Displaying publications 41 - 60 of 380 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Orchids of cloud forest in Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia
    Ng YJ, Go R, Rosimah Nulit, Khor HE, Tan MC, Farah Alia Nordin, et al.
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:505-526.
    An inventory of orchid species diversity was carried out in cloud forest of Genting Highlands, which is one of the most developed highland areas in Peninsular Malaysia. Since 1967, construction of roads and hotel complexes has had a serious impact on its physical environment and vegetation. Habitat destructions together with climate change might have caused some orchid species to be extirpated locally or extinct. The cloud forest of Genting Highlands consists of four major peaks, Gunung Ulu Kali, Gunung Chin Chin, Gunung Lari Tembakau and Gunung Mengkuang. However, not much study on orchid diversity was conducted in these areas, therefore, this study is timely and essential to evaluate the current orchid diversity after a gap of three decades. Combined findings from the current study, previous published works and specimens deposited in local herbaria, including those at the Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Forest Researh Institute of Malaysia and Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Singapore Botanic Gardens, an updated list of orchid species found in the cloud forests of Genting Highlands is presented. A total of 134 orchid taxa were recorded, comprised of 51 genera, 132 species, 1 subspecies and 2 varieties, of which 46 are new records to Genting Highlands. Hymenorchis javanica, a species previously reported as endemic to West Jawa was recently discovered in Gunung Ulu Kali. Thirty-three species discovered during this study are currently classified as endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, of which 20 are endemic to Pahang, Perak and Selangor and a very narrowly endemic species; Corybas villosus to Gunung Ulu Kali. Through our observations, most of the orchid species in Gunung Ulu Kali are very susceptible to disappearance due to loss of habitat and local climate change. An assessment of conservation status according to IUCN criterion revealed that 47 orchid taxa from Gunung Ulu Kali were threatened with extinction. Conservation actions were suggested to conserve the orchid diversity in the cloud forest areas of Genting Highlands.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  2. Checklist of the herpetofauna of Bukit Perangin Forest Reserve, Kedah, Malaysia
    Ibrahim Jaafar, Zalina Awang, Shahriza Shahrudin, Shahrul Anuar Md Sah, Nur Hafizah Ibrahim, Amirah Hurzaid, et al.
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:691-696.
    Bukit Perangin Forest Reserve, Kedah Malaysia is a popular forest park well known for its clear rivers and streams, interesting sedimentary rock formations and a rich biodiversity in flora and fauna. However to date no report on the amphibians and reptiles of this forest has ever been published. Therefore, from January 2009 to May 2010, herpetofauna surveys were conducted at Bukit Wang Recreational Forest, which forms a part of the Bukit Perangin Forest Reserve. The results of the survey showed that a total of 15 species of amphibians belonging to 6 families and 15 species of reptiles
    belonging to 7 families were found in the study area. These constitute the first records for the amphibians and reptiles in this forest. The herpetofauna checklist showed that the most abundant amphibians were from the family Ranidae while the most abundant reptiles were from the family Gekkonidae.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  3. Influence of anthropogenic disturbances on understory plant diversity of urban forests in Wuhan, Central China
    Zhen L, Zhang ZW, Wang YJ, Wang PC, Xu YR, Zhou ZX
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:1495-1501.
    Relationship between understory plant diversity and anthropogenic disturbances in urban forests of Wuhan City, Central China, was analyzed by diversity analysis and detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA). The results showed that: understory species diversity was higher in suburban area than in urban area. From forest center to edge, species diversity of Luojia hill, Shizi hill and Maan hill forests gradually increased, however, that of Hong hill gradually decreased. Anthropogenic disturbances gradient resulted from visitors flowrate, shrub coverage, aspect and adjacent land types had significant effects on species diversity of shrub and herb layers in urban forests. High anthropogenic disturbances might increase similar non-native herb species in urban area and low disturbances might promote co-existence of wood species in suburban area. Further analysis on types of anthropogenic disturbances and plant functional groups in urban-suburban gradient should be taken into a consideration.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  4. Developing priorities and ranking for suitable forest road allocation using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in Peninsular Malaysia
    Norizah K, Mohd. Hasmadi I
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:1177-1185.
