The Current Status of Riparian Vegetation Along Bank of Kelantan River After the Worst Flood for Decades

第 15 卷第 1 期湿地科学 Vol.15 No.1 2017 年 2 月 WETLAND SCIENCE Feb. 2017 DOI: 10.13248/j.cnki.wetlandsci.2017.01.009

The Current Status of Riparian Vegetation along Bank of Kelantan River after the Worst Flood for Decades

Onrizal1, Siti Norasikin Ismail2, Muzzalifah Abd Hamid2, Mashhor Mansor2 (1. Faculty of Forestry, University of Sumatera Utara, Medan 2011, Indonesia; 2. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia)

Abstract: Undeniably Kelantan is one of the east coast states of Malaysia, which has faced yearly flooding catastrophe especially during north-east-monsoon season. The aims of this study are to record the land uses from upstream to downstream of Kelantan River basin, and to record the riparian vegetation that are resistance and susceptible to flood situations in affected areas along the bank of Kelantan River after December 2014 when the worst flood was recorded for decades. A serial of surveys were conducted at 9 sampling sites (S1 to S9) from the upstream to the downstream in the basin. The massive clearing in the forest in the basin particularly in the upper streams was a serious problem. Heavy loads of sedimentations greatly affected the hydrological system of Kelantan River. There were 64 plant species were recorded in this study. Most sampling sites were submerged and most of the riparian plants survived although the flood levels reached 10 m. On the other hand, some commercial tree species such as Elaeis guenensis, Lansium parasiti⁃ cum and Nephelium lappaceum could not thrive in flooding conditions. It should be noted that the populations of noxious, such as Mimosa pigra and Piper aduncum had colonized most parts of riparian zones. Perhaps due to the disturbances of catchment and riparian vegetations, the river water regimes have been transformed. Therefore, the ecological assessments and socio-economic approaches were recommended in order to mitigate the flood situation. Keywords: floods; land uses; plant diversity; resistant species; susceptible species

CLC number: Q948.11 Document code: A Article ID: 1672-5948(2017)01-060-06

1 Introduction which covers an area of approximately 1.5 million hectares (Jusoff and Setiawan, 2003; Jusoff and Flood is one of the most common natural di- Skidmore, 2009). The main disaster occurred in the sasters in tropical regions (Jonkman, 2005). During state was yearly flood especially during north- the period of 1968-2004, 39 disasters hit the Malay- east-monsoon seasons. sia; they were categorized as natural disaster (49%), The flood occurred in December 2014 was man-made disaster (46% ) and subsequent disasters one of the worst floods to hit the Malaysia for de- (5%) (Shaluf and Ahmadun, 2006). Most of the nat- cades, in which Kelantan area was the worst-hit ar- ural disasters were resulted from the heavy rains. ea. The worst flood taken place from 22 to 25 De- Subsequently, the conversion of inland tropical for- cember 2014 and resulted in about 77 000 people ests to oil palm and rubber plantations significantly lost their homes and properties. The disaster did not increased the number of days flooded during the only caused human fatalities and hardship; it but al- wettest months of the year in Malaysia (Tan-Soo et so caused deterioration of environment and destruc- al, 2016). tion of the biodiversity and natural resources. Kelantan (4°30′N to 6°15′N, 101°20′E to 102° This study was purposed to record the land us- 40′ E) is one of the east coast states of Malaysia, es from upstream to downstream of Kelantan River

