Perspectives on the long-term ecological research on mount Kinabalu

KITAYAMA Kanehiro

doi:10.3759/tropics.15.271

The fundamental notion of the US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) is that ecosystem components interact through time and space to shape the ecosystem. In line with this concept, an LTER is being conducted on Mount Kinabalu jointly by the Sabah Parks and a group of Japanese researchers. Kinabalu, being thermally aseasonal with mosaics of different geologies, presents a unique LTER setting. We selected four elevations (800, 1,900, 2,700 and 3,100 m) on a slope with two sites at each elevation one on sedimentary (relatively richer biophilic nutrients) and one on ultrabasic (poorer) rocks. Mean air temperature changes predictably on the slope. With minimal facilities, but carefully designed sites under the controlled environments, we can study 1) pattern and control of primary production, 2) pattern and control of organic matter partitioning, 3) the dynamics of populations representing different trophic levels, 4) frequency of disturbances, and 5) fluxes of some biophilic nutrients. Three years after launching, we began to recognize annual patterns of primary production (litterfall) and the balance between carbon fixation and release in rainforests under different temperature and nutrient regimes.

Perspectives on the long-term ecological research on mount Kinabalu

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