o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

L.G. SAW & R.C.K. CHUNG (2007)
Table 3. Summary of the flora of Borneo based on Masamune’s checklist
Checklists Groups Families Genera Species
Masamune (1945) Ferns & fern allies 118 963
Masamune (1942) Gymnosperms 5 7 34
Dicots 133 996 4,997
Monocots 29 307 2,170
Total 167 1,428 8,164
in 1991 was very significant as it was for the first time, a modern floristic approach was used
in a systematic fashion to enumerate the trees species (Soepadmo & Wong 1995). Apart from
these enumerations, the other sources of information on the flora of Malaysia are from the
Flora Malesiana Series I & II for seed plants and ferns and other scattered publications.
Based upon the above discussion, the flora for Peninsular Malaysia now stands over 8,300
species with recent updates from Turner (1997) (e.g., Turner 2000, Latiff & Turner 2001a,
2001b, 2001c, 2001d, 2002a, 2002b, 2003, Kamarudin & Turner 2004). This is a relatively
accurate estimate and provides a relatively good understanding of the actual flora for Peninsular
Malaysia. For Sabah and Sarawak, however, it is more difficult to arrive at an accurate figure.
Most estimates are for Borneo (e.g. Merrill (1921) estimated about 9,000 species, Masamune
(1942, 1945) enumerated about 8,200 species and more recently Wong (1995a) estimated a
flora of between Merrill’s 9,000 and 15,000 species). Kiew (1984) stressed the urgency for
the Bornean flora where at the time of her review, no singular project has been initiated for
Borneo. As mentioned earlier, the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak is the most important
modern taxonomic project for Borneo. Since its inception in 1991, five volumes have been
published and the estimation based on the revision from volumes 1 to 5 provides an indication
of the diversity of the Bornean flora. Table 4 provides a comparison of the Tree Flora of Sabah
and Sarawak with the Flora of Malaya comparing similar families and their enumeration.
Table 4. Comparing revisions of similar families of the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak with
the Tree Flora of Malaya (figures for Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak were extracted from
volumes 1–5 included 2 single-species families not found in the Tree Flora of Malaya; figures
for Tree Flora of Malaya volumes 1-4 with updates from Turner (1997))
TFSS Tree Flora of Sabah & Tree Flora of Malaya Species
Volumes Sarawak common to
Families Genera Species Families Genera Species both regions
1 31 99 312 31 91 227 152
2 23 75 247 21 63 186 116
3 4 29 358 4 27 246 139
4 6 21 292 6 21 202 106
5 4 25 361 4 27 225 132
Total 68 249 1,570 66 229 1,086 645
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