Received date: 2016-07-11; revised date: 2016-12-12 Author: Onrizal(1974-), male, PhD, senior lecturer, interesting fields: tropical forest ecology and conservation. E-mail: [email protected] 1期 Onrizal et al: The Current Status of Riparian Vegetation along Bank of Kelantan River after the Worst Flood for Decades 61 basin, and to record the riparian vegetation that 3 Results were resistant and susceptible to flood situations in 3.1 Land uses affected areas along the bank of Kelantan River. Based on observation, the human activities 2 Methods have destructed most of upstream area, such as croplands, which were found along main road from sites A rapid assessment was conducted in Febru- S1 to S3 (Cameron Highlands to Lojing in Fig.1a ary 2015, after the flood in December 2014, in order and Fig.1b). Based on the basin management, the to describe a general overview of land uses from up- land clearing was forbidden in upstream areas. stream to downstream of Kelantan River basin, and In midstream of Kelantan River basin, such as subsequently to record riparian vegetation that were Gua Musang, Kuala Krai and Dabong were hit by resistant and susceptible to the flood. the worst flood in December 2014; in downstream For providing a general overview of land uses, areas, such as Tanah Pasir, Tanah Merah, Dabong the field surveys were carried out from upstream to and Tumpat in estuarine areas. Most sites in mid- downstream along main roads in 6 towns as part of stream and downstream of Kelantan River basin Kelantan River basin, namely Gua Musang, Kuala were submerged and the water levels of the flood Kerai, Dabong, Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah and Tumpat. reached 10 m. The worst occurrences for a week The survey was to assess the floral composi- were totally damage of most of villages and small tions both resistant and susceptible to the flood. The towns along the river bank, including a large bridge vegetation observations were conducted at 9 sam- had collapsed in Pulau Setelu (Fig.2). The collapsed pling sites in the 6 towns (Table 1). In each sam- bridge was a link bridge between Gua Musang and pling site, line transects of 10 m width and 200 m Dabong. long was set up. 3.2 Plant diversity Table 1 Sampling sites along the bank of Kelantan River Based on observation, about 64 plant species Sampling site Code Location were recorded at 9 sampling sites (Table 1). There Gua Musang (Cameroon Highland) S1 Upstream were 5-18 species in each site (see Table 1). The Gua Musang (Lojing Highland) S2 Upstream highest number of species of riparian vegetation Gua Musang (Sg Brook) S3 Upstream was found at site S2, followed by sites S1 and S9. Gua Musang (Town) S4 Midstream The sites S1 and S2 were in the upstream which Kuala Krai S5 Midstream were not influenced by the flood; however, the site Dabong S6 Midstream S9 was in the downstream. The site S9 is in a man- Pasir Mas S7 Downstream grove forest and Nypa swamp. The mangrove plants Tanah Merah S8 Downstream are known as resistance to the flood. The lowest Tumpat S9 Downstream number of plant species of riparian vegetation was The plant diversity indices were calculated by recorded at sites S8 (5 species), S7 (6 species) and data collected from the floral observation. To learn S4 (8 species), these areas were hit by the worst about species richness of an ecosystem, a diversity flood and water level reached more than 10 m. index was used. Species richness was the number of The Shannon diversity index was between species in the community. Analysis of species diver- 1.61 and 2.89 (Fig.3). Shannon diversity indexes of sity was executed by using the Multivariate Statisti- most of the areas (7 sites) were 2 to 3 and those of cal Package (MVSP) program version 13.3d by Ko- other areas (2 sites) were less than 2. vach Computing Services (2002) that is a multivari- 3.3 Resistance and susceptibility to the flood ate analysis software of ecological data. Based on the observations, the tree species of 湿地科学 15 卷 62

Fig.1 Status of land uses along main roads from Cameron highland to Lojing highlands on February 19-20, 2015 (a and b: most of native vegetation was taken place by croplands; c and d: the river water was murky, containing soil sediment as impact of land clearing in upstream areas; therefore, heavy loads of sedimentations greatly affected the hydrological system of Kelantan River)

grandis. Subsequently, all mangrove tree species survived. On the other hand, some trees such as Durio zibethinus, Elaeis guenensis, Lansium parasiticum and Nephelium lappaceum (Fig.4 and Fig.5) could not sur- vive in the flooding conditions.

Fig.2 A collapsed large bridge connecting Dabong and Gua Musang in Pulau Setelu, which were totally broken by the flood in December 2014 (Photo was taken on February 21, 2015) riparian vegetation could stand flooded condition Fig.3 Species richness and diversity indexes of riparian were Alstonia schlaris, Averrhoa bilimbi, Ficus ben⁃ vegetation in each sampling site along the bank jamina, Hevea brasiliensis, Hibiscus tiliaceus, Lansi⁃ of Kelantan River um parasiticum, Macaranga gigantea, Mallotus nudi⁃ The giant grass (Saccharum spontaneum), banana florus, Mangifera indica, Mangifera foetida, Mimusops tree (Musa spp.) and bungor tree (Lagerstroemia specio⁃ elengi, Muntingia calabura, Neolamarckia cadamba, sa) were showing good regeneration after the flood. Parkia speciosa, Pterocarpus indicus and Tectonia This survey also recoded the noxious populations, 1期 Onrizal et al: The Current Status of Riparian Vegetation along Bank of Kelantan River after the Worst Flood for Decades 63 Table 1 List of species along the bank of Kelantan River

