Species diversity and enumeration of shrub species in Pantai Sabak, Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

Coastal forest plays a vital role in our ecosystem because of its numerous and varied human use. In Malaysia especially Kelantan, there is a lot of coastal forests that are not recognised or has been introduced as the forest that consists of much biological diversity that can be important and useful for the development and management of the forest. This study documented shrubs species that were found in Pantai Sabak, Kelantan where all shrubs species were identified and enumerated by using a systematic plot sampling method while relating it with soil composition and their characteristic. A total of 3752 shrubs plants representing 28 species belong to 24 genera from 17 families were identified within 0.05 hectare plots. Species diversity with Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’) with a value of 1.67, while Hmax was 3.34 and Evenness Index (EH) value was 0.50 for the entire study area. Family Capparaceae (1425) and Euphorbiaceae (1260) were dominant families grown in loam and silt soil and the least dominant represented by Vitex rotundifolia and Ipomoea pes-caprae species which grown in sandy soil. Only certain species can grow and be able to survive in different habitats where types of soil play an important role in the factors of the tree species that grow around Pantai Sabak which can be observed that during the study was conducted.