Biogeochemical studies in South East Asia by use of herbarium material : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemistry at Massey University

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Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for

a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and

private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without

the permission of the Author.

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3IOG~OCH~l.'.ICf.L ~TUDIES IN SOU'l¹H EAST ASIA BY USE OF IE~~tBP.:aIUM MATERIP.L.

A thesis presented in p·1rtiol fulfilment of the requirements for the dei.;ree of

J.'.C.lstcr ui' Scier:ce in Cht'lll i Gt ry

~it ::nssey Uni ^ver~>it.y.

EWAN D.fl.VID WITHEH.

I 977.

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.A :JS T!L:~ CT.

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P. biogeocherr.ical sL.:.rves·

o:·

Indunt:sia v:as uncertaken MWlyzing 1·1crba!:iur:-; sar:,ples b.;· <,h;rr.ic absorrti.or:. (Indonesia ':J8S chosen because i l has been welJ sucve,yco tJOt<inic.::d.ly, bt1'., poorly surveyed ceolotJicolly.)

Background concentrations o:""' copper, nickel and zinc were

det~rmined using vurious species, predominantly members of the families Flncourtiaceae nnd Viol:1ceri.e.

Rinorea bengalensis ( ~all .) O.K. (Violac.) was discovere~ as a hypernccumulotor of nickel (Brocks et al ., 1977) Find this led to an in depth study of ~. benr;nlensjs ::.n<l other species of the L'.t:nus. -:;irorn this study L·:c nren:; C1f c3oubU\1l cco1ogy were pY-edicted as containin[; ul traba~>ic rocks, ?.. _2v:mi_ca (31.) O.Y.. ^'NLlS nhown to be

;, hy:;;:ier1Jccu11:ulato!' u:· nic: <t;l ~1;-ij :<. tll:)ersii Jngl. ::c:s founc: to yield

:J very hich cob<i:!..t/nickel co1.c{"i!t1",ti:.J11 r·atio.

'l'hree hyperaccu:r.ul<d.occ~ u~· nickel ':.cr·e discovered after E-1nolysis uf e selection of h1::·eba.c'L.in, s:nnples coUecled on Obi Islnnd by ~)r.

( r·'l'"Y· _.L. _J.1,,.,. ., .. ,-..Tf C,.. _., ...._ .. " ...

bifu-rcatR ox.yrc~1 rn Dubard

':'richosperrnum kjellJ2er1^;~i '.3u1·rt:t (TiJ inc.).)

/.rnbon Island was i-'!·edic.:ted Df-~ c0nsiGtinE

or

ultrabasic substrut.e~3.

Plants collected f1·om Salajar Isl.:rnd ;;ere shown to cont..uin anomalously high concentrot ions of copper possibly due to anc;nalous

copper concentrntions in the soil.

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ACKNO'VL!!:DG.C:M2YTS

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I would l ike to thank my course supervisor Dr. R.R. Brooks - f or his invaluable assistance and advice during this project.

v

I would al so like to thank the following institutions for their generous donations of leaf sarnples l:ind in pRrticular the individuals listed below:

Australia: Queensland Berbarium, Brisbane. Dr. S.L. Everist.

Federal Republic of Germany:

Indonesia: Malaysia:

Netherlands:

Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Berlin - ~ahlem.

Dr. B. Zepernick.

Herbariurn Bogoriense, Boger, Java.

lierbarium of the University of Mulaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Dr. d • C • S t one .

Institute- for Syste::::1tic Botany, Utr·c:cht.

i.:r. L.Y. 'l'h.-:.'cstr·n. Hi ~ksherbarium, Lei ct1:m . Dr. A.K. Groenew~~en.

Dr.

r.: .

^Jacobs^.

Professor ^~rC. Kalkman.

Dr. Ede Vogel.

New Caledonia: O.R.S .~. O.~., NourneH t. T. Jnffre""

Sin£apore:

'l'hailand:

United Kingdom:

Herbarium, Botanic Gardens. Dr. Chang Kiaw Lan.

The Forest Herbarium, Bangkok.

Mr. Chamlong Phengklai.

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

Mr. D.M. Henderson.

Royal Botanic garden, Kew.

Dr. R.M. Polhill

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United States: ' Arno1d P.rboretum of Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusets .

~rofessor Richard A. Howard.

The Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden, New York Ms. E.K. Schofield.

I would also like to trwn< Dr. A. Challis (new Zealand Geological Survey) for the electron probe analysis and Ii.rs. P.

Riddolls (New Zealcind Geological Survey) for help with identificaf1'or.

of substrates.

Thanks also to Mrs. ?. Trow for typing this thesis and to Mrs. J . Trow for assistance with the illustrations.

