Bukit Timah Forest Dynamics Plot, Singapore

In 1993, a small Forest Dynamics Plot was established by the National Institute of Education of Nanyang Technological University and CTFS/STRI and with the collaboration of the Singapore National Parks Board in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, the last remnant forest in Singapore. The isolated patch of forest in which the 2-ha plot is located provides an excellent opportunity to study the impacts of fragmentation and isolation on forest dynamics and demographics. Additionally, because approximately fifty percent of the forest's birds, mammals, and amphibians have been lost, the site allows researchers to investigate the affect of faunal loss on the forest. The plot's second census has showed that recruitment in species that have biotically dispersed seeds - seeds spread by animals - has been reduced. In addition to answering important biological questions, the Forest Dynamics Plot is also used by CTFS as a training site for researchers throughout the region and is located near the CTFS Asia Profram headquarters.