Ecology
Nepenthes dubia was for a long time thought to be endemic to Mount Talakmau, but it was recently found on a second mountain, where it grows at lower elevations of around 1600 m above sea level. On Mount Talakmau, the species occurs at an altitude of 1800–2700 m. At lower elevations on Talakmau, it grows epiphytically in montane forest. However, above around 2400 m, vegetation is very stunted and here N. dubia also grows terrestrially on clumps of moss.
In its natural habitat, N. dubia is sympatric with N. gymnamphora, N. izumiae, N. jamban, and N. lingulata. The stunted upper montane forest which these species inhabit is dominated by ferns of the genera Dipteris and Dicranopteris. Trees rarely exceed 3 m in height and few Nepenthes plants emerge above the vegetation.
Due to its extremely localised distribution, N. dubia is listed as Critically Endangered on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. N. dubia occurs at several locations along the only permanent trail up Mount Talakmau. However, the upper pitchers of this species bear a peristome, and so are not as desirable as those of N. inermis. Because of this, wild populations of N. dubia have not suffered from over-collection.
Read more about this topic: Nepenthes Dubia
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