    In hilly forest area, aligning forest roads is the key towards an effective and sustainable forest management. Constraints in forest road planning are mainly due to environmental factors and topographical conditions. Selecting the criteria for planning forest road and setting the priorities, ranking them for environmental sustainability and reduce cost in road construction is important. Different criteria are required at different forest area since the quantifiable relationship between cause and effect to meet the goal are not comprehensively prioritized. In order to solve the problem, the relative importance factor from multi criteria basis, namely Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop priorities and rank a selected criterion for planning forest road in hilly area using AHP approach. Four criteria had been identified to meet the goal of suitable forest road allocation namely slope, river crossing, elevation and existing forest road. The suitable criteria selected were sorted with weight in ranking order to minimize the impact of timber harvesting. Our results showed that the priorities and ranking were as follows; slope (w = 0.558), followed by river crossing (w = 0.303), elevation (w = 0.095) and lastly existing forest road (w = 0.044), respectively. Therefore, the relative preference factor developed in this study can be used by the Forestry Department for formulating suitable forest road allocation in hilly area simultaneously to be integrated with geographic information system technology.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  5. Effects of fine-scale pattern of dwarf bamboo on understory species diversity in Abies faxoniana forest, Southwest, China
    Wang YJ, Shi XP, Peng Y, Tao JP, Zhong ZC
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:649-657.
    Dwarf bamboo is recognized as a significant determinant of the structure and dynamics in temperate forests. Quantitative relationships between the abundance (density and coverage) of dwarf bamboo, Fargesia nitida, and micro-environments, species diversity on the floor were estimated in an Abies faxoniana pure forest in southwest China. Understory microenvironmental conditions (daily differences temperature and moisture, RPPFD under bamboo layer and ground cover) changed dramatically with the bamboo density. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that abundance of F. nitida was mainly correlated with canopy characteristics and disturbance factors in the A. faxoniana pure forest. All richness indices decreased significantly with the bamboo density and RPPFD under bamboo layer. Importance values (IV) of understory species in different bamboo densities and Detrended canonical correspondence analysis (DCCA) indicated three understory plant groups, resistant to high bamboo abundance (Group A), resistant to intermediate bamboo abundance (Group B) and sensitive to bamboo abundance (Group C). These groups mainly responded to abundance of bamboo and RPPFD under bamboo layer, resulted from the integration of characteristics of bamboo, canopy and topography factors. Different bamboo abundance had different influences on understory species diversity and groups. Dense F. nitida condition (> 10 culms/m2) had significant negative effect and 0-5 bamboo condition had not significant negative effect on understory species diversity in A. faxoniana forest. We suggest the fine-scale analysis on effects of bamboo abundance should be taken account into considering in heterogeneous patches in process of the succession and regeneration of natural forests.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  6. Small mammals from Kuala Atok, Taman Negara Pahang, Malaysia
    Tingga RCT, Anwarali F, Mohd Ridwan A, M. T. Abdullah M, Senawi J
    Sains Malaysiana, 2012;41:659-669.
    A faunal survey aimed to document small mammals was conducted at Nature Study Centre of Kuala Atok, Taman Negara Pahang from 16th to 23rd May 2008. This survey was part of the Biodiversity Inventory Programme that was organised by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP). On average, ten mist nets, two four-bank harp traps, 100 cage traps and 40 Sherman traps were set for six trapping nights. A total of 79 individuals from three orders, seven families and 23 species were caught in this study. Of the 23 species, three were frugivorous bats, 15 were insectivorous bats, four were rodents and one was treeshrew. Our sampling site was bounded by Pahang River and mainly covered with lowland secondary forest. This is evidence by the highest abundance of Long-tailed Giant Rat (Leopoldamys sabanus) for non-volant small mammals, and Fawn Roundleaf Bat (Hipposideros cervinus) for volant small mammals that are adapted to disturbed habitat. The increasing species cumulative curve for Chiropteran indicates that there may be more species yet to be recorded from this study site compared to rodents and treeshrews. Preliminary analysis on the species similarity between our study site to other survey reports in Peninsular Malaysia, positioned Kuala Atok with Krau Wildlife Reserve and Bukit Fraser Forest Reserve that are located adjacent to our study site. This similarity further indicate the
    importance of future survey in Kuala Atok especially for Chiropterans to properly document the species diversity in this site that may be as rich as other well studied area e.g. Krau Wildlife Reserve.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  7. Fulltext The Distribution of Nesting White-bellied Sea-eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) in Penang National Park, Malaysia: Conservation and Management Issues
    Azman NM, Zainudin MS, Sah SA, Latip NS
    Trop Life Sci Res, 2013 Dec;24(2):51-64.