No. Species name S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 F(%) 1 Acacia mangium 1 11.1 2 Acanthus ilicifolius 1 11.1 3 Acrostichum speciosum 1 11.1 4 Alstonia sp. 1 11.1 5 Archidendron jiringa 1 11.1 6 Artocarpus altilis 1 11.1 7 Asystasia gangetica 1 11.1 8 Averrhoa bilimbi 1 11.1 9 Avicennia alba 1 11.1 10 Avicennia marina 1 11.1 11 Azadirachta excelsa 1 11.1 12 Bambusa sp. 1 1 1 1 1 1 66.7 13 Calopogonium mucunoides 1 1 22.2 14 Casuarina equisetifolia 1 11.1 15 Chloris barbata 1 11.1 16 Cocos nucifera 1 1 1 33.3 17 Derris trifoliata 1 11.1 18 Dicranopteris linearis 1 11.1 19 Dillenia sp. 1 1 22.2 20 Dolichandrone spathacea 1 11.1 21 Durio sp. 1 11.1 22 Elaeis guenensis 1 1 1 33.3 23 Ficus benjamina 1 11.1 24 Ficus sp. 1 1 22.2 25 Fimbristylis sp. 1 11.1 26 Hevea brasiliensis 1 1 1 1 1 55.6 27 Hibiscus tiliaceus 1 11.1 28 Imperata cilindrica 1 1 22.2 29 Ipomoea pes-caprae 1 11.1 30 Lagerstroemia speciosa 1 11.1 31 Lansium parasiticum 1 11.1 32 Macaranga costulata 1 11.1 33 Macaranga gigantea 1 1 22.2 34 Macaranga sp.1 1 1 22.2 35 Macaranga sp.2 1 1 1 33.3 36 Macaranga sp.3 1 11.1 37 Mallotus nudiflorus 1 11.1 38 Mallotus sp. 1 1 1 33.3 39 Mangifera foetida 1 11.1 40 Mangifera indica 1 1 1 33.3 41 Melastoma malabatricum 1 1 1 33.3 42 Mikania micranta 1 1 22.2 43 Mimosa invisa 1 11.1 44 Mimosa pigra 1 1 1 1 1 55.6 45 Mimosa pudica 1 1 22.2 湿地科学 15 卷 64 Continued

No. Species name S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9 F(%) 46 Mimusops elengi 1 11.1 47 Muntingia calabura 1 11.1 48 Musa spp. 1 1 1 1 1 1 66.7 49 Neolamarckia cadamba 1 1 1 1 44.4 50 Nypa fruticans 1 11.1 51 Parkia speciosa 1 11.1 52 Parthenocissus quinquefolia 1 11.1 53 Pennisetum polystachion 1 11.1 54 Piper aduncum 1 1 1 33.3 55 Polyalthia longifolia 1 11.1 56 Pterocarpus indicus 1 11.1 57 Rhizophora apiculata 1 11.1 58 Ricinus communis 1 11.1 59 Saccharum spontaneum 1 11.1 60 Sonneratia caseolaris 1 11.1 61 Stachytarpheta jamaicensis 1 11.1 62 Tectona grandis 1 11.1 63 Terminalia catappa 1 11.1 64 Themeda arundinacea 1 11.1 Total 17 18 13 8 11 13 6 5 16 which had colonized most parts of riparian zones. Most colonies were observed at Kota Bharu, Tumpat, Tanah Merah and Pasir Mas. In addition, weedy species, Piper aduncum populations could thrive in the flooded condition. Perhaps due to the disturbances of catchment and riparian vegetations, the river water regimes have been transformed. In some cases, high colonization of Mimosa pigra populations has upset the ecological balance of the Kelantan River system. Fig.5 Most of tree species were dead during the period of the flood in Dabong, including the king fruit (Durio zibethinus) trees (circled) (Photo was taken on February 21, 2015)

