Wei Wei Seah

Naturalis Biodiversity Center | NCB

The species, Calophyllum soulattri, is found to have been wrongly included in Singapore's native flora. The name Calophyllum wallichianum var. wallichianum is also found to have been misapplied to a taxon in Singapore and should rather be called Calophyllum rufigemmatum. The nomenclatural history and problems of both taxa are discussed in this pape...

This is the sixth in a series of articles that aim to assist in the identification of the trees of the Nee Soon Swamp Forest, the last remaining substantial tract of freshwater swamp forest in Singapore. This paper provides a key and descriptions, based on characters easily observed in the field and from dried specimens, for the 11 native Calophyll...

A checklist of all species of bryophytes, lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms that are found in the wild (native, naturalised and casual) in Singapore is presented. We have attempted to account for all names of species and infraspecific taxa that have ever been recorded for Singapore, along with the pertinent publications that reported e...

There is an urgent need for reliable data on the impacts of deforestation on tropical biodiversity. The city-state of Singapore has one of the most detailed biodiversity records in the tropics, dating back to the turn of the 19th century. In 1819, Singapore was almost entirely covered in primary forest, but this has since been largely cleared. We c...

Profiles of selected species of the Flora listed in the Singapore Red Data Book

Updated threat status for all native species of bryophytes, lycophytes, ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants in Singapore.

A new combination Gynochthodes wongiana (Suratman) W.W.Seah is proposed here based on Morinda wongiana Suratman and the name Gynochthodes suratmanii K.M.Wong & Razafim. is placed in its synonymy.

Questions What are the relative influences of soil and hydrology on tree community structure, seedling survival and seedling growth? Does soil and hydrology moderate seedling responses to competition? Location Nee Soon catchment, Singapore. Methods We measured and identified trees ≥ 5-cm diameter in 40 plots measuring 20 by 20 m each, set up in t...

Extinction is a key issue in the assessment of global biodiversity. However, many extinction rate measures do not account for species that went extinct before they could be discovered. The highly developed island city–state of Singapore has one of the best‐documented tropical floras in the world. This allowed us to estimate the total rate of floris...

Corrigendum for Towards a field guide to the trees of the Nee Soon Swamp Forest (V): Burseraceae

Morinda scortechinii (King & Gamble) Ridl. was recently placed in the synonymy of Gynochthodes umbellata (L.) Razafim. & B.Bremer. However, the two taxa were found to differ in a number of leaf and flowering head characters and hence should be considered distinct species. A new combination Gynochthodes scortechinii (King & Gamble) W.W.Seah is neces...

This paper is the fifth instalment of a continuing series on the tree species of the floristically diverse Nee Soon Swamp Forest, Singapore's last substantial tract of intact freshwater swamp forest. Here, we provide a field key and descriptions, based on characters easily observed in the field and from dried specimens, to the 13 species of the fou...

Questions How do abiotic conditions, forest structure, as well as taxonomic and functional diversities and composition recover after wind‐generated treefalls? Do young and old‐growth secondary forests differ in their responses? Location Mandai region of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, Singapore, where extensive treefalls occurred during an u...

Gynochthodes praetermissa is newly described for the flora of western Malesia. It most resembles Gynochthodes coriacea, with which it has been confused. They can be distinguished on various leaf attributes and by the new species having corolla lobes at most twice as long as the corolla tube, whereas Gynochthodes coriacea has corolla lobes at least...

Neonauclea kranjiensis K.M.Wong & W.W.Seah, a newly diagnosed species from Singapore, is described. It most resembles Neonauclea excelsa (Blume) Merr. from which it differs in its smaller, narrowly elliptic leaves as well as smaller mature flowering heads. The taxa known as Neonauclea excelsa and N. calycina (DC.) Merr. in Java, Peninsular Malaysia...

Several new records of plant species previously unknown in Singapore are reported, along with records of species presumed to be nationally extinct which have been rediscovered. These reports are based on specimens collected during our recent surveys of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and previously unreported older specimens, all deposited in SING....

The unique plant communities of the freshwater swamp forests of southern Johor (Malaysia) and Singapore attracted the attention of E.J.H. Corner, but there have been no comprehensive follow-up studies to his seminal work. Meanwhile, freshwater swamp forests in the region have been mostly lost to logging and in-filling for plantations or urban devel...

To estimate species loss from habitat destruction, ecologists typically use species–area relationships, but this approach neglects the spatial pattern of habitat fragmentation. Here, we provide new, easily applied, analytical methods that place upper and lower bounds on immediate species loss at any spatial scale and for any spatial pattern of habi...

The invasive technique of increment coring may be unavoidable in forest ecology research requiring data on wood traits. Despite this, no study has examined the effects of increment coring on tropical forest trees. We cored 35 trees of 11 species from nine families, with wood densities ranging from 0.30 to 0.69 g cm-3, at two sites in Singapore. Tre...

The Sisters' Islands, consisting of Small Sister's Island and Big Sister's Island-officially known as Pulau Subar Darat and Pulau Subar Laut, respectively, support 144 vascular plant species from 59 families, of which 90 species are native, 34 are non-native, and 20 are cryptogenic weeds. The native species include 10 nationally Critically Endanger...

Pulau Tekukor has 151 vascular plant species from 61 families, of which 86 species are native, 44 are nonnative, and 21 are cryptogenic weeds. The native species include one presumed nationally Extinct species, 10 nationally Critically Endangered species, four nationally Endangered species, seven nationally Vulnerable species, 63 species that are n...

St. John's Island, officially known as Pulau Sakijang Bendera, has 258 vascular plant species from 81 families, of which 154 species are native, 76 are non-native and 28 are cryptogenic weeds. The native species include 22 nationally Critically Endangered species, 15 nationally Endangered species, 20 nationally Vulnerable species, 96 species that a...

This paper is the fourth part of a continuing series on the tree species of the floristically diverse Nee Soon Swamp Forest, Singapore's last substantial tract of intact freshwater swamp forest. We provide a key and descriptions for six species of Xanthophyllum from the family Polygalaceae, based on characters easily observed in the field and of dr...

This paper is the third instalment of a continuing series on the tree species of the floristically diverse Nee Soon Swamp Forest, Singapore's last substantial tract of intact freshwater swamp forest. Here, for the Myristicaceae, we provide a key and descriptions, based on characters easily observed in the field and when dried of Gymnacranthera (thr...

The forests within and around Singapore's last substantial tract of intact freshwater swamp forest—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—are extremely diverse floristically, and so present challenges in the recognition of plant species. Here we provide a key and species descriptions, based on characters easily observed in the field and on dried specimens, to the H...

The forests within and around Singapore's last substantial tract of intact freshwater swampNee Soon Swamp Forest are extremely diverse floristically and so present challenges in the recognition of plant species. Here we provide two keys and species descriptions, based on characters easily observed in the field, to the 22 species of Lauraceae found...