Distribution and species diversity of bamboo at Kuala Keniam, Pahang National Park

Sustainable management of forest ecosystem requires field assessment of the distribution of the abundance of the species. Bamboo plants normally occur in both primary and secondary forests and are considered fast growing, and high yielding renewable resources. They belong to the family of Gramineae and sub-family of Bambusoideae. Currently, there is lack of information on bamboo species composition in Pahang National Park, Malaysia. This information is useful for many relevant agencies involve in the management and conservation of non-timber forest products. The objectives of this study are to determine the composition, distribution pattern and diversity of bamboo in Kuala Keniam. Field sampling for data collection was conducted at three locations in the study area. The data collected in this study include the species, diameter at breast height (DBH), height, number of culms, size of clump and internodes length. A total of five species of bamboo occur in this area. These are Gigantochloa scortechinii (Buluh semantan), Schizostachyum brachycladum (Buluh lemang), S. latifolium (Buluh nipis), S. grande (Buluh semeliang) and Bambusa vulgaris (Buluh aur). From the field measurement, it was found that the means of DBH, height, number of culms, size of clump size and internodes length of bamboo are 5.3 cm, 10.9 m, 33 culms, 7.0 m, 49.2 cm, respectively. The Shannon-Weiner index of bamboo in this area was relatively low (1.07). Data obtained in this study could complement the conservation efforts not only for bamboo, but also for the overall species diversity in the area.