The flora of Indonesia consists of many unique varieties of tropical plants. Blessed with a tropical climate and around 18,000 islands, Indonesia is a nation with the second largest biodiversity in the world. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. Biodiversity is the variation of Life forms within a given Ecosystem, Biome or for the entire Earth. The flora of Indonesia reflects an intermingling of Asian, Australian and the native species. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. This is due to the geography of Indonesia, located between two continents. The archipelago consists of a variety of regions from the tropical rain forests of the northern lowlands and the seasonal forests of the southern lowlands through the hill and mountain vegetation, to subalpine shrub vegetation. Tropical rainforests are generally found near the Equator. They are common in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central Having the second longest shoreline in the world, Indonesia also has many regions of swamps and coastal vegetation. Combined together, these all give rise to a huge vegetational biodiversity. There are about 28,000 species of flowering plants in Indonesia, consisting 2500 different kinds of orchids, 6000 traditional medicinal plants used as Jamu. Herbalism is a traditional Medicinal or Folk medicine practice based on the use of Plants and Plant extracts Herbalism is also known as Herbalism is a traditional Medicinal or Folk medicine practice based on the use of Plants and Plant extracts Herbalism is also known as [1], 122 species of bamboo, over 350 species of rattan and 400 species of Dipterocarpus, including ebony, sandalwood and teakwood. Bamboo is a group of Woody perennial Evergreen Plants in the True grass family Poaceae, subfamily Rattan (from the Malay rotan) is the name for the roughly six hundred Species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical Dipterocarpus is a genus of Flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. Ebony ( Diospyros ebenum) also known as India Ebony or Ceylon Ebony depending on its origin is a Tree in the genus Diospyros for the film industry in India see Cinema of Karnataka Sandalwood is the name for several fragrant Woods and their Essential Teak ( Tectona) is a genus of tropical Hardwood Trees in the family Verbenaceae, native to the south and southeast of Asia Indonesia is also home to some unusual species such as carnivorous plants. Carnivorous plants (sometimes called insectivorous plants) are Plants that derive some or most of their Nutrients (but not Energy) from trapping One exceptional species is known as Rafflesia arnoldi, named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and Dr. Arnold, who discovered the flower in the depths of Bengkulu, southwest Sumatra. Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth Thomas Arnold ( 13 June 1795 &ndash 12 June 1842) was a British schoolmaster and historian head of Rugby School from 1828 Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is on the southwest coast of the island of Sumatra, and borders the provinces of West Sumatra, Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two This parasitic plant has a large flower, does not produce leaves and grow on a certain liana on the rain forest floor. The liana is any of various long-stemmed usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees as well as other means of vertical support to climb up to Another unusual plant is Amorphophallus titanum from Sumatra. The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form misshapen" + phallos, " Penis Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two Numerous species of insect trapping pitcher plants (Nepenthes spp. Pitcher plants are Carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with Liquid known as a pitfall trap. The Nepenthes (nəˈpɛnθiːz from Greek: ne = not penthos = grief sorrow named after the ancient drug Nepenthe) popularly ) can also be found in Borneo, Sumatra, and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two The Malay Archipelago is a name given to the Archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia ( Indochina) and Australia.
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Origin of Indonesian flora
The origin of flora in Indonesia is heavily affected by geographical and geological events in Asian continent and Australasian continent (now Australia). Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Australasia is a Region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring Islands in the Pacific [2] The present New Guinea island was connected with the present Australia continent, forming a supercontinent called the southern supercontinent Gondwana. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known In Geology, a supercontinent is a Landmass comprising more than one Continental core or Craton. Gondwana (ɡɒnˈdwɑːnə originally Gondwanaland) was a southern Supercontinent that existed about 500 to 200 Ma ago This supercontinent began to break up 140 million years ago, and the New Guinea region (previously known as Sahul) moved towards the equator. The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth 's surface with the plane perpendicular to the As a result, animals from New Guinea traveled to Australian continent and vice versa, creating many different species living in different ecosystems. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( This activities still occur until the two regions separated completely.
Asian continent influences, on the other hand, is the result of the reformation of the Laurasia supercontinent, which existed after the breakup of Rodinia around 1 billion years ago. Laurasia (lɔˈreɪʃiə lɔˈreɪʒə was a Supercontinent that most recently existed as a part of the split of the Pangaean supercontinent in the late Mesozoic For the Genus of Metalmark butterflies, see Rodinia (butterfly. Around 200 million years ago, the Laurasia supercontinent split completely, forming Laurentia (now America) and Eurasia continents. Laurentia (also known as the North American craton) like all Craton land was created as continents moved about the surface of the Earth The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Although this occurred, the mainland of the Eurasia continent, including China, was not separated completely from the Indonesian archipelago. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian As a result, plants from the Eurasia mainland could propagate to the archipelago, and, under a different ecosystems, new forms of species were formed.
