Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment

Tambunan, Malaysia

Site Manager

Dr. Homathevi Rahman

Dr. Mohamed Maryati
Director
Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation
University of Malaysia Sabah
Locked Bag 2073
88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Malaysia
Fax: (+60) 88 435311

Site Description

Mahua is located within the Crocker Range National Park (CRNP) which is on the southern section of the Crocker Mountain Range in Northwest Borneo, Sabah, Malaysia (Isa et al., 2001). A large extent of tropical rainforest highland divides the west coast of Sabah from the remote interior regions of the state. The Crocker Range consists of several rugged and uninhabitable peaks over 1500 m, including Gunung (G) Alab (1964 m), G. Tambuyukon (2579m), G. Trusmadi (2642m) and G. Kinabalu (4218m) (Isa et al., 2001). The rich forest resources that have been most vulnerable to unsustainable exploitation here include both timber and non-timber products. In an effort to conserve the integrity of the forest habitats of Crocker Range, the Sabah State government had declared two National Parks within the range, the Crocker Range National Park (to the southwest) and Kinabalu Park (to the north) (Isa et al., 2001).

Site Location

Using GPS,the exact site location is N 05-47.790 E 116-24.407.

Site Area

25 ha

Site Elevation

Site elevation is 3528 feet (1075 m AMSL).

Annual Rainfall

1997-2002: 1956 mm.

Annual Temperature

Soil

orthic acrisol (FAO) over sandstone

Native Forest/Vegetation Types

Vegetation type is tropical lower montane forest. Research by Ipor et al. (1999) showed that the vegetation at Mahua MDF exhibit moderate diversity of tree species despite having high density of plants. The species composition is considered moderately diverse, dominated by Duabanga moluccana. Other co-dominant species are Knema ashtonii, Agathis lanceolata, Lithocarpus cantleyanus and Litsea ochracca. Other less dominant species are Xanthophyllum schizocarpum, Baringtonia sarcostachys, Shorea maxwelliana, Alseodaphne insignis, Litsea resinosa, Beilsmedia pauciflora, Alseodaphne foxiana, Endiandra kingiana and Litsea machilifolia.

Principal Biome/Ecoregion

moist tropical forest (Holdridge)

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This webpage is funded by the Soil Science Society of America.

Please contact the GLIDE headquarters (email: glide@nrel.colostate.edu) if you have any comments or questions.

GLIDE was a project of the International Biodiversity Observation Year 2001-2002

This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 98 06437 Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.