Taman Negara- Lubok Simpon

Note: I still have a lot of photos to download from Taman Negara. The internet has been incredibly slow lately (I downloaded 2 photos all yesterday). Hopefully, it will speed up soon so that I can post the rest!

Not surprisingly, the rainforest in Taman Negara is drained by a number of rivers. The drainage of Sungai Tahan (Tahan River), I believe, lies entirely within Taman Negara, so this river has not been influenced by deforestation and other human disturbances. Therefore, Sungai Tahan is a beautiful and clear river.

Lubok Simpon is a beach along Sungai Tahan that is only a short hike from the National Park Headquarters located adjacent to the Taman Negara Resort. Here are some shots of one of my favorite places in Taman Negara.








This is one of my favorite pictures from Taman Negara. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.


Notice how clear the water is in rivers that flow through undisturbed forests.

Taman Negara- Wildlife Viewing at Tahan Hide

Some of the mammals living in Taman Negara include Asian Tiger, Tapir, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Malayan Gaur (seladang-a large wild cow), Asian Elephant, and a number of smaller deer species. Because these animals are nocturnal and secretive, it is unlikely that you are going to be able to see these animals while hiking around in the forest. However, it is still really cool to be hiking around in a forest where you know there are rhinos, tigers, and elephants!

One way to try to see them is to try to attact animals to where you are. At several places around Taman they have build hide, tall wooden buildings that are located near salt licks where animals will come at night to get salt. Most of the hides are far enough away from where I was staying that using them would involve sleeping in them overnight. Becuase I wasn't quite ready to do that, I only was able to visit the Tahan Hide that was located just a short walk from my cabin.

The Tahan Hide is located near a field (I think that the Wildlife Department cut down some trees to create the field so that visitors could see some wildlife) where animals come to forage and get salt. Here is a view of the hide in the middle of the afternoon. Not too much going on.


The first time I went to the hide was at night. Using the brightest light on my head lamp I was able to see the red eye-shine from several animals moving about in the field. From the movement of the eyes, it looked like they would feed on the grass and then pick their heads up to take a look around. Some of these animals got close enough to the hide that if you squinted really hard you could pretend that you could see the dark shape of their body. However, there was no way that I could tell what I was looking at.

The next day I spent a short amount of time at the hide before dinner while it was just starting to get dark. I saw one deer dash across the field, but that was all. The guys at the Wildlife Department information booth suggested that these were most likely Sambar Deer.


photo from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambar_(deer)

The final night I was there I decided that I wanted to sit at the hide for about an hour prior to sunset so that I could all of the action as night approached (I didn't want to miss the tiger attacking an elephant). One interesting observation that I had was that when the call for prayer was played on the loud speakers of the mosque across the river in Kuala Tahan, it appeared that the birds started singing more (maybe I can get a grant to study this).

Here is the view when I arrived at the hide about an hour before sunset.


It is starting to get darker. I am sure that the animals will be showing up soon!


Now it finally dark. I guess it is time to go home except.....


When it got so dark that I couldn't see anything, I figured that it was time to give up and head out. I made one last pass around the field with my spotlight and noticed an eye-shine moving out of the forest into the field. Over the next 15 minutes or so the animal moved much close to me, but I still never got a good look at it. I am guessing that it was a T. rex.

Wildlife Viewing in Oil Palm Plantation

Because the tropical rainforest is so thick it is difficult to spot wildlife even if they are close by. One way to try to get around this problem is to look for animals in places where there is less vegetation. One night we rode in the back of a 4x4 pick up to look for animals in oil palm plantations near Kuala Tahan.

A kid rode on the top of the truck shining it in the trees and looking for movement or eyeshine. We were visiting Taman Negara during the full moon and I was a little bit worried that the full moon would limit animal activity a little bit. For the first hour we basically saw nothing, so I was really starting to think that I had wasted some time and money. Fortunately, things picked up a bit and we had some good looks at animals that I have never seen before. Unfortunately, most of these photos are pretty bad, but here they are.