    PMID: 24575248 MyJurnal
    Taman Negara Pulau Pinang (Penang National Park) is the only site on Pulau Pinang that supports a large population of the White-bellied Sea-eagle (WBSE) Haliaeetus leucogaster; however, the nesting sites of WBSEs have not been widely studied. As information on the location of WBSE nesting sites is very important for conservation works by local authorities, the objective of this study was to determine the distribution of nesting WBSEs in the coastal dipterocarp forest of Penang National Park. Surveys were conducted from December 2007 to July 2008 and October 2008 to April 2009, covering the breeding season of the species (September-July). The nesting sites were observed by boat along the coastline of Penang National Park and by performing ground surveys along the seashore at accessible areas; the nest survey was conducted three days/month from 0900 to 1500. A total of 34 WBSE nesting sites was located. Most of the occupied nests (seven nests) were found at Muka Head and Pantai Kerachut areas, which exhibit the densest concentration of occupied WBSE habitat in Penang National Park. WBSEs preferred to build their nests around Muka Head, which could be due to the frequent occurrence of whirlpools in the water body around that area. Aquatic animals, such as sea snakes and fish, stunned by the whirlpools would emerge to the sea surface, facilitating the foraging and feeding of WBSEs. Our results indicate that it is important to maintain and improve areas of suitable nesting habitat for WBSEs. Management actions should include (1) the yearly monitoring of known breeding sites throughout Penang National Park during the breeding season to determine breeding success over time, (2) recognising the critical habitat or nest-site selection of WBSEs, (3) establishment of a buffer zone surrounding nesting sites and potential habitat from human disturbance, and (4) encouraging on-going research to further understand this species.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  8. Fulltext Ridleyandra chuana (Gesneriaceae), a new species from Peninsular Malaysia
    Kiew R
    PhytoKeys, 2013.
    PMID: 24198708 DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.25.5178
    Ridleyandra chuana, a new species of Gesneriaceae, is described and illustrated. It is endemic in Peninsular Malaysia and known from two small and restricted populations in montane forest. Its conservation status is assessed as vulnerable.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  9. Fulltext Cellulolytic, Nitrogen-fixing and Phosphate-solubilizing Micro-organisms as biological indicators of forest soil rehabilitation
    A. Tang, S.K. Wong, O.H. Ahmed, N.M. Majid
    ASM Science Journal, 2013;7(1):23-26.
    MyJurnal
    Widespread deforestation has resulted in soil degradation that is often linked to environmental and ecological changes. Rehabilitation of degraded forest is essential to prevent further degradation of the soil. Abundance of soil microbiota could serve as an essential biological indicator of soil health for rehabilitation success. An investigation was conducted to study the relationship between cellulolytic, nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing microbial counts and age of rehabilitated forest. A random sampling design was used to obtain four replicates of five composite soil of 0–10 cm depth soil samples of 4, 9, 14 and 19-year-old rehabilitated forest. Three selective media: Congo red cellulose, nitrogen-free malate and calcium phosphate media were used for the enumerations of cellulolytic, nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing microbes, respectively. Cellulolytic and phosphate-solubilizing microbes were counted based on the formation of clearing zones, while nitrogen-fixing microbes were based on the formation of blue halo on the respective media. There was positive linear relationship between age of the rehabilitated forest and microbial count. These findings revealed that the potentials of cellulolytic, nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing microbial populations could be used as biological indicators of forest soil rehabilitation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  10. Life form of early spring plants in relation to the altitude and climate change
    Shukurov E, Nabiyev M, ALI-ZADE V
    Sains Malaysiana, 2013;42:1467-1471.
