B. Papp szerk.: Studia Botanica Hungarica 38. 2007 (Budapest, 2007)

Rácz, István; Huyen, D. D.: Study of a low-elevation occurrence of Pinus dalatensis Ferré (Pinaceae) in Gia Lai province, Vietnam

The yearly rainfall is 1,800-2,000 mm, the average temperature is about 22 °C, and the absolute minimum and maximum temperature is 7 °C and 37 °C, respectively (pers. comm., Prof. Chinh N. D. of Da Lat University). During our visit in March 2004 the weather was hazy but very dry and quite hot with daily maximums of 34-35 °C. Around Kon Jot village, which consists of just a few simple houses, most of the forest has recently been cleared and construction of new logging roads has started; limited agriculture continues on cleared land, including coffee plantations under remaining trees or second-growth. However, the primary forest with P. dalatensis, which lies 1 km in a straight line east to south from the village and about 200 m higher (and possibly farther up), is strictly protected, thus logging here is not permitted. A few trees of P. dalatensis can be easily seen on nearby ridges (Fig. 3a); they have flat or roundish crowns overtopping the forest canopy of broadleaved trees. At around 1,050 m the first fallen cones of P. dalatensis were noticed lying on the ground. Scattered large (36-38 m) trees of the pine were observed on a flat ridge covered by rich tropical evergreen forest reaching a canopy height of 30-35 m (Fig. 3b). In a small clearing a massive tree - about 40 m tall, close to 30 m across, and a trunk 410 cm in circumference at breast height - was documented (Fig. 4a, b). Further up, at 1,100 m, a small grove of P. dalatensis, consisting of a few relatively young, and 6 old trees were surveyed. Several seedlings were seen only along the path and in some more open areas, but no saplings or young trees smaller than 12 m were observed. The upper canopy of the mixed primary forest is dominated by Rhodoleia championii (50% coverage) and Schima crenata (50%) with scattered trees of very old Pinus dalatensis (20%) emerging from the upper canopy of the broad-leaved trees. Smaller trees of this plant community include Lithocarpus dinhensis, Litsea cf. monopetala, Memecylon acuminatum, and Michelia sp. The dense lower tree and upper shrub layers are dominated by young plants of the above species (except the pine), and various other species including Acacia sp.,Ardisia sp., Euodia lepta, Eurya sp., Eurycoma longifolia subsp. longifolia, Garcinia gaudichaudii, Ixora coccinea, Mallotus apelta, Oldenlandia sp., Syzygium sp., and two palms (Daemonorops sp., Pinanga sp.). Large specimens of the fern Cibotium barometz were found scattered in the forest, along with two species of Smilax and Dianella ensifolia and Thysanolaena maxima.