SUNGEI BULOH: 2013

Sungei Buloh Nature Park is home to a few species of palms (Family: Palmae) typically associated with the mangroves. They are the Nipah (Nypa fruticans), Rotan bakau (Calamus erinaceus) as well as the recently rediscovered Nibong (Oncosperma tigillarium). The Nipah is considered rare in Singapore. It has economic value in the region and the yields can be sustained. For example, the young endosperm (from the fruit) is collected for food. We commonly know it as "attap chee" when used as a key ingredient in our local dish, ice kacang. In addition, various parts of the palm can be used. For example, the construction of thatch roofs (using the leaves) and tapping of sugar and fermenting it to obtain alcohol (tapping the inflorescence). The Nipah can now be viewed easily along route 1 and there are clumps behind and in front of hide 1C. The Rotan bakau is listed as vulnerable in the Singapore Red Data Book of threatened plants and animals. It is a climber and can grow up to 15m in length. The inner part of the stem is harvested in the region as raw materials for use in basketry and furniture. There are a number of thickets of this rattan in the Park. Care will need to be exercised when approaching this palm because of the numerous spines on the leaves and stems. You can view this palm most easily along route 1 between the Outdoor Classroom and Hide 1E. A third palm species found in Sungei Buloh is the Nibong. It is a rare palm and was last collected by Mr. J.S. Goodenough on 29 Nov 1889 and in 1890 from the Sungei Bulob area. It was only re-discovered this year. It is a tall slender palm, and the clump I found in the Park has a height of 12m to which it can grow up to 25m. Stems once stripped of the black spines are used in the region as budding material including posts for fishing stakes and in kelong construction. We may not be aware of this, but palms found in the mangroves do have their economic uses even in today's context.

Well, we have Cymbly (simply) great news for your. I have discovered a beautiful orchid Cymbidium bicolor spp. pubescens, in Sungei Buloh! Listed as an extinct orchid in the Red Data Book, it was last collected in Sungei Buloh in 1891 by Mr H. N. Ridley. That's almost a hundred year and ten years ago, and this species has miraculously survived much habitat loss. Let us all hope it is the same happy-ending story for the rest of twenty-six species of orchids (of which 24 are extinct) that were recorded in Sungei Buloh. Significance The discovery of the orchid obviously adds one more species to our current record of plants found in Sungei Buloh. It suggests a richer plant diversity than once thought of. However, the significance of the discovery lies much deeper. Firstly, the orchid is a living thing. Secondly, it is a dynamic member of the mangrove system and intricately interdependent with a host of other life forms. Through the millennia, it has evolved with other natural living things to form the highly complex and specialised life system of the mangrove that we have today. For example, bees and other insects are attracted to the orchid flowers, pollinating them while taking nourishment from nectar and pollen. These are the same insects that help to pollinate other plants in the mangrove too, such as the Buta Buta (Exoecaria agallocha) tree, on which the orchid is dependent for support. Of course, this is a rather oversimplified example of the species-interdependence. Fact File Cymbidium bicolor Lindl. spp. pubescens (Lindl.) Du Puy & P. J. Cribb Family: Orchidaceae Habit: Epiphytic Habitat: On trees in exposed places near the sea. Description: Leaves about 45cm long, 1.5cm wide, wide arching, not drooping in habit, leaf bases persistent, enclosing pseudobulbs within; raceme pendulous to 25cm long; sepals and petals with broad dark purple central band, edges pale green, less than 2cm long, 0.5cm wide; lip yellowish with purple-brown spots; column dark purple, tip pale yellow with purple spots. Distribution: Malay peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. New discovery—of plants, insects, or animals, etc—is not just a statistic, but a significant indication of the vitality of the mangrove's biological system. It shows that the mangroves are much healthier and in better shape than we thought. While only one clump of the orchid has been found so far, we have not given up hope of finding others. In the meantime, we need to increase the number through selective propagation. The clump will be monitored regularly so as to obtain the next batch of fruiting capsules. A direct consequence of new discoveries also provides us with new material for research and educational purposes.

How Temperature Affect the living Flora and Fauna adapt to the Environment

All organisms have a preferred temperature where they can survive.
Temperature is an important factor that affects the ecosystems in a variety of ways. They will adapt to the environment by various ways. As they need sunlight to photosynthesis, they adapt to get the most sunlight possible as the forest floor can be somewhat dark under the canopy. Next, they have to adapt to the massive amount of rain. They do this by having waxy leaves that repel water so that they don't drown during long periods of continuous rain and even flooding. Moreover, they have to adapt to to cope with exceptionally high temperature of low temperature.

The importance of Flora and Fauna To human Existence on Earth

Flowers and animals are living organisms that we can't live without. The flora of the earth produce the oxygen that is breathed by the fauna and in turn, the fauna exhale the carbon dioxide that the flora need to live. One cannot live without the other and humans also cant live with them,hence; they are important.

Flora and fauna are the plant and animal life of a region in a period of time. That may sound simple, but the ecosystem created by the interdependence of these two life forms is not simple at all. In fact, humans cannot breathe unless both flora and fauna survive and thrive on the earth.

The very air we breathe and the food we eat, the medicines that cure us, and the water that keeps us alive would not exist were it not for flora and fauna. All things in an ecosystem are interdependent. The existence of one species may depend on the health of another, such as the relationship of bamboo forests to pandas. Pandas only eat bamboo shoots, so the destruction of the bamboo forests in China resulted in the endangerment of the Panda, due to starvation and loss of habitat.

In China, destruction of the forests left the tigers with no place to go. Farmers killed them in great numbers to protect their farm animals, and soon there were few left. In an attempt to save the species, Chinese tigers were moved to the forests of Africa, where they are surviving nicely.

Human Activities causing Consequences

We cannot belittle global actions like deforestation , fishing etc. This may causes consequences affecting the lives of the people.The world's ecology is so complex, so fragile, so interdependent, that an ecological upheaval of the flora and fauna of one region of the world (i.e. the destruction of rain forests) can affect the entire planet.

Increasing human population numbers are putting great pressure on many of these limited resources and deplete those resources which can not be renewed. Many different natural processes occur within those ecosystems influencing humans. Some of these processes include atmospheric quality. soil generation and conservation, energy flow, the water cycle, waste removal and recycling. Human activities are altering the equilibrium involved in these natural processes and cycles. If these changes due to human activities are not addressed, the stability of the world's ecosystems may irreversibly affected.

Humans damage ecosystems by harvesting trees that are homes to hundreds of different organisms. We damage the atmosphere by releasing greenhouse gases when we drive cars or use electricity. We pollute water with chemicals and waste products from factories. We can't reverse the damage as these are the consequence of our doing.