Abstract
The pantropical network of large tree demography plots coordinated by the Smithsonian’s Center for Tropical Forest Science has now gone global, as part of the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories. Some four million tropical trees, representing about 10,000 species, are now tagged, provisionally identified and periodically recensused. Some 3,000 species are captured in the six plots within Malesia. These include species rarely collected and many that are now endangered. Easy location of trees for periodic examination for fertile material and detailed ecological data, together with seasoned in-country research teams, provide unique opportunities for research collaboration.
Highlights
All terrestrial life is dependent on the primary producers – which are plants
The most hyperdiverse terrestrial ecosystems are some of the lowland rain forests of Malesia, and those of northern Borneo have recently been shown by rigorous quantitative comparison (Slik et al, 2015) to be the most species-diverse in the world, even more so than the upper Amazon
The plant taxonomists of Malesia have a responsibility of global importance, because they alone have the knowledge required to explore and identify the remaining forests of Malesia which are of global importance for their species diversity, unique flora – and, by inference, dependent fauna
Summary
The diversity of life – biodiversity – is dependent on the diversity of plants. The plant taxonomists of Malesia have a responsibility of global importance, because they alone have the knowledge required to explore and identify the remaining forests of Malesia which are of global importance for their species diversity, unique flora – and, by inference, dependent fauna. How much government or charitable funding is invested in palaeontological research? There was a period during which some Malesian forests were managed for sustainable production of timber, in particular species for which demand was greatest. Most of their biodiversity was thereby conserved. Excepting some forests in Sabah, notably Deramakot Forest Reserve and the Mangkuwagu Community
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