Nepenthes Murudensis - Ecology

Ecology

Nepenthes murudensis is endemic to the summit area of Mount Murud in Sarawak, Borneo, and is the only Nepenthes species endemic to the Kelabit Highlands. It has an altitudinal distribution of 2000–2423 m above sea level.

The typical habitat of this species consists of stunted montane scrub and ridge vegetation, which rarely exceeds 1.5 m in height. The species also occurs in mossy forest. Nepenthes murudensis has no known natural hybrids, although N. hurrelliana, N. lowii, N. muluensis and N. tentaculata also occur on the mountain. In 1996, John De Witte reported observing N. reinwardtiana on Mount Murud, but other authors have failed to find it on the mountain.

Nepenthes murudensis often scrambles over low vegetation, but also grows as rosettes in open areas. Botanist Andrew Hurrell has described plants growing on the summit as small rosettes rarely exceeding 30 cm in height, with proportionately huge pitchers sometimes measuring over 30 cm themselves.

Two true toad species from Mount Murud, Pelophryne linanitensis and Pelophryne murudensis, are sympatric with N. murudensis and may breed in its pitchers.

The conservation status of N. murudensis is listed as Endangered on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species based on an assessment carried out in 2000. This agrees with an informal assessment made by Charles Clarke in 1997, who also classified the species as Endangered based on the IUCN criteria.