Diversity of pteridophytes At Hutan Lipur Bukit Bakar, Machang, Kelantan

This study was conducted to identify the diversity and richness of pteridophytes and also to study the distribution pattern of pteridophytes at Hutan Lipur Bukit Bakar, Machang, Kelantan. The sampling were carried out alongside the three nature trails and also including the general observation in Hutan Lipur Bukit Bakar. A total of 485 individual numbers of pteridophytes representing of 47 species and 30 genera from 21 families were identified and recorded. Thirty seven species of pteridohytes were terrestrial, five species were epiphytic ferns, two were varies (intermediate between terrestrial and epiphytic), one species were aquatic ferns and two species of tree ferns. IUCN Red List status recorded 22 species of pteridophytes were as Least Concern (LC) and the remaining are not listed in IUCN Red List status. The diversity index represented by Shannon Index and Shannon Evenness Index, while for the species richness was calculated by using of Margalef's Richness Index. Shannon diversity index (H') in Bukit Bakar is 3.38 and the maximum species diversity (H'max) was obtained as 3.85. The highest diversity of pteridophytes species is observed at the third trail with 3.16 followed by second trail (H’=2.95) and first trail is (H’=2.48). Meanwhile, the evenness index in Bukit Bakar is 0.55 and in the second trail is 0.71 indicates whereby the species distribution is relatively high within that area and followed by third trail (EH= 0.57) and first trail is (EH= 0.51). The richness index in Bukit Bakar is 7.44. The highest species richness is observed at third trail with 6.87 followed by second trail is 5.31 and the first trail is 4.16. Thelypteridaceae and Schizaeaceae contributed the highest richness of species in this study. The distribution map of the pteridophytes species were constructed to show the overall species distribution at the study areas. Therefore, from the result of this study indicated that the diversity of pteridophytes recorded at Hutan Lipur Bukit Bakar, Machang, Kelantan is high.