Scientific news

A botanical expedition organized and sponsored by the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak Project was conducted between 4—14 April, 1994, at Bukit Tawai, Telupid, central Sabah. Bukit Tawai is 1258 m high and located in the Bukit Tawai Forest Reserve, c. 5° 30’ 30” N, 117° 3’ 30” E. The Reserve covers 22,697 ha and has been gazetted as a Protection Forest Reserve. The site is one of a number of ultramafic peaks scattered across the northern and eastern parts of Sabah, making an ‘ultramafic zone’ which represents a belt of slightly acidic, serpentinized substrates with a high magnesium / calcium ratio and often substantial concentrations of nickel. From the air, the forest on ultramafic substrates is characteristically dense with small-crowned trees, and the flora is known to be peculiar when compared with the more familiar and extensive forests on sandstone in Borneo.