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T A B L E 0 F C 0 N T E N T S

ABSTRACT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES GENERAL INTRODUCTION

vii

i i v vii x xii

SECTION I - GEOGRAPHY AND BOTAf..TY OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 4

Ao GEOGRAPHY 5

1 o Indonesia 5

2o Effect of the sea floor 5

3o Indonesian na~iral resources 7

B. CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 7

1. Climate 7

2o Vegetation 8

Co PLANT SPECIES OF TI-IE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 8

1 o Flacourtiaceae 8

2o Violaceae 16

3o Sapotaceae 17

SECTION II - ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES 18

A. INTRODUCTION 19

Bo SANPLE PREPARATION 19

C. FLAME ATOMIC ABSORP'l'ION SPECTROPHOTOMETRY 20 Do FLAJIIELESS ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROPHOTOMETRY 21

1. Carbon rod atomizer 21

2o Carbon furnace 21

Eo INSTRUMENTAL PARAMETERS 21

1 o Flame atomic absorption 21

2o Flameless atomic absorption 21

3o Analysis lines 22

F. PRECISION OF THE EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE 22 SECTION III - A BIOGEOCHEMICAL SURVEY OF THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 24

Ao INTRODUCTION 25

Bo THEORY OF DISTRIBUTIONS OF TRACE ELEMENT DATA 25

Co RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 28

1. Ubiquitous species 28

2. Non-ubiquitous species 32

3o Sites of particular interest 32

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viii

D. C O~~CLUS I O~iS.

S~CTIO:~ IV - /..CCU'.::lJL:'.'I'IO:T 07 COJ,\LT /.''.D ~'.IC!\"I'.:L BY SP=::c1:~s O?

'::'Hi::

^G:~~:us ^~nx^o:::::·:J, ^.

A. IN~lw:-.UCTIO:\.

:3. TJ\XO:~OL'!Y 0? ~:~-~ G:·.~::J::..; ~tUiC.-:.:.~_i'..

c.

^:-tnro~~~;_,'\... 3~:?~Gc\LE:~:.) I S - i. h'{?:~:UCL,;U : .. lJLNT'OH OF NICKEL.

·1. ?02ul11lion sturHes.

3. ~elgtionshi}J oetwecn nici<t;l 0nd calcium. D. OTH..=:H iUNO.i.t~~~ SP~·:CI2.S.

1. Rinor>e3 javnnica - <J hypcro.ccumulator of nickel. 2. liigh cobalt l evels from Tnnze:1r.in.

E. cm~CLUSI

on.

SECT I ON

v -

^THE ^?L^o~u, ^1..1:;' \._:::I I ~Ll, 1';~).

B. ^Tlfr^~ '.::°>E VOGEL C ^•X.L~C':'I ^CI'~

1. :.:,yristi.c~t l:rnri.fo}i·1 '!8I', !?_ifurc<itH.

2. . l an ch one> 11 :1 u;~y2J_;:__;_.

1. Cobal t . 2. i.lnnt;<inese,

E. TlL~ c_.,r;c3 ^r^•..,!.<.TCHO:?~~f..Ul ...

F. P.Ccm:ULt'.:'IC~\ -~·' ~HC:<::l. - A P:tL'.l'~T::~ i•':...,\';.'U_(.:c;?

G. 'l.':·E r;.!,'.ILY ~f1:·¹.:r~·;c •:,'1.E,

:1. COHCLUSI ON.

.4.. I NT:rt ODU CTI 01~.

3. THE ISLM-JD 0:? 2A: •. t..J/.P,,

C. TIE FI HST SAi:.:?L.t:::S ??.Oi,\ 'l'1L.~ DuC'l'.~U:tS V /\.":-T L~EU',\EN COLLECT I ON. D. Tii~ G :rJ'JE::t.A COL:~us nm CYi .. AiUA.

Pn ;re

37

43

U.1 • +

4:+

4-

¹-t 47 47

50 50 51 51 51 5G 57

57 5,)

i:;,

_,

5

~1/-

:,0

r -' .. . / .

6j 6:_;

r e

0 .. .)

6G

71 73 74 77 77 82

E. CO?PZR 1\ND z INC CJI\Cr~~'7'~'j{.;\'l'I m;s IN ~);,,:.1PL.:::s ?~OM SP.LP.JAR ISLAND 83

1. Subpopulation 1 - "Normal" concentrations. 83

2.

3.

4.

Subpopulation 2 - "Accumulators" of copper.

Subp opul a ti on 3 - "Hype ro c curnul at ors" of copper. Comparison with the fl .. frican Co11per Belt.

83 88 88

No.

