Orchid Habitat Loss
Fire damaged forest, Central Sulawesi, July '03, 2001 photos and text by Peter O'Byrne
The hillside in the foreground had been ablaze a day or two before we arrived (it was still smouldering in places), and the orchid-rich patch of riverine forest in the foreground gully was severely damaged along the far edge. It was clear that every year the same hillside got burned and the forest margin got nibbled away, one strip at a time.
The above photo shows some narrow-bole montane forest (pole-forest) on an open wind-swept plateau at about 1100 m altitude. According to the locals, 5 or 6 years ago when humans first moved into the area, the forest came up to the road. It is now about 100 metres away from the road. The grassy strip gets burned every dry season and each year the trees along the forest margin get flamed and either die or get severely damaged. The dead trees seen here were burned in the previous dry season (ie, 9-10 months prior to the photo) and will be completely consumed next time the grass is burned (presumably shortly after the photo was taken). You can see a few burned tree stumps sticking out from the grass. This is all that remains of the trees that were killed 2 dry seasons ago. This forest is very rich in orchids, many of which are still undescribed and known from nowhere else, including an unidentified Ceratostylis species (see right side bar). The only species that survives the initial flaming and is still growing on the dead trees is the showy Dendrobium vogelsangii, but it won't survive the intense heat of the next fire.
Dendrobium vogelsangii regenerating on a burned tree.
Dendrobium vogelsangii in flower.