (debris). After sorting litter samples were dried at 85°C for 48 h and weighed. Seeds and flowers were separated according to tentative morphological types and identified. This data paper contains two data sets. Litter data set contains weight of each litter fractions. Seed data set contains number and weight of morphological seed types and identified scientific name.

Key words

• General flowering
• Litter production
• Long-term litter data
• Lowland dipterocarp forest
• Net primary production
• Pasoh Forest Reserve
• Peninsular Malaysia
• Seed production
• Tropical rainforest

Introduction

Litter production of dipterocarp forests in Southeast Asia is an important basic parameter for analyzing long-term pattern of general flowering and evaluating NPP (Net primary production) of the forests. Dipterocarp forests have a unique reproductive trait. They perform community-wide general flowering and mast seeding phenomena at irregular intervals (Appanah 1985; Sakai et al. 2006). These phenomena should be tested based on the long-term dataset of litter production and meteorological data. Litter production data is also important elements of NPP in ecological summation method (Ogawa 1978). Climate change may influence patterns of litter production, frequency and magnitude of general flowering and NPP fluctuations (Noguchi et al. 2016; Numata et al. 2013).

This paper archives long-term litter production data in a lowland dipterocarp forest. Litter production was measured by 100 litter traps in a 2-ha core plot within the 6-ha study plot (Niiyama et al. 2003) in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan from 1992 to 2017. This litter production study is continued at the present time.

Metadata

1. TITLE

Long-term litter production in a lowland dipterocarp forest, Peninsular Malaysia from 1992 to 2017

2. IDENTIFIER

ERDP-2018-08

3. CONTRIBUTOR

A. Data Set Owner

A-1 Litter production:

A-2 Seed production:

Kaoru NIIYAMA

Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Address: Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

Tel.: +81 29 829-8223

Fax: +81 29 874-3720

E-mail: niiya@ffpri.affrc.go.jp

B. Contact Person

B-1 Litter production:

B-2 Seed production:

Kaoru NIIYAMA

Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Address: Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

Tel.: +81 29 829-8223

Fax: +81 29 874-3720

E-mail: niiya@ffpri.affrc.go.jp

4. PROJECTS

A. Titles

1 Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (Analysis of the environment and structure of the ecosystem of tropical forest)

2 Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (Deterring indicators for sustainable management of tropical forest)

3 Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (Optimizing the sustainable management of tropical forests)

4 Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (Research on the rehabilitation in the landscape level of degraded tropical forests)

5 Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-1; Integrated Study for Terrestrial Carbon Management of Asia in the 21st Century Based on Scientific Advancement)

6 A Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 19255012)

7 A Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 24255014)

8 Global Environmental Research Account for National Institute (Advancement of East Asia Forest Dynamics Plots Network -Monitoring forest carbon cycling for the development of climate change adaptation)

9 Global Environmental Research Account for National Institute (Long-term monitoring of forest carbon dynamics in East Asia)

B. Personal

Projects 1-7

Kaoru NIIYAMA

Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Address: Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

Tel.: +81 29 829-8223

Fax: +81 29 874-3720

E-mail: niiya@ffpri.affrc.go.jp

Projects 8, 9

Tamotsu SATO

Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Address: Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan

Tel.: +81 29 829-8222

Fax: +81 29 874-3720

E-mail: satoo@affrc.go.jp

C. Funding

1 Environmental Agency of Japan

2 Environmental Agency of Japan

3 Environmental Agency of Japan

4 Ministry of the Environment of Japan

5 Ministry of the Environment of Japan

6 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

7 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

8 Ministry of the Environment of Japan

9 Ministry of the Environment of Japan

5. GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

A. Geographic Description

Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia

B. Geographical Position:

(2ﾟ59´N, 102ﾟ18´E)

