Geological preambulations

Wong, Sin Yeng and Boyce, Peter C. (2011) Geological preambulations. IAS Newsletter, 33 (4). pp. 1-14.

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Abstract

Of all ecologically significant factors, geology is possibly one of the least well-studied and documented, and certainly least well-understood aspects of tropical Araceae. By way of example, despite the relative abundance of limestone-related floristic studies in Malaysia (e.g., Ping & Kiew, 1997; Kiew et al., 2004) these published accounts contain only limited information concerning Araceae, despite the fact that aroids constitute a major floristic element of the biodiversity of tropical limestones. Although data relating to aroid geological preferences are noted in various revisionary accounts for tropical Asia including for Alocasia (Hay, 1998, 1999), Piptospatha (Wong et al., 2009), and Schismatoglottis (Hay & Yuzammi, 2000; Wong 2010) so far only Boyce & Wong (2009) have published specifically on the aroids and their associated geology. The only other publication that we are aware of is from Brazil, another country with an enormously rich and diverse aroid flora, where Gonçalves (2010) published specifically on aroids and their geology. Nonetheless, fieldwork in Borneo over the past few years has begun to provide a wealth of data on the often highly localized species that are restricted to specific habitats.

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