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Vegetation zones on Kinabalu are largely determined by altitude, but within the
main forest zones many variations have developed, affected by differences in the
soil, slope, availability of water and degree of exposure.
Lowland Dipterocarp forest
 Lowland dipterocarp forest occurs mainly to the north and east, covering about
35% of the park. The forest canopy can reach as high as 50 metres (160 feet). It
is dark and dim and there is little ground cover. Trees in the family
Dipterocapacae are dominant.
These lowland dipterocarp forest support the highest concentrations of animal
life because the stature of the trees provides a much greater variety of
habitats and food. Dipterocarps themselves are not a main source of food. They
fruit rarely but when they do, they fruit “en masse”. At these times, whole
hillsides are covered in drifts of cream, yellow or pink from flowers or young
fruits, making you realize just how dominant the dipterocarps are in what little
remains of Borneo’s undisturbed lowland forests.
The lowland forests are also rich in a variety of fruit trees such as durian,
rambutan and Tarap, as well as figs. Figs have been proven to be one of the most
important sources of food, especially for monkeys and civets and for large birds
such as hornbills, barbets and pigeons. For birdwatchers it is always worthwhile
spending some time beneath a large fruiting fig, since large mixed species
feeding parties are often attracted to its abundant fruits. While other fruits
can be very seasonal, there is always a fig fruiting somewhere.
Lower montane oak-chestnut forest
 Above about 1,200 metres (4,000 feet) the lowland trees peter out as conifers
and oaks become more dominant. The trees are smaller, the canopy reaching 25 to
30 metres (80 to 100feet) at most. Because of the cooler climate, peat begins to
develop and mosses become common. More light reaches the ground so there is both
a thicker ground cover and thicker development of epiphytes, especially orchids.
Other trees that re particularly common in this montane forest are members of
the eucalyptus and tea families as well as conifers such as Dacrydium,
Podocarpus, Dacrycarpus, Agathis and Phyllocladus which have no flowers.
Co-dominant with the conifers are the oaks. Borneo is at the hub of the Malesian
oak kingdom, with over 100 species in the oak family Fagaceae recorded on the
island. Twelve chestnuts and almost 50 oaks occur on Kinabalu, their fruit
ranging from shiny little pixie caps sitting in a dainty cup, to stony kernels
almost covered by the thick, massive coat, except for a hole at the top, as big
as a child’s fist. Fallen scorns and spiny chestnut cases are common along the
trails.
Oaks and chestnuts are also an important source of food, not only for animals
such as squirrels who can gnaw through even the hardest kernel, but also wild
pigs. In the past, when large tracts of forest still covered Borneo, pigs formed
large hers migrating up to the oak-chestnut forest in the fruiting season. Here
they could also build ‘nests’ in which to give birth, talking advantage of the
abundant food.
Upper montane forest
 Above about 2,200 metres (7,200 feet), where swirling mists blanket the forest
for much of the day, lies the moss or cloud forest. Here the trees are thickly
cloaked and shawled with mosses and liverworts dripping with moisture. Orchids
are abundant, both in the ground cover and as epiphytes, and members of the
rhododendron family, as well as conifers, become particularly common at these
altitudes. It was in these forests that Sir Hugh Low found one of his most
spectacular plants – the magnificent Low’s Rhododendron, its huge golden heads
almost glowing in the misty forest. The rhododendrons are some of Kinabalu’s
loveliest flowers and while Kinabalu cannot lay claim to the vast numbers of
rhododendrons as grow in the forests of China and Nepal, 24 out of the 50
described for Borneo grow on the mountain and five are found nowhere else.
Sub-alpine zone
 By about 2,200 metres (11,000 feet), a sub-alpine zone has developed. The trees
are gnarled and stunted, forming a shrub community with conifers and
rhododendrons dominant. The scarlet, thimble-sized flowers of the Heath
Rhododendron (R.ericoides) grow in thickets here together with the larger
red-flowered Box-leaved Rhododendrons (R.buxifolium) which can be spectacular
when in full bloom around March and April. In open soggy patches, grassy
meadow-like associations develop, consisting of buttercups, potentillas,
eyebright and gentians, more familiar from temperate meadows. Shrub raspberries
are common – a favorite food of the Mountain Blackbird. In cracks and crevices
in the rocks, tough little mountain orchids find a root-hold, looking like
drifts of snow when in full bloom. The tree-line here is determined not by
altitude but by soil, or rather, by the lack of it. The fierce winds and
torrential rains make it impossible for most plants to survive higher than about
3,700 metres (12,000 feet)/. In sheltered places and in rock crevices, a few
dwarf, twisted bonsai-like shrubs struggle for life while sparse tough grasses
barely survive in sheltered shallow hollows filled with sand scoured from the
surrounding granite rocks. |
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