6. TEMPORAL COVERAGE

A. Begin

8 May 1992

B. End

23 December 2017

7. METHODS

A. Study site

We collected litter production every month from 8 May 1992 to 23 December 2017 in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia (2ﾟ59´N, 102ﾟ18´E, 120-152 m a.s.l.). The study site was near to Simpang Pertang, Negeri Sembilan (ca. 110 km south-east of Kuala Lumpur). The Pasoh Forest Reserve is the most intensively investigated site of lowland dipterocarp forest in Southeast Asia (Ashton et al. 2003; Chen et al. 2017; Hoshizaki et al. 2004; Kato et al. 1978; Kira 1969, 1978; Kira & Shidei 1967; Kochummen et al. 1990; Manokaran et al. 1991; Numata et al. 2012; Okuda et al. 2003; Yasuda 1998; Yasuda et al. 1999). More than 800 tree species are present in the reserve (Kochummen et al. 1990, Manokaran et al. 1991), including large trees of Dipterocarpaceae and Fabaceae species, such as Dipterocarpus cornutus and Koompassia malaccensis, which grow up to ca. 50 m tall.

The mean annual rainfall at the study site was 1800 mm during 1996 –2015 (Marryanna et al. 2017) and the mean annual air temperature was 25.4°C during 1997–2011 (Noguchi et al. 2016). The Pasoh forest is a relatively dry inland dipterocarp forest when compared to the western and eastern sides of Peninsular Malaysia (Burgess 1972; Numata et al. 2013) and Borneo (Sakai et al. 1999). January to March and July to September are relatively dry months in Pasoh forest.

This study site is described in detail in the book entitled "Pasoh" (Niiyama et al. 2003). Canopy gap dynamics of the site was already reported (Numata et al. 2006).

B. Measurement methods

B-1. Litter production

Litter was collected using 100 litter traps spaced evenly within a 2-ha core area of the 6-ha study plot (Fig. 1). This 2-ha core area called "Plot 1" (100 m x 200 m) was established in 1970 (Wong & Whitmore 1970) and studied by Ashton (Ashton 1976). A part of Plot 1, 0.2 ha was clearly cut for biomass estimation under the study of International Biological Program in 1973 (Kato et al. 1978). All trees >5 cm in d.b.h. in the 6-ha plot including Plot 1 were tagged, measured, and identified every two years since 1994 (Niiyama et al. 2003). Each litter trap was made of 1 mm mesh with a circular area of 0.5 m² and was positioned at a height of 1.0 m from 8 May 1992 to 22 December 1998. Then litter trap was changed to a square type. Square litter traps made of 4 mm mesh with an area of 0.5 m² were used from December 1998 until now. Litter samples were collected every month and separated to leaf, flower, seed and others. After sorting litter samples were dried at 85°C for >48 h and weighed. "Seed" includes all seed and fruit organ. "Others" includes all of debris shedded from trees and small branches less than 1 cm in diameter. Samples were separated and weighted at a laboratory of FRIM (Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia), Kepong, Selangor. We lost litter samples or data by accidents in 23 November 1998 (31 days), 21 September 1999 (31 days), 21 February (32 days) and 22 March 2001 (29 days), and 3 September 2012 (98 days). Such data should be interpolated by the data before and after the accidents. Intervals of litter collection were sometimes changed owing to the large amount of litter under general flowering and the schedule of field assistants. Intervals ranged from 6 to 77 days and the mean interval was 30 days. Interval from 20 to 40 days were eighty six percent of the interval. Traps were sometimes broken by fallen logs and monkey and human activities. "NA" means not available data by such accidents. Litter samples were collected using paper bags made in Japan (Daishowa Seishi summit bag #14).

Upon the initiation of the project, M. Yasuda established 100 litter traps in 8 May 1992 and maintained traps until 1999. K. Kimura managed litter data until 1997. K. Hoshizaki maintained traps from 1999 to 2001 and K. Niiyama continued litter trap study from 2002 to the present.

