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Diversity and composition of plant species in a
communal agroforestry system at Manggatal,
Sabah
To cite this article: M Maid et al 2022 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 1053 012021
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Tropical Forestry 2021
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1053 (2022) 012021
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1053/1/012021
1
Diversity and composition of plant species in a communal
agroforestry system at Manggatal, Sabah
M Maid1*, T Mudi2, A Ding1, J Lajuni3 and J Kodoh1
1 Faculty of Tropical Forestry, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah, Malaysia
2 Sabah Forestry Institute, Sabah Forestry Department, Mile 6, Labuk Road Sandakan,
Sabah, Malaysia
3 Independent Environmental and Social Sustainability Professional
** Corresponding author: mandy21@ums.edu.my
Abstract. Agrisilviculture, the practise of combining forest trees with crops and fruit trees, is
common on smallholder and communal land in Sabah. This research aims to determine the
diversity and composition of plant species in a communal rubber-based agrisilvicultural system
at Kampung Ratau, Manggatal, Sabah. A 50 m x 200 m plot was established in an old rubber
garden mixed with other plants. The plot is divided into 10 m x 10 m quadrats. All trees
measuring more than 1 cm dbh, lianas and vines were recorded. Diversity indicated by the
Shannon-Weiner index H 'value is 2.72 for all types of plants, 2.25 for trees, and 1.73 for lianas
and vines, respectively. The Simpson index (D) is 0.87, 0.78, and 0.68 for all types of plants,
trees, lianas, and vines, respectively. The Margalef index (Dm) is 5.69, 3.36, and 2.89 for all
types of plants, trees, lianas, and vines, respectively. The dominant tree, liana, and vine species
are Hevea brasiliensis (128), Smilax cf. laevis (96), and Lygodium cirinnatum (23). The
agroforestry system can support moderately diverse plant species and contains several dominant
species.
Keywords: Agrisilviculture; agroforestry; diversity; liana; vines.
1. Introduction
Rubber-based agroforestry, the combination of rubber trees as the main tree crop with annual crops and
fruit trees [1] is commonly practiced in Sabah, Malaysia. The rubber-based agroforestry system came
about due to the community's needs for provisions, environmental services, cultural services and
supplemental income from other plants than rubber. Agroforestry system is recognised as a land use that
integrates trees, crops, pasture and other alternative production systems to provide benefits and services
to humans while rehabilitating or conserving the ecosystems [2,3,4]. The system is ecologically
sustainable and usually involves subsistence farming in the tropics [5].
The growth of Kota Kinabalu city and urban areas has infringed into traditional villages that were
once considered rural. Many village pockets in the Kota Kinabalu district are now surrounded by modern
housing, infrastructure and development. However, the old and new generations that inhabit these urban
villages still retain most of their traditional way of life, including agrisilviculture and cultural practices
on their ancestral land, and depend on natural resources, such as water and agroforestry produce for their
daily provision and livelihood. The agrisilvicultural practices of smallholders are varied due to the
holding size, preference, and level of reliance on the system for their livelihood. Smallholders retain
green areas in various forms such as pasture lands, fish ponds, vegetable farms, cropland, rubber
gardens, fruit tree gardens, and naturally regenerated bushes. The Dusun community of Kampung Ratau,
Manggatal, traditionally planted various trees and perennial shrubs. The agrisilviculture practice is
considered low-intensity management that allowed wild plants to thrive in the system. The availability

Tropical Forestry 2021
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1053 (2022) 012021
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1053/1/012021
2
of green areas consisting of agroforestry ecosystem with wild bushes is appreciated by the villagers and
visitors of the neighbouring eco-agro homestay and resort for recreation [6]. Agroforestry systems are
varied depending on the main trees and crops planted to support community livelihood. For example,
betel vine based Khasia-, pineapple and lemon-based Tripura-, short-term shifting- [7], timber tree-
based-, industrial tree crop-based-, fruit tree-based, and mangrove-agroforestry [8].
In this study, we ask whether smallholder agrisilviculture practice in urban area support plant
diversity and how does the system affect the dominance, evenness and richness of plant species? Green
areas in an urban setting are under extreme pressure for land conversion and development. Documenting
plant diversity, composition, function and value to local communities and visitors will provide a reason
for maintaining green areas and ecosystems hidden in urban areas. We hypothesised that the rubber-
based agrisilviculture practice support low to moderate plant diversity. The study aimed to determine
the diversity and composition of plant species in a communal rubber-based agrisilviculture practice.
2. Methodology
2.1 Research site
The research site is at Kampung Ratau (6° 03' 59.4" N, 116° 10’ 09.6" E) of Manggatal subdistrict on
the outskirt of Kota Kinabalu city, west coast of Sabah state Malaysia. The rubber garden is interplanted
with fruit trees, crops and contains natural regeneration in a narrow valley with a network of streams.
