TOWARDS BETTER KNOWLEDGE ON LIANA IN MALAYSIA

Lianas are woody climbers that grow and attach on trees with some of their crowns making part of the forest canopy. The abundance of lianas is a unique characteristic of the tropical rain forest. The
distinctive growth characteristics of lianas and their symbiotic existence play an important role in the tropical forest ecosystem.

In forest management, lianas are however thought to be nuisance and a hindrance to the growth and development of commercial timber tree species. Their presence causes fundamental damage to the forest during logging activities, and smothering vegetative development in forest gaps. These factors overshadowed the important functions of lianas in the ecosystem. As a consequence to this, liana stems are often cut prior to forest harvesting. Climber or liana cutting (CL) is a silvicultural practice conducted sometime after logging with the purpose of enhancing tree growth.

Lianas are understudied plants. Interest of lianas are picking up within the last decade in tropical Africa and Latin America. The lianas in Peninsular Malaysia are still poorly understood. A research project
has been initiated by FRIM to understand the ecology and ethno botany of lianas, and conducting phytochemical (for alkaloids, saponins, flavanoids and polyphenols) and biological screenings. To
create awareness and interest on lianas, a set of lectures on the subject and a field course have been planned.

The lectures and field course have the following objectives:
· To convene scientists, academicians, forest managers and those interested in liana research.
· To expose participants on present status of knowledge on lianas in the country.
· To discuss future research and possible collaboration on liana research in Malaysia.
· To educate participants of the field course on methods in field identification of lianas up to genus or species level (according to commonness of the species).
· To instruct the participants of the field course on standard techniques in liana census.