STERLING*, MUIR, JAMES V. LA FRANKIE**, AND SHAWN K.Y. LUM***.* *Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Aberdeen, , Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom, **Center for Tropical Forest Science, Asia Program, c/o National Institute of Education, Singapore 259756, ***School of Science, National Institute of Education, Singapore 259756. - Patterns of rattan distribution in a primary forest in Singapore.
Rattan palms are a major feature of Asian tropical rainforests.
Whilst permanent forest plots in the tropics concentrate on tree
distribution, we were curious as to whether climbing palms exhibited
any discernible patterns of distribution. In a preliminary effort,
all rattans occurring in a 2-hectare permanent plot in the Bukit Timah
Nature Reserve, Singapore, were tagged, mapped and identified. Over a
dozen species of rattan were found in the plot, and there were some
interesting patterns of both abundance and distribution.
Key words: abundance, distribution, rattans