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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
The diversity of hemi-epiphytic figs (Ficus; Moraceae) in a Bornean lowland rain forest
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 78, No. 4, Year 2003
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Description
The diversity and niche specificity of hemi-epiphytic figs in a lowland dipterocarp forest in Sarawak were investigated in 1998. Twenty-seven fig species (264 individuals, c. 120 ha) colonized a diversity of host taxa (35 families), but densities were very low and only 1.77% of trees >30 cm d.b.h. were occupied. There were no significant associations with host taxa or host-bark roughness but among 11 common species (≥9 individuals) the distributions of all other parameters (host-d.b.h., height and position of colonization, crown illumination, soil-texture and slope-angle) were significantly different, and we identified five fig guilds. The guilds corresponded to canopy strata, and appeared to reflect the establishment microsite requirements of different species. A fundamental trade-off within the hemiepiphytic habit was revealed: Species colonizing larger hosts were rarer, because of lower host densities and more specific microsite requirements, but had better light environments and attained a larger maximum size. The single strangler species appeared to escape many of these constraints, and an important source of mortality caused by host-toppling, indicating the advantages of this strategy. Thus, the hemi-epiphytic figs in this community have come to fill a remarkable diversity of niches, despite low levels of competition, through the exigencies of a complex environment. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London.
Authors & Co-Authors
Harrison, Rhett D.
Japan, Kyoto
Kyoto University
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
LaFrankie, James V.
Singapore, Singapore City
Nanyang Technological University
Lee, Huaseng
Malaysia, Sandakan
Forest Research Centre - Sandakan
Nagamasu, Hidetoshi
Japan, Kyoto
Kyoto University
Statistics
Citations: 39
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1046/j.0024-4066.2002.00205.x
ISSN:
00244066