Figure 1. Location of 100 litter traps in a 2-ha core area (100 m x 200 m) of the 6-ha plot (200 m x 300 m)

B-2. Seed production

Identification of seeds and flowers are very difficult. First, we separated seeds and flowers to tentative morphological types. Laboratory assistants in Forestry Institute of Malaysia (FRIM, here after) counted and weighed flowers and seeds based on such tentative seed and flower types. These assistants were not botanists. K. Kimura, M. Sasaki and K. Maeda (Fukushima University, Japan) contributed the seed and flower type collection and their identification to species level. Identified seed types to family and species levels were 64% and 48% of total seed weight from 1992 to 2017. K. Maeda who was a master course student of Fukushima University used seed production data from 1992 to 2005 and wrote the master thesis (Maeda 2006).

Seed production data consist of seed number and seed weight of each seed types. However, the total seed weight in each trap was measured in 1992 and 1993 only. Traps contained some seed types but weight of each seed types was not available. In this case weight of each seed type was estimated from the seed number.

 Morphological flower types were not described from 1992 to 2001. Morphological seed types were not available in 1997. These morphological types ("morpho_type" in Data sequence) were tentative naming for assistants in FRIM. Although same code of morphological type means a same taxonomical group, there is a possibility of synonym among these codes. We could not identify all morphological types. Please use "species", "genus" and "family" name in Data sequence for analysis. Data set of litter production covers all collection days, but seed production data set does not contain the collection days having no seeds and flowers. In this paper, species nomenclature follows "Tree flora of Pasoh forest "(Kochummen 1997) and "A catalogue of the vascular plants of Malaya" (Turner 1995).

8. DATA STRUCTURE

A. Format type

The data files are formatted in comma-separated values (csv) format.

B. Naming rules of the data files

B-1. Litter production

The data files are named "1992_2017_Pasoh_litter.csv".

B-2. Seed production

The data files are named "1992_2017_Pasoh_seed.csv".

C. Header information

C-1. Litter production

Line 1 describes the dataset.

C-2. Seed production

Line 1 describes the dataset.

D. Data sequence

D-1. Litter production

In data file"1992_2017_Pasoh_litter.csv", the columns include the following data:

Note: "NA" means not available.

D-2. Seed production

In data file"1992_2017_Pasoh_seed.csv", the columns include the following data:

Note: "NA" means not available. "sp. " is unidentified specific name at genus level. "Unid." is unidentified sample.

9. ACCESSIBILITY

License

This dataset is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

10. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Forestry Department of Negeri Sembilan and Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) for permission to use the study site in Pasoh. We profoundly thank the late Profs. K. Yoda, H. Ogawa, A. Furukawa and T. Kira for encouraging our studies in Pasoh. We also thank Drs. T. Okuda, Y. Morikawa, S. Kobayashi, Y. Matsumoto, S. Appanah, H. Ismail, Rahim Nik, L. G. Saw, C. D. Fletcher for their leadership on NIES/FRM/UPM projects. We thank Drs. T. Yagihashi, Y. Maruyama, H. Tanouchi, N. Ohsawa, S. Sasaki, S. Noguchi, N. Adachi, M. Ichikawa, S. Nishimura, for their kind support during our field study in Malaysia. We also greatly thank Drs. K. Kosugi, S. Iida, K. Maeda, K. Kimura and K. Hoshizaki for collaboration. We deeply thank late Dr. Abdul Rahman Kassim for managing our activities in FRIM and Pasoh F.R.. We appreciate  Hamidah Wahab, Asnah Hashim, Norhayati Omar, Izawaty Ishak, Dahlila Daham, Norbiaton Omar, Tuan Nor Azmira Tuan Yusoff, Najiyatul Amani Mahshini and Noraini Nordin for litter separation and identification to seed types. This study was funded by Environmental Agency of Japan and Ministry of the Environment, Japan through the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (grant nos. E-1, E-1, E-3, E-4 and S-1) and the Environment Research Account for National Institute (grant nos. 0951, 1443). This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 19255012, No. 24255014) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan.

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