In the nineteenth century, Alfred Russel Wallace proposed the idea of the Wallace Line, which is a line that divides Indonesian archipelago into two regions, the Asian biogeographical region (Sundaland) and the Australasia biogeographical Region (Wallacea). Alfred Russel Wallace OM, FRS (8 January 1823 &ndash 7 November 1913 was an British naturalist, Explorer, Geographer The Wallace Line (or Wallace's Line) is a boundary that separates the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Australia. The line runs through the Malay Archipelago, between Borneo and Sulawesi (Celebes); and between Bali and Lombok. The Malay Archipelago is a name given to the Archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia ( Indochina) and Australia. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes, ˈsɛlɛbiz is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Bali is an Indonesian Island located at, the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to Lombok (population 2950105 in 2005) is an Island in West Nusa Tenggara province Indonesia. [3]
The Indonesian archipelago, home of the Spice Islands, has been known since ancient time as the source of spices, such as clove, nutmeg, and pepper. This article covers the historical role of the Maluku Islands as a source of spices since early history when the islands where known as the Spice Islands This article is about the Spice; for other meanings see Clove (disambiguation. The nutmegs Myristica are a Genus of Evergreen Trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia Black pepper ( Piper nigrum) is a flowering Vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its Fruit, which is usually dried The Molucca islands were, until the late eighteenth century, the only source of economically significant spices. The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands, the Spice Islands or simply Maluku) are an Archipelago In the colonial time, clove and nutmeg were the most valuable commodities after gold and silver for the most Europeans. During the Dutch colonial era in Indonesia, the Dutch also created many plantages of coffee, tea and sugar cane, mostly in Java. CoFFEE is an Open source Software for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL in a digital classroom Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta.
Along with the history of Indonesia the sailors from India, China and Europe have brought also new kinds of plant species to this archipelago. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Plant species, which are not native to this archipelago, such as tea, coffee and rubber tree are then established.
Vegetation types
Indonesia’s terrestrial flora can be collected into characteristic vegetation groups. Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region it refers to the Ground cover provided by plants The most important determinant is rainfall, followed by temperature which affects water availability. The distribution of Indonesian flora is dominated by the broadleaf evergreen forests. This is mostly seen in the region, where the population density is still relatively low, i. e. Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and West Papua. In Java and Bali the vegetation is dominated by cultivated plants. Along the coastal lines swamp forests, mangrove and nipa palm forests can be found. On the mountainous regions subalpine and alpine vegetations are dominant. In the lesser Sunda islands, where rainfall is not as plentious as in other parts of Indonesia, grasslands are regularly seen.
Biodiversity Hotspots
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According to the Conservation International, there are currently two biodiversity hotspots in Indonesia. The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form misshapen" + phallos, " Penis The Bogor Botanical Gardens are located 60 km south of the capital of Jakarta in Bogor, Indonesia. Conservation International (CI is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Washington D These are the Wallacea and the Sundaland. ). [4] Although not included in these hotspots the provinces of west Papua and Papua also consist a large biodiversity. The Lorentz National Park, located in the province of Papua has been declared since 1999 as the natural world heritage through the UNESCO. Lorentz National Park is located in the Indonesian province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya (western New Guinea) United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 ). [5].
Sundaland
Sundaland, which is located on the west part of the Indonesian archipelago, holds about 25,000 different species of plants. 15,000 of them are endemic to this region and cannot be found anywhere else. The Scyphostegiaceae is a plant family, which is represented by a single species, Scyphostegia borneensis, which is endemic in Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Another 155 species of Dipterocarpus are also endemic to this island. Dipterocarpus is a genus of Flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. Borneo also has more than 2,000 species of orchids. The forests in Sumatra include more than 100 species of Dipterocarpus, nearly a dozen of them are endemic to this island. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two The island Java has about 270 endemic orchid species. Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta.
At least 117 plant genera are endemic in this biodiversity hotspot. 59 of them are found in Borneo and 17 in Sumatra. Unique plants from this region are similar to ones from the Asian continent, mentioning Rafflesia arnoldii, the pitcher plants and Javanese Edelweiss (Anaphalis javanica) as examples. Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth Pitcher plants are Carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with Liquid known as a pitfall trap. Anaphalis javanica or Javanese Edelweiss is a flowering plant species endemic to Indonesia. Anaphalis javanica or Javanese Edelweiss is a flowering plant species endemic to Indonesia.
