Biological Sciences

Profile

Research Interests

My present research concerns the plant diversity of the Indonesian island of Buton, off the coast of S.E. Sulawesi. This work is being done as a part of an extensive programme of research on the biodiversity of Buton being conducted by Operation Wallacea. Students can participate in this research and do fieldwork for BSc and MSc projects. Please visit the Operation Wallacea web site for more information.

A survey of palm diversity has been undertaken since this group of plants is of great economic importance to the local people. Rattan palms are the source of cane for a multimillion dollar furniture industry and are collected from forests by local men. Nineteen species of rattan have been found growing on Buton, of which 17 have been identified. The other two species are possibly new to science and are being investigated further. Eleven other native or naturalised species of palm have been found in the forests of Buton. Growth rates of some rattan species have been measured and this information used to assess the rates at which rattans can be harvested without eliminating the species. Ambient light intensity has been found to be the most important environmental factor influencing the growth of small rattan plants. A paper describing some of this work is in press (Powling, A. ‘The palms of Buton, an island in Wallacea’, Palms, 2009).

Forest trees are being identified to aid other researchers working on the ecology of Buton. One group of trees of particular importance for forest ecology is the figs (genus Ficus). Figs have been described as ‘keystone species’ because of the quantity and quality of food they supply to forest animals throughout the year, so a particular effort is being made to identify the many species present. The positions of the fig trees will be mapped in sections of the forest representing different habitats, in order to understand the distribution of the food sources for the animals. The epiphytic plants of the canopy have also been investigated since their distributions reveal much about the environmental conditions in the forest. Research on trees and their epiphytes is facilitated by having climbers able to reach the canopy and bring down plant specimens, which can then be botanically identified.

Teaching Interests

• Ecology and Environmental Biology, with emphasis on conservation biology and environmental problems caused by humans
• Earth History and Evolution
• Plant and Animal Biotechnology
• Statistics

Recent Publications

More recent publications