The whole village relies on these streams for water supply. Therefore, land use is identified as a rubber-
based agrisilviculture practice. In agrisilviculture, the management includes weeding and fertilizing
around trees, crops, and medicinal plants, rubber tapping, and harvesting. Intercropping with food and
medicinal plants is conducted on a need’s basis. Adjacent resort and homestay utilize the surrounding
jungle and farms for trekking with the villager's permission. Land tenure is secure as the farmland are
accorded native titles (NT) owned by individuals or group of individuals. The agroforestry system is
considered communal because of the sharing access of agreed resources (water, bush area) of the
privately-owned land.
2.2 Sampling design and data collection
A rectangular sampling plot measuring 50 m x 200 m (1 hectare) was established on an old rubber farm.
Then, 10 m x 10 m quadrats were marked within the main sampling plot. All trees above 1 cm diameter
at breast height (dbh), lianas and vines were included in the species count, abundance, dbh record and
species identification. Each tree was labelled for identification and sample tagging purposes.
Photographs, leaf twig with flower, fruit sample of each tree was taken and labelled for species
identification and verification based on herbarium specimens and publication. The dbh size
classification are as follows: (1) 1.0 – 5.0 cm, (2) 5.1 – 10.00 cm, (3) 10.1 – 15.00 cm, (4) 15.1 – 20.00
cm, (5) 20.1 – 25.0 cm, (6) 25.1 - 30.0 cm, (7) 30.1 - 35.0 cm, (8) 35.1 – 40.0 cm, (9) 40.1 – 45.0 cm,
(10) 45.1 – 50.0 cm.
2.3 Data analysis
The plant samples were identified, counted and categorised into the family. Shannon-Weiner index, H’
[9], Simpson index, D [10], dominance (1-D), Margalef index (Dm) [11], Menhinick’s richness index
[12] were determined using Paleontological Statistics (PAST) software [13,14]. H' is a diversity index
taking into account the number of individuals and number of taxa. The H' value varies from 0 for
communities with only a single taxon to high values for plant communities with many taxa [13]. When
H' <1.5 indicates low diversity, 1.5<H<3.5 indicates moderate diversity and H>3.5 indicates high
diversity [15]. D is a measure of a community's evenness with values ranging from 0 to 1. Dominance
(1-D) is represented by values 0 (all taxa are equal in number) to 1 (a single taxon dominates the
community) [13]. Dm is a diversity index that measures species richness and rests on assumption that
there is a relationship between the number of species and the number of organisms in a sample [11].
When Dm<2.5 species richness is low, 2.5<Dm<4.0 is moderate, Dm>4.0 is high [16]. Menhinick's
richness index is the ratio of the number of taxa to the square root of sample size [12].

Tropical Forestry 2021
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1053 (2022) 012021
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1053/1/012021
3
3. Result and discussion
The agrisilviculture practice at Kampung Ratau consisted of rubber trees as the main tree crop and source
of income with fruit trees, wild trees, lianas, and vines. There are 20 tree species, nine liana species and
seven vine species. The dominant species are Hevea brasiliensis tree (128), and Lygodium cirinnatum
vines (96) from a total of 466 plants in the 1-hectare plot (Table 1). There are lianas (45) and vines (134)
because of less intense management and appreciation for wild species. The main economic activity is
rubber tapping and harvesting crops and medicinal plants. Most of the tree species are small-sized, 34%,
42% and 11% of trees are in class 1, class 2 and class 3 dbh size respectively. The dbh class 4 and class
5 have 5% and 3% of trees, class 6 and class 7 have 2% of trees each. The dbh class 10 had 1% of the
total trees. For Hevea brasiliensis, 33% and 56% are in dbh class 1 and class 2 from natural regeneration.
The dbh of H. brasiliensis is no larger than class 5 because older trees died or were removed. The tree
with largest dbh belongs to Acacia mangium. The species were found at the hillsides exposed to sunlight.
The A. mangium had three distinct dbh classes with 46%, 31%, and 23% in dbh class 1, class 5, and
class 10.
Table 1. A list of trees, lianas and vines in the rubber-based agrisilviculture 1-hectare plot.
Tree species
Lianas
Family
n
Species
n
Family
n
Species
n
Apocynaceae
7
Alstonia macrophylla
7
Fabaceae
13
Spatholobus sp.
1
Chrysobalanaceae
5
Licania splendens
5
Spatholobus sp.
1
Dilleniacea
7
Dillenia
suffruticosa
7
Spatholobus sp.
1
Euphorbiaceae
153
Hevea brasiliensis
128
Bauhinia diptera
8
Macaranga amissa
13
Spatholobus
ferrugineus
2
M. tanarius
3
Gnetaceae
1
Gnetum
cuspidatum
1
Endospermum diadenum
9
Menispermaceae
1
Fibraurea sp.