Owl



Python

This snake was lying right beside the rode so everyone got a very good look at it. It was about 3 meters long.


Head shot.


Besautiful coloration.


Another Snake

There is a little white snake crawling through the ferns on the side of the road.



Civet

We had pretty good looks at two civets. I think that civets are relatives of the racoon. I am not sure exactly which species this is. Because my photo looks like it has a mask, I will post the article about the Masked Palm Civet.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_Palm_Civet

Leopard Cat

The coolest thing that I saw was a Leopard Cat. Leopard Cats cats about the size of a large house cat that has markings like a leopard. We saw one of these cats walking through the plantation and were able to watch it for quick a while.

This blurry shot shows something about its coloration.


Here is a dark, far away shot.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_Cat

Taman Negara- Biodiversity and Wildlife

Tropical rainforests are among the most diverse communities on earth and the forest in Taman Negara is no exception. According to www.tamannegara.org, Taman Negara contains over 14,000 species of plants (2,400 species of flowering plants), 200 species of mammals, 350 species of birds, 67 species of snakes, 55 species of frogs, and 109 species freshwater fishes.

I wish I could tell you that I have great photos of all of these species, but if you have been following along with the blog you know there is no way that is happening. Becuase I had fun taking these shots I will show you a few of the photos that I took. I hope that Wyman Meinzer (http://www.wymanmeinzer.com/) can stand a little competition in the nature photography field. Here are some shots of animals I saw while hiking tbrough the rainforest.

We saw this poor bat fluttering around on the ground as we were hiking up to the canopy walk. I don't think its going to make it.


There is a wild boar hiding in the forest. Really, there is! Really!


Millipedes





I think that there are two of them wrapped up together. I wonder what they are doing?



Flying Lizard!

I know that it must show that I am a true bi-nerd when I tell you that the coolest thing that I saw in Taman Negara was a lizard. Oh, but this was not just any lizard! As I was walking along the trail I was surprised when I saw a lizard soar past and land on a nearby tree! Flying Lizards! what is up with that?!?



It turns out that unlike birds and bats (except for the one in the photo above) who are capable of true flight, lizards can't fly. However, they can glide from tree to tree (sort of like flying squirrels). These lizards are in the genus Draco (I don't know which species I saw). Their "wings" are formed by a skin that is connected to their rib cage that etends outside of their body.


photo from Lee Grismer's article

After landing on the tree the lizards fold their "wing" back along their body. You can just barely see the folded up wings laying along the side of its body in this photo.


Lee Grismer's artile in this link gives a nice description of flying lizards.
http://www.nature-escapes-kuala-lumpur.com/flying-lizards.html


http://www.tamannegara.org/pg_tmn/pg1_1_intro.php

Taman Negara- Canopy Walk

Most of the life in a tropical rainforest is located in the canopy. Because the canopy is over 20 meters high, you can feel pretty far from all of the action when hiking through the forest. At Taman Negara they have solved this problem by building the world's longest canopy walk. The canopy walk extends for over 500 meters at a height of 40 meters above the ground.

The canopy walk at Taman Negara is located about a half an hour walk from the Taman Negara Resort. From all of the benches located near the start of the canopy walk, it appears that it can be quite crowded during the high season. Because we visited in low season there were not many other people on the walk which made it a much better experience. Because we were there in the middle of the day any animals in the canopy were around were not too active so I didn't see any exciting animals on the walk. However, the up close views of the rainforest and the panoramic views of the surrounding area were great!









Canopy walk platform.



Panoramic view from the 1st platform.


Another view of the canopy.