Wallacea
It is estimated, that there are about 10,000 species of plants in this biodiversity hotspot region. Eucalyptus deglupta is a tall tree commonly known as the Rainbow Eucalyptus, the Mindanao Gum, or the Rainbow Gum. About 1,200 species and 12 genera are endemic. The island of Sulawesi has about 500 endemic plant species. Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes, ˈsɛlɛbiz is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the The islands of Moluccas have about 300 endemic plant species and the Lesser Sunda Islands consist of at least 120 endemic plant species. The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands, the Spice Islands or simply Maluku) are an Archipelago The Nusa Tenggara (lit Southeast Islands or Lesser Sunda Islands, are a group of Islands in the middle-south part of the Malay Archipelago. Little is known about the flora of this region. Three of these unique species; Agathis spp, Pterocarpus indicus, and Eucalyptus deglupta, are mentioned as examples. The genus Agathis, commonly known as kauri or dammar, is a relatively small Genus of 21 species of Evergreen Trees in the Pterocarpus indicus ( Narra, Pashu Padauk, Malay Paduak) is a species of Pterocarpus native to southeastern Asia Eucalyptus deglupta is a tall tree commonly known as the Rainbow Eucalyptus, the Mindanao Gum, or the Rainbow Gum.
West Papua and Papua
The flora of this region has somewhat the influence of the Australian continent. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. This region contain a continuous transect from snow cap mountains, lowland wetlands to tropical marine environment. This is the perfect place for such a huge number of diverse plant species. It has been estimated, that Papua and west Papua might consist about 20,000 to 25,000 species of vascular plants. An astonishing 60-90% of them may be endemic to this region. Little is known about the species of this region though.
Indonesia's national flowers
On 5 June 1990, in a ceremony to mark the World Environment Day, President Soeharto declared three flowers as Indonesia's national flowers. Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) World Environment Day (WED was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 Suharto, also spelled Soeharto (June 8 1921 &ndash January 27 2008 was an Indonesian military leader and the second President of Indonesia, holding These are the melati (Jasminum sambac), a small white flower with sweet fragrance, that plays an important role in the culture of Indonesia, the anggrek bulan (Phalaenopsis amabilis) and of course the Rafflesia arnoldi. Jasminum sambac ( syn Nyctanthes sambac) is a species of Jasmine native to southern Asia, in India, Philippines Rafflesia arnoldii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth
National love flora and fauna day
In order to build respect and love for the Indonesian flora and fauna, the government has declared November 5 as the national love flora and fauna day. Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Annually there are postage stamps released with this motto. They show pictures of plants and animals, which are endemic or unique for a specific region or a province of Indonesia.
Current issues
Deforestation is currently a major problem in Indonesia. Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland As a highly populous country with the tendency of rapid industrialisation, the need of natural resources and land also increases. is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one Illegally created wildfire causes heavy smog around Indonesia's neighbour countries.
According to the Indonesian department of forestry, there are currently 174 plants endemic in Indonesia listed as endangered species. [6].
Maintaining the balance between the need of economical growth of the country and the preservation of its natural heritage is not an easy duty. Just like other developing nations, Indonesia is currently trying to keep this balance. Ecotourism might be one solution to this problem. Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is a form of Tourism that appeals to ecologically and socially conscious individuals Using the biodiversity, Indonesia might improve the economical status of its issolated regions.
References
- ^ Flora-The Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia in New Zealand. The Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia (Administrator). Retrieved on 2007-05-01. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
- ^ Indonesia - Flora and Fauna. Encyclopedia of the Nations. Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved on 2006-10-12. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
- ^ Zubi, Teresa (2006-08-25). Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1248 - The Dutch city of Ommen receives city rights and fortification rights from Otto III the The Wallacea Line. Retrieved on 2006-10-12. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
- ^ Biodiversity Hotspots. Retrieved on 2006-10-12. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
- ^ UNESCO- Lorentz National Park. Retrieved on 2006-10-12. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
- ^ Indonesian Departement of Forestry. Retrieved on 2006-10-12. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
See also
- Category:Flora of Indonesia
- List of national parks of Indonesia
- Geography of Indonesia
- Fauna of Indonesia
- List of Indonesian floral emblems
External links
- ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation
- The Biodiversity hotspots
- (Indonesian) PIKA Database of endemic Flora and Fauna in Indonesia
- An article about Indonesian vegetation
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