Checklist of Vascular Plants from Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia

Check List 10(6): 1420–1429, 2014 © 2014 Check List and Authors Chec List ISSN 1809-127X (available at www.biotaxa.org/cl) Journal of species lists and distribution PECIES S Malaysia OF Checklist of vascular plants from Batu Caves, Selangor, ISTS Ruth Kiew L The Herbarium, Forest Research Institute Malaysia, 52109 Kepong, Selangor, Malaysia [email protected] E-mail: Abstract: are Peninsular Malaysian endemics and 80 species (30%) are calciphiles of which 56 (21%) are obligate calciphiles and 26 The vascular plant flora of Batu Caves, a tower karst limestone formation, includes 269 species; 51 species (19%) species are obligate calciphiles endemic to Peninsular Malaysia. Four taxa are endemic to Batu Caves itself. That Batu Caves harbours a sizeable fraction (21.4%) of Peninsular Malaysia’s limestone flora underlines the need for detailed checklists of each and every limestone hill to enable adequate planning of conservation programmes to support biodiversity. Because species.botanical Although collecting designated began in the as 1890s,a Public Batu Recreation Caves is importantArea, its protection as the type status locality needs of 24 to plant be enforced species. andLand-use the boundaries pressures clearlyhave over marked. time eliminated the surrounding native vegetation, leaving the flora vulnerable to aggressive weedy and alien 10.15560/10.6.1420 DOI: Introduction common species, for example, species of Dipterocarpaceae, o o the dominant tree family in Malaysian rain forest, are is a limestone tower karst formation 11 km northeast of hardly represented on limestone, and in calciphile species the Batucapital Caves Kuala (3 Lumpur.14′ N, 101 It 41′rises E), to or 329 Gua m Batu tall and(in Malay), covers that are restricted to growing on limestone substrate, and about 2.59 km2. This massif with its vertical cliffs and craggy (c) in its high level of endemism—21.4% of species (Chin 1977). Saw et al. (2009) considered that the limestone most famous for the Sri Subramaniaswamy Temple that at thesummit Thaipusam is a dominant festival is landscape visited by hundredsfeature. Batu of thousands Caves is Peninsular Malaysia because of its lack of legal protection of devotees who climb the 277 steps up to the Temple Cave. andflora threatsis one offrom the quarryingmost endangered and disturbance vegetation resultingtypes in from land use changes. important for its cave ecosystems and associated fauna (MoseleyBesides its et cultural al importance as a religious site, it is also Caves when in 1891 he discovered three new species (AdenoncosH.J. Kelsall parviflora was the, Paraboeafirst collector paniculata of plants and from P. verticil Batu . 2012) and for its flora (Wycherley 1972). lata). Ridley has made the most comprehensive collections collectedBatu Caves guano has from been the exploited caves (Yussof commercially 1997). Quarrying for a very when he visited in June 1889, December 1896, July and forlong limestone time. At first had alreadyby Chinese started farmers by 1889 who when since H.N. the Ridley1860s August 1897, August 1908 and December 1920 and described many new species (Wycherley 1972). Then it Caves was designated as a Public Recreational Area in 1930,first investigated quarry licenses the caves, continued flora and to befauna. leased Although in spite Batu of but since this time quarrying has left sheer rock faces wherewas apparently previously easier there to accesswere accessiblethe summit gullies of Batu leading Caves, Caves Protection Association and the Malayan Nature to the summit. Now the collector is faced by precipitous Society.lobbying Only for thewhen total quarrying protection caused of the rock massif falls byin the DarkBatu was still surrounded by pristine lowland forest, although coffeerock faces. plantations Ridley collectedand later at arubber time whentree Batuplantations Caves industryCave adjacent and temple to the Temple buildings Cave with did very quarrying little if finally any of stop the originalin 1981. vegetationBatu Caves thatis now surrounded surrounded the by foot residential, of the tower light extinctionwere expanding of a plant towards species, Batu EchinodorusCaves. This forestridleyi has Steenis long Area is lacking and its boundaries are not clearly marked (Alismataceae),since been completely in Malaysia. cleared To causingdate, due the to first its proximityrecorded sokarst. that Enforcement intrusions go of unchecked. its status as a Public Recreational to Kuala Lumpur, more than 35 botanists have sporadically due to (a) its species richness—14% of Peninsular Malaysia’sThe limestone species flora occur in Malaysiaon the 0.04% is botanically of land important area that probablycollected thespecimens best collected from Batu tower Caves karst and hills