A widespread species from Malesiana and New Guinea. In some parts of its range logging and forest clearance have reduced its area of occupancy to the xtent that it has been assessed as Near Threatened.
Distribution
Recorded from Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. In Kalimantan it was known from a now extinct population near Balikpapan. In Sulawesi it is mainly known from the Latimodjong Mts. Populations in New Guinea are discontinuous but widespread.
Habitat and Ecology
Dacrycarpus steupii is common in mossy forest and subalpine shrubberies from montane to alpine zones. Depending on the vegetation type it is a shrub or a tall emergent tree;its best growth is in protected gullies in the upper montane forest where trees can grow taller. In peaty, wet tussock grasslands at high altitudes it forms clumps, sometimes without other trees present, or mixed with Papuacedrus papuana in New Guinea. The altitudinal range is from 860 m to 3,470 m a.s.l.
Human Uses
Large trees will be valuable timber and have undoubtedly been logged for this purpose. Its wood is probably not distinguished from other members of the family and traded as 'podocarp' wood. Its properties and uses would be similar to those of D. imbricatus and particularly useful for construction of houses and making of furniture.
Conservation Status
Dacrycarpus steupii has been collected from Gunung Beratus, a mountain near Balikpapan, but it had disappeared there by the early 1980s due to deforestation. It is still present in the Philippines and central Sulawesi although on Latimodjong Mountains, lower slopes have been cleared in places for agriculture. It is widespread in New Guinea; consequently the global status of this species is still considered outside the threatened categories. Ongoing deforestation in the Malesian Archipelago may in due course further reduce the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy and take this species into a threatened category.
Conservation Actions
In the Philippines this species is present in Mt. Data National Park. In Sulawesi it has been recorded from Lore Lindu National Park.
References and further reading
Culmsee, Heike, et al. 2011. Tree diversity and phytogeographical patterns of tropical high mountain rain forests in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversity and Conservation 20(5): 1103-1123.