Research Alert
1. Most of the tropical lowland trees from the dipterocarpacae family in Indonesia’s forests have been fragmented and isolated due to excessive logging and forest fires.
2. Researchers looked at 11 dipterocarp species in Bukit Barisan National Park – 3 of them are critically endangered, 2 are endangered, 1 is vulnerable, and the others are not listed in the IUCN Red List – and found that they flower more than one cycle per year – different from other common dipterocarps’ that usually have a super-annual pattern or mass flowering.
3. Even though mass flowering and fruiting season are believed to represent an evolutionary adaptation for plants that face high mortality, the phenological pattern does not seem to have affected the population dynamics of dipterocarps.
WCS Media Contact: Stephen Sautner, 7182203682,
Study and Journal: from Tropical Ecosystems: Structure, Functions and Challenges in the Face of Global Change
WCS Co-Author(s): Noviar Andayani , Country Director, WCS Indonesia Program
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