their in Peninsular research limestone covers (Chin 1977), the result of the many Malaysia.continues Wycherleyto add new (1972) records. provided In fact, a partial Batu list Caves of 199 is different microhabitats stacked on a single limestone vascular plant species collected by Ridley. hill (Kiew 1991); (b) it is distinctly different in species The aim of this updated checklist is to consolidate composition compared with other forest types both in its what is known of the flora of Batu Caves both from 1420the Kiew | Plants from Batu Caves, Malaysia many diverse literature sources as well as from herbarium Epithema parvibracteatum, Pararuellia sumatrensis var. specimens. This is necessary as a basis for drawing up ridleyi, Pseuderanthemum lilacinum and Rhaphidophora conservation management programmes as well as for burkillana tracking the decline or loss of species and the invasion of ● 3 local endemic species that are obligate calciphiles and aggressive alien or weedy species. Materials and Methods are only known fromMaxburretia Batu Caves rupicola and the, nearbyOphiorrhiza Bukit The checklist is based on a search of the literature fruticosaTakun and and Bukit Paraboea Anak Takun paniculata that lie about 10 km north (Henderson 1939, Wycherley 1972, and Chin 1977, ● vofery Batu rare speciesCaves— found on one or two other limestone 1979, 1983a, b are major works, but there are also many hills, e.g., Impatiens ridleyi that house major collections of specimens collected is known only from Batu specialist articles on specific species) and herbaria OtherCaves andrare fromspecies Gunung that are Senyum, not obligate Pahang. calciphiles but are of conservation importance are Herbarium,from Batu ForestCaves, Researchnamely TheInstitute Singapore Malaysia, Herbarium, Kepong, ● Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore (SING); the Kepong Begonia phoeniogramma, Beaumontia4 narrowly endemic murdochii species, Piper confined argyrites to andan area Psychotria within Selangor (KEP); and the University of Malaya Herbarium, lanceolaria15 km from Batu Caves— andKuala Herbarium Lumpur (KLU). Management The collections System), at KEP which and SING greatly are ● 6 widespread species that in Peninsular Malaysia partially databased using BRAHMS (Botanical Research Piper mucronata, was done manually from accession books. In the case of Pomatocalpa andamanica, Sageretia thea, Sapium facilitated extraction of data. Extraction of data from KLU insigne,are known Sauropus only from macranthus Batu Caves—, and Trigonostemon checked and the name corrected. Only species recorded villosus. dubious identifications, the herbarium specimen was are included. Thus forest species that Ridley collected are locality for 24 taxa, even though some have since been notfrom included the tower in karstthe checklist, or limestone-derived nor are weeds soil that at thegrow base on reducedBatu toCaves synonymy. is also important because it is the type Discussion wastelandThe checklist around Batuincludes Caves, family nor exoticand aliensspecies that names, have Table 1 illustrates the fact that while the limestone citesinvaded specimens, disturbed provides areas at thethe foot endemic of Batu status, Caves. whether phytogeographic zone that straddles the border of dueflora in is part species to local rich endemism (1,216 species), of the obligateonly a fraction calciphiles. are endemic in Peninsular Malaysia (E) or endemic in the found on a single hill (21.4% of the species on Batu Caves) status as a calciphile, i.e. whether it is an obligate calciphile restrictedPeninsular to Malaysia growing andon limestonePeninsular (R)Thailand or whether (ET); itand is This is illustrated by the Gesneriaceae. For the Peninsular a characteristic species most usually limestone flora as a whole, Gesneriaceae is ranked fourth limestonewith 39 species substrates but and on areBatu widely Caves distributed; it is represented the rest Results found on limestone (U). areby justobligate seven calciphiles, species. Of twothese, are only local two endemics, grow on whilenon- The checklist (Appendix 1) includes 5 lycophyte the remaining three are more widespread but none are species, 27 ferns, 2 gymnosperms, 182 dicotyledons and found on every hill. In fact it is the exception for limestone 53 monocotyledons, in total 269 species. This represents species to be encountered on every or even most hills. 22% of 1,216 species recorded growing on limestone in This is especially true among the obligate calciphiles. For Peninsular Malaysia (Chin 1977). The percentages of instance, eight species of balsam are obligate calciphiles endemic and obligate and characteristic calciphiles (Table but only Impatiens ridleyi The ten most common families are Orchidaceae grows on Batu Caves and one (231) are species),

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