Spectral Data

Pasoh Forest Reserve, Malaysia

Spectral data were collected in January 2002, in the Pasoh Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia (2°59' N, 102°18'E). A minor mast-fruiting episode occurred during this period (Numata et al. 2003). Approximately 2500 ha in size, Pasoh Forest Reserve is characterized as primary lowland dipterocarp forest. Mean annual rainfall is ca. 1800 mm (1983-1995; Noguchi et al. 2003). Plant taxonomy follows Kochummen (1997).

Methodology

Reflectance spectra were measured with an Ocean Optics S2000 spectrometer (Dunedin, FL, USA), diffraction grating No. 2, admitting light from 200-850 nm. Within 4 h of collection, fruit and leaf specimens were mounted in a custom-built chamber and illuminated with a 12-volt, 3100-Kelvin tungsten halogen lamp (LS-1; Ocean Optics; range: 350-700 nm). Light was focused onto specimens through a 400-µm diameter patch fiber-optic cable and lens (Ocean Optics) and then collected with a second lens and transmitted through a 200-µm fiber cable to the diffraction grating of the S2000. Specimens were placed 45° to the incident illumination with 20-degree axes separated the illuminating and recording lenses. Spectra were referenced to barium sulfate. For further details the reader is referred to Lucas et al. (2001). The files below are provided as tab-delimited .txt files.

Data

Fruits

Leaves

Literature Cited

Kochummen, K.M. (1997). Tree Flora of Pasoh Forest. Forest Research Institute of Malaysia: Kepong, Malaysia.

Lucas, P.W., Beta, T., Darvell, B.W., Dominy, N.J., Essackjee, H.C., Lee, P.K.D., Osorio, D., Yamashita, N., and Yuen, T.D.B. (2001). Field kit to characterize physical, chemical, and spatial aspects of potential primate foods. Folia Primatologica 72:11-25.

Noguchi, S., Rahim Nik, A., and Tani, M. (2003). Rainfall characteristics of tropical rainforest at Pasoh Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia. In Okuda, T., Manokaran, N., Matsumoto, Y., Niiyama, K., Thomas, S.C., and Ashton, P.S. (eds). Pasoh: Ecology of a Lowland Rain Forest in Southeast Asia. Springer: Tokyo. pp. 51-58.

Numata, S., Yasuda, M., Okuda, T., Kachi, N., and Supardi Noor, N. (2003). Temporal and spatial patterns of mass flowerings on the Malay Peninsula. American Journal of Botany 90:1025-1031.

Acknowledgements

These data were collected with the assistance of Y.C. Chan, Y.-Y. Chen, P.Y. Cheng, S. Latif, P.W. Lucas, I.-F. Sun, N. Supardi Noor, and S.J. Wright. Research permission wasgranted by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia. Funding was received from the National Geographic Society (7179-01) and a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Service Research Award from the National Institutes of Health (5F32GM064287).