- Dipterocarpaceae
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Dipterocarpaceae 
Dipterocarpus retusus Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Malvales Family: Dipterocarpaceae Genera Anisoptera
Cotylelobium
Dipterocarpus
Dryobalanops
Hopea
Marquesia
Monotes
Neobalanocarpus
Pakaraimaea
Parashorea
Pseudomonotes
Shorea
Stemonoporus
Upuna
Vateria
Vateriopsis
VaticaDipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek (di = two, pteron = wing and karpos = fruit) and refers to the two-winged fruit. The largest genera are Shorea (196 species), Hopea (104 species), Dipterocarpus (70 species), and Vatica (65 species).[1] Many are large forest emergent species, typically reaching heights of 40–70 m tall, some even over 80 m (in the genera Dryobalanops,[1] Hopea[2] and Shorea),[2] with the tallest known living specimen (Shorea faguetiana) 88.3 m tall.[2] The species of this family are of major importance in the timber trade. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia; according to C.Michael Hogan, the greatest diversity of dipterocarpaceae occurs in Borneo, which island holds 155 distinct species.[3]
Some species are now endangered as a result of overcutting, extensive illegal logging and habitat conversion. They provide valuable woods, aromatic essential oils, balsam, resins and are a source for plywood.
Contents
Classification
The dipterocarp family is generally divided into three subfamilies: .
Phylogeny of the Dipterocarpaceae[4].
Dipterocarpaeae Dipterocarpoideae Dipterocarpeae Upuna
Shoreae Monotoideae Pakaraimoideae Pakaraimaea
- Dipterocarpoideae: the largest of the subfamilies, it contains 13 genera and about 475 species. Distribution includes the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, India, Southeast Asia to New Guinea, and a large distribution in Borneo, where they form the dominant species in the lowland forests. North Borneo (Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak) is the richest area in the world for dipterocarp species.[1] The Dipterocarpoideae can be divided into two groups:[4][5]
- Valvate-Dipterocarpi group (Anisoptera, Cotylelobium, Dipterocarpus, Stemonoporus, Upuna, Vateria, Vateriopsis, Vatica). The genera of this group have valvate sepals in fruit, solitary vessels, scattered resin canals, and basic chromosome number x = 11.
- Imbricate-Shoreae group (Balanocarpus, Hopea, Parashorea, Shorea). The genera of this group have imbricate sepals in fruit, grouped vessels, resin canals in tangential bands, and basic chromosome number x = 7. A recent molecular study suggest that the genus Hopea forms a clade with Shorea sections Anthoshorea and Doona, and should be merged into Shorea.[6]
- Monotoideae: 3 genera, 30 species. Marquesia is native to Africa. Monotes has 26 species, distributed across Africa and Madagascar. Pseudomonotes is native to the Colombian Amazon.
- Pakaraimoideae: contains a single species, Pakaraimaea roraimae, found in the Guaianan highlands of South America.
A recent genetic study found that the Asian dipterocarps share a common ancestor with the Sarcolaenaceae, a tree family endemic to Madagascar.[7] This suggests that ancestor of the Dipterocarps originated in the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, and that the common ancestor of the Asian dipterocarps and the Sarcolaenaceae was found in the India-Madagascar-Seychelles land mass millions of years ago, and were carried northward by India, which later collided with Asia and allowed the dipterocarps to spread across Southeast Asia and Malaysia. The first dipterocarp pollen has been found in Myanmar (which at that time was part of the Indian plate) and it dates from the upper Oligocene.[8] The sample appears to slowly increase in terms of diversity and abundance across the region into the mid-Miocene[8] Chemical traces of dipterocarp resins have been found dating back to the Eocene of India.
Fossilized arthropods
52-million-year-old amber found in the Gujarat province, India, containing a large amount of fossilized arthropods, was identified as sap from the Dipterocarpaceae family.[9]
References
- ^ a b c Ashton, P.S. Dipterocarpaceae. In Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak, Volume 5, 2004. Soepadmo, E., Saw, L. G. and Chung, R. C. K. eds. Government of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ISBN 983-2181-59-3
- ^ a b c "Borneo". Eastern Native Tree Society. http://www.nativetreesociety.org/worldtrees/sea_ei/borneo_ii.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
- ^ C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Sulu Sea. Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. P.Saundry & C.J.Cleveland. Washington DC
- ^ a b Ashton, P.S. Dipterocarpaceae. Flora Malesiana, 1982 Series I, 92: 237-552
- ^ Maury-Lechon, G. and Curtet, L. Biogeography and Evolutionary Systematics of Dipterocarpaceae. In A Review of Dipterocarps: Taxonomy, ecology and silviculture, 1998. Appanah, S. and Turnbull, J. M. eds. Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia. ISBN 979-8764-20-X
- ^ Dayanandan, S. Ashton, P. S. Williams, S. M. Primack, R. B. 1999. Phylogeny of the tropical tree family Dipterocarpaceae based on nucleotide sequences of the chloroplast RBCL gene. American Journal of Botany. 86(8): 1182.
- ^ M. Ducousso, G. Béna, C. Bourgeois, B. Buyck, G. Eyssartier, M. Vincelette, R. Rabevohitra, L. Randrihasipara, B. Dreyfus, Y. Prin. The last common ancestor of Sarcolaenaceae and Asian dipterocarp trees was ectomycorrhizal before the India-Madagascar separation, about 88 million years ago. Molecular Ecology 13: 231 January 2004.
- ^ a b Morley, R.J. 2000. Origin and Evolution of Tropical Rain Forests. Wiley-Blackwell, NY.
- ^ Sample, Ian. "Prehistoric creatures discovered in huge Indian amber haul" The Guradian, 25 October 2010. Retrieved: 26 October 2010.
Morley R.J. 2000 Origin and Evolution of Tropical Rain Forests. Wiley, NY
External links
Categories:- Dipterocarpaceae
- Malvales families
- Dipterocarpoideae: the largest of the subfamilies, it contains 13 genera and about 475 species. Distribution includes the Seychelles, Sri Lanka, India, Southeast Asia to New Guinea, and a large distribution in Borneo, where they form the dominant species in the lowland forests. North Borneo (Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak) is the richest area in the world for dipterocarp species.[1] The Dipterocarpoideae can be divided into two groups:[4][5]
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