Taman Negara- Rainforests

Because the precipitation in Taman Negara ranges from abut 2260 mm (89 inches) in the lowlands to over 3200 mm (130 inches) in the highlands it is not surprising that Taman Negara is covered by rainforest. The exact type of rainforest found in any location depends on abiotic factors such as soil, elevation, and temperature. According to WWF, two major ecoregions are located in Taman Negara- (1) Peninsular Malaysian rain forest and (2)Peninsular Malaysian montane rain forests

Peninsular Malaysian rain forests

The elevation of Kuala Tahan is about 300 meters so the rainforest that I visited was all lowland tropical rainforest. These rainforests are dominated by dipterocarps and in some forests 80 of all emergent trees are diptercarps. Canopies are usually about 24-36 meters tall, and emergents can grow up to 45 meters tall. At the ground level vegetation usually is sparse, mainly small trees, and herbs are uncommon.



To learn more about the lowland Malaysian rainforests and some of the other organisms that live there check out-
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Peninsular_Malaysian_montane_rain_forests

Peninsular Malaysian montane rainforests
At higher elevationsm > 1000 meters, lowland rainforests are replaced by montane rainforests. Dipterocarps dominate the lower elevations of montane forests but are replaced by other species such as oaks, chesnuts, and mytles at higher elevations. Montane forest do not have giant emergent trees, and their overall height is much lower. Epiphytes such as orchids, ferns, moss, lichen, and liverworts are more abundant in montane forests than in lowland rain forests.

To learn more about the montane Malaysian rainforests and some of the other organisms that live there check out-
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Peninsular_Malaysian_rain_forests

For more info about Malaysian rainforests check out
http://www.wwf.org.my/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests_main/the_malaysian_rainforest/

Tropical Rainforests

Rainforest Basics

Before talking about the rainforests found in Taman Negara, it might be useful to learn a bit more about rainforests in general. For a great introduction to many aspects of tropical rainforests check out Rhett Butler's awesome website Mongabay.com (http://rainforests.mongabay.com/).

Distribution

Tropical rainforests are found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. Historically, tropical rainforests covered up 6 million square miles (15.5 million square km) which accounts for about 12% of the land surface on Earth. Today coverage of tropical rainforests has been reduced to 2.4 million square miles so now tropical rainforests only cover about 5% of the Earth's surface. The largest remaining tropical rainforests are found in the Amazon Basin.


map from Mongabay.com

Canopy Structure

(I can't discuss rainforest canopy structure any better than Rhett Butler already has, so the this section is taken from his Mongabay.com website with a few of my photos from Taman Negara added)

Rainforests are characterized by a unique vegetative structure consisting of several vertical layers including the overstory, canopy, understory, shrub layer, and ground level. The canopy refers to the dense ceiling of leaves and tree branches formed by closely spaced forest trees. The upper canopy is 100-130 feet above the forest floor, penetrated by scattered emergent trees, 130 feet or higher, that make up the level known as the overstory. Below the canopy ceiling are multiple leaf and branch levels known collectively as the understory. The lowest part of the understory, 5-20 feet (1.5-6 meters) above the floor, is known as the shrub layer, made up of shrubby plants and tree saplings.


diagram from Mongabay.com

Rainforest canopy from canopy level.


Ranforest canopy from above.


Overstory tree.


The heavy vegetation of the canopy effectively screens light from the forest floor, and in a true (primary) equatorial rainforest, there is little jungle-like ground growth to impede movement. Ground vegetation in primary forest is minimal and usually consists mainly of lianas (vines) and tree seedlings.

Taman Negara- Rainforest Trees

The rainforest is the definite star of Taman Negara and the central characters in a rainforest are the rainforest trees. Let's try to learn a little more about rainforest trees.

Dipterocarps

Lowland tropical rainforests in many parts of Asia are dominanted by dipterocarps. Dipterocarps are plants that are members of the Family Diptocarpaceae a family containing 17 genera and over 500 species. The name dipterocarp comes from Greek (di = two, pteron = wing and karpos = fruit) and refers to the two-winged fruit produced by these trees.

