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The phenological events of rattan were seldomly studied due to its nature of survival by climbing on other trees (i.e., liana). However, some rattans are non-climbing and found to produce fruits throughout the year. Therefore, it aimed to record Calamus castaneus duration of flowering and fruiting over a year and identify which environmental variables affect the duration. This study was conducted for 12 months in three forest reserves, namely Bukit Mertajam Forest Eco-Park (BMFEP), Teluk Bahang Forest Reserve (TBFR), and Segari Melintang Forest Reserve (SMFR). Five study plots (10 m x 10 m each) were established, and overall, 53 C. castaneus individual palm in the plots were monitored. Findings have revealed that female inflorescences bloomed shorter than males. Also, C. castaneus fruits take about three to four months to get matured. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) highly regulated the event by microclimate and locality. Thus, the flowering and fruiting duration may not directly be affected by a very specific environmental factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Malaysian forests, the population dynamics of rattan has not been fully documented. Hence, this study was aimed to investigate the population dynamics pattern of the Calamus castaneus, a non-climbing rattan. The association of growth and phenology cycle to environmental variables on the population dynamics were studied for one year. Three forest reserves were selected as the study sites: Segari Melintang Forest Reserve (SMFR) in Perak, Teluk Bahang Forest Reserve (TBFR), and Bukit Mertajam Forest Eco- Park (BMFEP) in Penang. The fieldwork was conducted from March 2017 until March 2018. With the plot size of 10 m × 10 m (100 m?), five plots were established in each study site. All the C. castaneus individuals inside the plots were marked with numbered plastic tags. A total of 180 individuals were evaluated: TBFR (52 individuals), SMFR (86 individuals), and BMFEP (42 individuals). The findings have revealed that the C. castaneus abundancy is comparatively similar in all sites, as shown by the Kruskal-Wallis test with no significant difference (p > 0.05) between all life stages. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) for all sites has displayed that the rattan growth parameters are closely associated with the microclimate parameters and soil properties. Overall, SMFR showed the fastest growth increment and the largest population size of C. castaneus among all three sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woody species of the coastal forest of Penang island have received substantial focus in term of their diversity, composition and spatial distribution. In comparison, comprehensive data on the non-woody plant species component, specifically the palms and pandans, are relatively lacking. The objective of this study was to provide baseline data on the non-woody component of Penang coastal forest flora which would become a platform for more extensive research on their population dynamic. In order to provide these baseline data, an assessment of the diversity and distribution of two non-woody families, namely palms and pandans, was conducted in Teluk Bahang Permanent Forest Reserve (TBPFR) located in Penang, from February 2005 to January 2008. One ha plot (100 metre x 100 metre) was established in the TBFR and all palms and pandans were enumerated and individual positions were recorded. A total of seven species of palms and two species of pandans (i.e. Pandanus ovatus and Pandanus penangiensis) were recorded. The most abundant palm species is Eugeisona tristis, with a total count of 551 individuals, whilst a total of 312 P. ovatus were also enumerated. Based upon the Morisita Standardized Modified Index of Dispersion, the distribution of the two monocots ranged from random to clumped distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]