Mosses From Tuaran District, Malaysian Borneo

Abstract

A bryological survey was conducted in the Tuaran District of Sabah, an understudied lowland area within the proposed expansion zone of the Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark. The five-day survey recorded 82 species of mosses, representing 43 genera and 23 families. This includes one new record for Borneo (Rhaphidostichum loriforme) and one for Sabah (Phyllodon lingulatus). The dominant families were Calymperaceae, Fissidentaceae and Sematophyllaceae, which are commonly abundant in lowland forests. These findings highlight the biodiversity significance of lowland habitats and provide essential baseline data to support conservation planning, research and environmental education within the geopark’s proposed extended boundary.