DIVERSITY OF BEGONIA (BEGONIACEAE) IN BORNEO – HOW MANY SPECIES ARE THERE?

A total of 126 species are currently named and described from Borneo (Brunei - 16 species, Kalimantan – 5 species, Sabah – 41 species and Sarawak – 72 species). However, based on our survey of the begonia collection in the Sarawak Herbarium, the un-named taxa (about 110 species) significantly outnumber the 72-named species. The situation is probably the same for Sabah, so with many more new species than the 41 named ones at a conservative estimate the Sabah begonia flora can be expected to exceed 100 species. For Kalimantan (5 named species), the total number of un-named species is likely to be even higher considering that Kalimantan occupies a larger land area, its begonia-rich mountains and limestone areas are hardly collected, and the begonia flora has hardly been studied at all. We can therefore expect the begonia flora of Borneo to exceed 600 species. In view of the high level of narrow endemism (80% of species are known from a single locality), expeditions to unexplored areas are necessary to document, in particular, areas that are experiencing irreversible land-use change. Alpha-taxonomy on a large scale is needed to tackle the backlog of literally hundreds of new undescribed species.

Cypriniformes of Borneo (Actinopterygii, Otophysi): An Extraordinary Fauna for Integrated Studies on Diversity, Systematics, Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation

Borneo Island is governed by the countries of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) and Indonesia(Kalimantan) and is part of Sundaland. These countries have a high diversity of freshwater fishes, especially describedand undescribed species of Cypriniformes; together these species and other flora and fauna represent an extraordinaryopportunity for worldwide collaboration to investigate the biodiversity, conservation, management and evolution ofBorneo’s wildlife. Much of the fauna and flora of Borneo is under significant threat, warranting an immediate and swiftinternational collaboration to rapidly inventory, describe, and conserve the diversity. The Sunda drainage appears to havebeen an important evolutionary centre for many fish groups, including cypriniforms (Cyprinidae, Balitoridae andGyrinocheilidae); however, Northwestern Borneo (Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak) is not connected to Sundaland, and thisdisjunction likely explains the non-homogeneity of Bornean ichthyofauna. A previous study confirmed that northernBorneo, eastern Borneo and Sarawak shared a similar ichthyofauna, findings that support the general hypothesis forfreshwater connections at one time between western Borneo and central Sumatra, and south Borneo and Java island.Borneo is drained by five major rivers: (1) Rajang and Baram rivers in Sarawak, and (2) Kapuas, Mahakam and Baritorivers in Kalimantan. The Cypriniformes is the most diverse clade in Borneo, and it is represented by at least 285 speciesin 55 genera and eight major clades (Balitoridae, Cobitidae, Cyprinidae, Gyrinocheilidae, Leptobarbidae, rasborines,cultrines and Paedocyprididae); at least 147 (52%) of these species are endemic to the incredibly diverse habitats ofBorneo. Most fish faunal studies in Borneo have involved inventory and discovery; however, none to date have focusedtheir efforts on the great biodiversity and systematics of Cypriniformes. In this paper we briefly discuss the generalbiodiversity of cypriniforms in Borneo, including recent revisions to the classification of the order through theCypriniformes Tree of Life and Planetary Biodiversity Inventory efforts supported by the USA NSF basic scienceinitiatives, in conjunction with researchers in countries of Borneo. It is our hope that this particular summary willgalvanize individuals to increase worldwide collaborative and integrated efforts on the biodiversity of Cypriniformes,and incite lively discussions among a broad array of interested parties, including those involved in the recent and critically important “Heart of Borneo” initiative funded by all these countries and some NGOs.

Two new records of Syrrhopodon (Calymperaceae, Musci) in SE Asia.

Syrrhopodon mammillosus Müll. Hal. is newly recorded for the Philippine moss flora, and Syrrhopodon katemensis (Zant.) L.T. Ellis is newly recorded for the moss flora of Borneo.

Conclusion

In concluding this discussion, I must say how very greatly we are indebted to the geologists who have not only described the basic geology of North Borneo in terms which we biologists can understand, but have risen to the occasion to meet and help our botanical problem of an old sub-alpine and montane flora on a very new mountain. Professor van Steenis’s learned account of this flora is based on a prodigious quantity of information, from which he extracted merely a few examples to illustrate each point. Every one could have been supported by so many other examples that the botanist is compelled to agree in general with his conclusions. Both the botanical and geological conclusions point to the necessity of investigating much more fully in biological, geological, and pedological aspects the older interior mountains of Borneo. This will be a matter for co-operation with the Indonesian scientists. The first Royal Society Expedition left, Mr President, on Kinabalu an aluminium portable hut which has been named ‘Burlington House’. It has been transported by the Forest Department of Sabah from our first base-camp site on the east ridge of the mountain to the second base-camp site for our next expedition to the Pinosuk Plateau in 1964, and here I hope it will remain a base for continual and prolonged ecological studies of the mountain’s problems, if not for further expeditions sponsored by the Society. Mr Askew and I, who are going on this second expedition, have profited very greatly from this discussion. I, personally, have gathered also considerable support for my durian theory, which relates more to the lowland flora of Borneo, the centre of durians—and the mace which lies in front of us is really a distant symbol of durianism. I wish to thank the contributors for having made this discussion so successful, and you, Mr President, for having allowed us to hold it.