4 Discussion

Deforestation had threatened the permanent forest reserve of northern Kelantan from the upstream of Kelantan River basin. Using remote sensing and geographic information system, Jusoff and Setiawan Fig.4 Lansium parasiticum trees (arrow) near Dabong were dead during the period of the flood; a survival tree in the (2003) reported that the rate of deforestation in the permanent forest reserve of northern Kelantan was middle is Averrhoa bilimbi tree (circled), which was recorded as resistance case to the flood about 2.3% per year. During 9 years (1989-1997), (Photo was taken on February 21, 2015) about 73 236 ha of the permanent forest reserve in 1期 Onrizal et al: The Current Status of Riparian Vegetation along Bank of Kelantan River after the Worst Flood for Decades 65 the northern part of Kelantan being converted into been transformed. Finally, perhaps ecological assess- non-forested purposes. Subsequently, based on ments and socio-economic approaches were recom- Global Forest Watch data, Gaworecki (2015) report- mended in order to mitigate the flood situation. ed that the state of Kelantan lost more than 201 387 ha of tree cover from 2001 to 2012, representing Acknowledgement more than a fifth of its forested area. Therefore, Ga- The authors would like to acknowledge the re- worecki (2015) and Panirchellvum (2015) stated search facilities provided by School of Biological that forest conversion, land clearing and illegal log- Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. ging contributed to deadly flood in Malaysia in De- cember 2014. References The flood also threatened the plant diversity. Gaworecki M. 2015. Illegal logging contributed to deadly Malaysian Some of tree species were recorded as susceptible to floods, according to government minister, Mongabay[EB/OL]. the flood. Most of them were planted for commer- [2015-02-11]. http://news.mongabay.com/2015/0211-gfrn-gaworeck cial product, such as oil palm (Elaeis guenensis), i-official-says-illegal-logging-to-blame-for-malaysian-flooding.html. Jonkman S N. 2005. Global perspectives on loss of human life king fruit (Durio zibethinus), rambutan (Nephelium caused by floods[J]. Natural Hazards, 34(2): 151-175. ) and duku ( ). There- lappaceum Lansium parasiticum Jusoff K, Setiawan I. 2003. Quantifying deforestation in a permanent fore, in ecological and economic view, the suscepti- forest reserve using vectorised landsat TM[J]. J. of Tropical Forest ble tree species to the flood were not recommended Science, 15(4): 570-582. to replant along river bank, where were reachable Jusoff K, Skidmore A K. 2009. Geo-information science for sustain- by the flood. Subsequently, rubber trees and surviv- able development of Mount Stong F.R., Kelantan, Malaysia[J]. J. of Sustainable Development, 2(1): 51-64. ing trees and bamboo species could be planted in af- Kovach Computing Services. 2002. Multivariate Statistical Package fected area by the flood in the Kelantan River basin, [EB/OL]. Version 3.13d. (MVSP). http://www.kovcomp.com. mainly in the mid and down streams. Panirchellvum V. 2015. State devastation[N/OL]. The Sun Daily, 2015-01-18. http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1299690. 5 Conclusions Shaluf I M, Ahmadun F L R. 2006. Disaster types in Malaysia: an Most of highlands in Kelantan River basin overview[J]. Disaster Prevention and Management: An Interna- tional J., 15(2): 286-298. were destructed by human activities. It contributed Tan-Soo J S, Adnan N, Ahmad I, et al. 2016. Econometric evidence to increase the flooding catastrophe mainly during on forest ecosystem services: deforestation and flooding in Malay- north-east-monsoon season in mid-and-downstream sia[J]. Environmental and Resource Economics, 63(1): 25-44. of Kelantan River basin. Therefore, to rearrange the land uses by policy maker, study on land uses and land cover change of Kelantan River basin using remote sensing, geographic information system and ground truth data were needed as part of flood miti- gation and biodiversity conservation. Some of tree species of riparian vegetation could withstand flooded condition. On the other hand, most of planted tree species for commercial production were susceptible to the flood. Subse- quently, the populations of noxious plants had colonized most parts of riparian zones. Perhaps due to the disturbances of catchment and riparian vegetations, the river water regimes had