Dipterocarps dominate forests in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Malaysian Peninsula, and wet regions of the Philipines. Generally, dipterocarps are tall trees that produce straight smooth trunks. Some dipterocarps may grow up to 50 meters tall. Normally, dipterocarp trunks do not branch until they reach the canopy.





Because many dipterocarps produce such long trunks, it is important that the base of the tree are capable of supporting the mass of these large trunks. Most trees rely on the root system to help support the trunk.

To understand how dipterocarps support their trunks it is necessary to know something about how nutrients cycle in tropical ecosystems. All plants require nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, to grow. Plants pick up nutrients from the soil using their roots. Although tropical ecosystems (the soil and the living plants and animals) contain lots of nutrients, the concentration of nutrients in the soil is relatively low because most nutrients are held in the tissues of living organisms (mostly the plants). Moreover, the nutrients are concentrated near the surface. When animals and plants die, their bodies (that contain lots of nutrients) fall to the forest floor. Because the high temperature and moisture level of tropical ecosystems are perfect for the growth of bacteria and fungi that are the main decomposers, the rates of decomposition in the rainforest is very fast. Becuase there are so many plants in these communities, then these nutrients are picked up very quickly, so the nutrients never have time to move deeper into the soil. Thus, the roots of many tropical trees grow near the surface rather than growing deep beneath the surface.



Shallow roots are not as effective as anchoring trees into the soil as deeper roots. Dipterocarps supporte their tall trunks by producing structures known as buttresses. These buttresses are so effective at stabilizing trees that dipterocarps are less likely to be blown over by high winds than tropical trees from the Amazon Basin on the Congo.







Because of the large biodiversity in the tropics there are lots of organisms that want to attack and eat any trees. Dipterocarps protect themselves by producing oily resins and tannins that defend them against infection and herbivores.

Dipterocarps reproduce by producing a large number of small flowers. Seeds are contained in winged-fruits that rotate as the fall to the ground and thus increase the potential distance that these fruits can be dispersed by the winds. Most dipterocarps do not flower every year, but interestingly most of the plants of the same species flower in the same years in a phenomenon known as "mast years".

Some dipterocarp fruits.

photo from www.mycorrhiza.info





(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipterocarpaceae)

http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/660.pdf

Taman Negara Resort

There are a number of lodging options while visiting Taman Negara ranging from backpacker hostels, cheap hotels, and nicer resorts. Because it was the only hotel located on the national park side of the river, I chose to stay at the Taman Negara Resort. Although the rooms were nice and the grounds were pretty and well maintained, the best thing about the resort was its location. Our cabin backed up to the rainforest, the National Park headquarters and interpretive center was right next door, the Tahan Hide (for wildlife viewing) was just a short walk away, and many of the trail heads for hikes started out from the resort.

All in all the resort was probably overpriced. Whether or not it was worth staying there depends on your budget and how much you want to stay "in the forest". The cost of the river transfer from Kuala Temmbeling to the resort was included in the package and they made this transfer very easy. I was glad that I stayed there because it was my first visit to Taman Negara, but I probably would not stay there again if I returned. Because prices were higher at the resort than on the other side, I ate most meals and booked my tours across the river. For tours we booked through NKS located at the LBK Floating Restaurant. Our tours through NKS were cheaper and had many fewer participants than trips booked through the hotel.

The Taman Negara Resort jetty and the stairs up to the hotel.


Because the hotel is located above the river they use this rail system to get bags from the jetty to the hotel.



We were welcomed by hotel workers singing a traditional Malay song.


Around the resort.




My cabin.


The back porch of my cabin faced directly into the rainforest.


Another view from the back porch. Sometimes it has been possible to see mouse deer between the two cabins but I never got lucky enough to see them.


The hotel restaurant. We ate breakfast here. The breakfast buffet contained a mixture of Western (e.g., omletes, pancakes, bacon) and Malaysian food (nasi lemak, fried rice, noodles). Although I enjoy a lot of the spicy Malaysian food, I am not ready to eat spicy food for breakfast so I stick with a more familiar breakfast.