1
Guttiferae
4
Garcinia parvifolia
4
Smilacaceae
30
Smilax cf.
borneensis
7
Leguminosae
21
Archidendron clypearia
8
Smilax cf. laevis
23
Acacia mangium
13
TOTAL
45
45
Loganiaceae
4
Fagrea cuspidata
4
Vines
Melastomataceae
6
Pternandra coerulenscens
6
Flagellariaceae 10 Flagellaria indica 10
Moraceae
62
Artocarpus odoratissimus
19
Gleichniaceae 2 Dicranopteris
linearis
2
A. heterophyllus
11
Leguminosae 3 Mastersia bakeri 3
A. integer
9
Nepenthaceae 4 Nepenthes gracilis 4
Ficus aurata
15
Passifloraceae 7 Passiflora foetida 7
F. uncinate
8
Schizaeaceae 108 Lygodium
flexuosum
12
Myrtaceae
5
Syzygium samarangense
5
Lygodium
cirinnatum
96
Simaroubaceae
3
Eurycoma
longifolia
3
TOTAL
134
134
Symplocaceae
10
Symplocos polyandra
10
TOTAL
287
TOTAL
287
Species diversity of the rubber-based agrisilviculture is moderate (1.5<H' <3.5; [9]) for the overall
plant community and the two categories of plants (Table 2). Plant diversity is high in the system because
of the diversified needs of the farm owner. In comparison, the diversity of other tree-based agroforestry
systems is more or less with the rubber-based agrisilviculture. Forest gardens have the highest plant
diversity among other agroforestry systems in Mexico [17]. The H' values of betelnut agroforestry

Tropical Forestry 2021
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1053 (2022) 012021
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1053/1/012021
4
(3.29), lemon agroforestry (2.85), pineapple agroforestry (2.24), secondary forest (2.71), shifting
cultivation (1.94) in Bangladesh [7], and home gardens in Indonesia (2.84) [18]. Smaller home gardens
in Indonesia tend to be more diverse than large home gardens but large home gardens have greater
carbon stocks [18]. In Ethiopia, home gardens, parklands, and live fences had lower H' (0.3–1.7) which
is affected by holding size, species preference, and management. The farmers select trees that are
suitable for their growth niche, planting density, and interaction with other trees and crops. Ethiopian
farmers are constrained by arable land, seed availability, drought, land, and labor shortage [19]. At Kg
Ratau, management is less intensive except for clearing weeds before harvesting and promoting the
growth of valued plants. Similarly, land and labor shortage, holding size, and seed availability affect
plant diversity. The taxa in agrisilviculture are closer to being even (D = 0.87) with low dominance (1-
D=1.13) of any single taxon for the overall plant community. The Dm value increases with the number
of organisms sampled from the lianas and vines group (1.19) to the trees group (3.36) and the combined
plant community (5.69). It shows that Dm is sensitive to sampling, specifically the number of organisms
[Death]. Comparatively, the Dm of the Indonesian home garden was 4.52 to 5.10 [18]. Menhinick's
richness index showed a lower value of 1.67 for the overall plant community and was not affected by
the number of individuals (Table 2).
Table 2. Diversity of rubber-based agrisilviculture at Kg. Ratau, Manggatal.
Lianas & vines
Trees
All
Shannon
-
Weiner (H'), Diversity
1.731
2.251
2.717
Simpson (D), Evenness
0.682
0.7808
0.8699
Dominance (1-D)
0.318
0.2192
0.1301
Margalef (Dm), richness
2.892
3.357
5.696
Menhinick, richness
1.196
1.181
1.668
Individuals
179
287
466
Taxa
16
20
36
Rubber-based agroforestry primarily supports the community's livelihood from rubber-tapping and
other plants provide daily provision for remote communities [1]. In Kg. Ratau, rubber-based
agrisilviculture is additionally appreciated for providing water, goods, cultural and environmental
services. Rubber tapping and harvesting from crops and medicinal plants are the main economic activity
of the farm owners at Kg Ratau. Raw goods, semi-processed and processed products are sold around
the village, supplied to agriculture retailers (Peladang, Sabah) and at Manggatal tamu (a local market
place). The community values their way of life despite the access to modern infrastructure and exposure
to changing lifestyles. Similarly, agroforestry land use in Colombia has a multipurpose function proven
to support biodiversity (128 species), provide ecosystem services (water purification, wildlife habitat),
provision (food, wood, medicinal plants), regulate (pest and disease, climate mitigation, biodiversity),
food security and culture services (aesthetic, recreation) [20]. Agroforestry systems are also important
for carbon sequestration [18], reducing soil erosion and improving soil fertility [8]. In Mexico, different
agroforestry systems were important for cultural identity, subsistence needs, and economics [17].
4. Conclusion
Rubber-based agrisilviculture in urban areas can support plant diversity consisting of the planted and
wild plants because of nature appreciation, the multipurpose role of the smallholding, and dependency
on the farm and surrounding forest for daily provision. The land use can contribute to the maintenance
of the traditional way of life and sustainable development of urban areas.
5. References
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IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1053 (2022) 012021
IOP Publishing
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1053/1/012021
5
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Acknowledgement
We acknowledge Universiti Malaysia Sabah for research facilities and funding for the conference. We
thank Mdm. Mahini Salamat (Kg. Ratau) for assistance.