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COLLECT.:.;:D OU'l'SI:J~ O.!.•' S!tLJ,JAi.<.. ISL.!\HD. G. COLLI':CTIO~i LOCt.LITIES.

H. CONCLUSIO~L G:~NERJ~ CONCLUSI O~i. RE:!.<.,~::ENC~S.

ix

86 91

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TABLE NO.

I-1. ~.talesian genera o;:' the fRmjly F'lRcourtiaceae. 11 I- 2. l•lal esion gencN1 o:' tht' :l.'amily Vio\aceae. 12 I-3. ~.'.alesian gt:'ner::1 O:l., the f;:;mjly ~:npotnceae. 12 111-1. Trace element concentrntion (pe/L dry weight) jn eight

~alesian species. 27

III-2. Relationship betwec·n uri t[1mr'tic c-1nd £t:Ornetric means in

elemental concentrcition data. 32

III-3. Tro.ce ele111ent concentration ()JL/g dry ".Veight) in non- ubiquitous J •• olesian species.

III-4 Samplt::s contdining anomalously hi[,h concentrations of ni c ke 1.

II-5 . Samples contoining nno1nulousl.Y high concentrations of copper ~ zinc.

39 42

IV-1. Hjch nickel vnlues (74000 pE/t,) in ~Unore1.1 bengalensis. 46 IV-2. ~;ickel nnu cobnl t c,.meentr:ition (ps/c dry weieht) in

".1inO!'t..~n ben,~alensi. s.

IV-3. Cobc1J t [1!1c1 nicl<:el crmcentr:iti onF (Jlt,/i!, dry \•,eight) in

V-1 .

V-2.

V-3.

V-4.

Rinor-?o. species.

Element;:i.l concentrntions (,u1~/G) in plants (de Vogel collecti on) frcm C~i Island.

;<;ler:iental ccncentr'itions (;ue/c) in species of Pl c:mcnont.:lla and 'l'richosperr:rn:n fr0rr .)outhens~, /.siu and Oceania.

':'he ~"dvanc:e1nent index o:"' fn1!1ilies with nickel concentrations in excess of 100 }JS/

s

~ackel concentrations ()le/r, dry weight) in species of the family Sapotoceae.

VI-1 . Uickel, copper and zinc concentrations in plants collected by W.M. Docteurs van Leeuwen.

VI- 2. Nickel, copper and zinc concentrations in species of the genus Coleus.

VI-3 . Nicke~ copper and zinc concentrations in species of the

49

53

60 65 68 69 76 79

genus Cy111aria. 81

VI- 4. Copper , and zinc concentrations in plants collected on

Salajar Island. 84

VI- 5. Copper accumulating species and their collection localit-

ies. 90

x

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xi

TABLE NO. Page No.

VI-6 . Copper hypcraccumulatinc species and their collection

localities. 90

VI- 7. Comparison of copper cuncentrations from Salajar Island with copp::jr concentr:1tions in the so.me species collected

elsewhere. 93

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LIST OF F'IGUHES.

Figure No.

0-1. Map of the Celebes, Indonesia. I-1. Area of studies.

III-1.

III-2.

III-3 .

III-4.

Cumulative Cumulative Cumulstive Cumulative

Frequency Frequency

? req uen cy Frequency

[rc1phs f Of'

LTra phs for t: r<i phs fer 2rc:1 phs for

HomAlium

~!omal i um l!oma l i urn 1'.:,tbcin thus

xii

3 6

cnr~OQhlllaceum. 32

foetidum. 32

tomentosurn. 32

enneas12errnus. 32 III-5. Collection sites of plants specimens containing anomalously

high nickel concentrations.

42

II-6. Collection sites of plant spt;cimt·ns containing high copper

Qll.d zinc concentr11tions.

42

IV-1 . Cumulative Frequency [r~1ph for nickel in Rinorea bene;al-

ensis.

44

IV-2. ^Collc~ction loc1~lities of r>wr1ulc~ of :unorea benp;alensis. 47 IV-3. ^Nicr~el ccncentrcitions in ~:;;1'eir:H.:n~ of :UnoI'ea bengalcnsis

V-1.

expr·esse·1 ,,~; n :~unction of tn~7 culciur:1 content.

Collect ton locr:;li L"i.v~o ~~,)r !'lGnch,;nellu oy.,yedrs <ind 'I' ri d1 O[; :'e r:r1urrt k .kJ 1 be I'! i i .

VI-1 . ii is tot_,r·ar;1 s howin6 c O.i_)pe r value~' !"'r01:1 pln nt specimens coJlected un Salujnr Islund.

so

65

87

VI-~. ;.~o.y

or

Salo.jur Is1o.no, shov.in£ the route of W. M. Docteurs ~ ·4

van Leeuwen.