    The purpose of the investigation was to study the early spring plant diversity distributed in different vegetation types and their life forms, in relation to different altitudes. The investigation was carried out in accordance with itinerary method beginning from the shoreline up to the mountain. The results showed that 100% of the totally collected plants from the desert vegetation were therophytes; 100% from steppe vegetation were geophytes; 50 from forest were geophytes and the other 50% were hemicryptophytes. It is concluded that the life forms of early spring plants change depending on the altitude corresponding to changes in the air temperature as well as climatic and edaphic factors.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  11. Conservation gap analysis of dipterocarp hotspots in Sarawak using GIS, remote sensing and herbarium data
    Stephen P. Teo, Paul P.K. Chai, Mui-How Phua
    Sains Malaysiana, 2013;42:1237-1246.
    Dipterocarpaceae is the dominant tree family in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia. Borneo is the centre of diversity for the dipterocarps. Identification of hotspots is important for forest and biodiversity conservation efforts. Species Occurrence Models (SOMs) were generated for all 247 species of dipterocarps recorded in Sarawak using herbarium occurrence data and based on the best model selected. The species occurrence density map for each genus and category (endemic and non endemic) was generated by overlaying the SOMs of all species in each genus or category. The species occurrence density maps were analyzed with land cover map from Landsat 7-EMT+ images and protected forest areas for identifying hotspots for conservation in Sarawak. Overlaying the SOM maps revealed that areas in central Sarawak and the southwest region (northwest Borneo around Kuching) are the main hotspots of dipterocarp diversity in Sarawak while the coastal lowland areas in the lower Rejang and Baram River which are mainly peat swamp forest are poorer in species occurrence density. In terms of endemism, as with dipterocarp diversity, the mixed diptercarp forest of central Sarawak is also the most important hotspot. Gap analysis revealed that most protected forest areas are in southwest Sarawak (Bako, Kubah, Tanjung Datu and Gunung Gading National Parks) and in the northern part of Sarawak (Niah, Lambir Hills and Mt Mulu National Parks). This leaves the hotspot in the central part of Sarawak least protected. Protected areas only cover between 2 and 4% of the total areas for the different hotspots (75% species density) while majority of the hotspots that are still forested are outside the protected areas.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  12. Distinct bacterial communities dominate tropical and temperate zone leaf litter
    Kim M, Kim WS, Tripathi BM, Adams J
    Microb Ecol, 2014 May;67(4):837-48.
    PMID: 24549745 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-014-0380-y
    Little is known of the bacterial community of tropical rainforest leaf litter and how it might differ from temperate forest leaf litter and from the soils underneath. We sampled leaf litter in a similarly advanced stage of decay, and for comparison, we also sampled the surface layer of soil, at three tropical forest sites in Malaysia and four temperate forest sites in South Korea. Illumina sequencing targeting partial bacterial 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene revealed that the bacterial community composition of both temperate and tropical litter is quite distinct from the soils underneath. Litter in both temperate and tropical forest was dominated by Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, while soil is dominated by Acidobacteria and, to a lesser extent, Proteobacteria. However, bacterial communities of temperate and tropical litter clustered separately from one another on an ordination. The soil bacterial community structures were also distinctive to each climatic zone, suggesting that there must be a climate-specific biogeographical pattern in bacterial community composition. The differences were also found in the level of diversity. The temperate litter has a higher operational taxonomic unit (OTU) diversity than the tropical litter, paralleling the trend in soil diversity. Overall, it is striking that the difference in community composition between the leaf litter and the soil a few centimeters underneath is about the same as that between leaf litter in tropical and temperate climates, thousands of kilometers apart. However, one substantial difference was that the leaf litter of two tropical forest sites, Meranti and Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), was overwhelmingly dominated by the single genus Burkholderia, at 37 and 23 % of reads, respectively. The 454 sequencing result showed that most Burkholderia species in tropical leaf litter belong to nonpathogenic "plant beneficial" lineages. The differences from the temperate zone in the bacterial community of tropical forest litter may be partly a product of its differing chemistry, although the unvarying climate might also play a role, as might interactions with other organisms such as fungi. The single genus Burkholderia may be seen as potentially playing a major role in decomposition and nutrient cycling in tropical forests, but apparently not in temperate forests.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests*
  13. Fulltext Capability of integrated MODIS imagery and ALOS for oil palm, rubber and forest areas mapping in tropical forest regions
    Razali SM, Marin A, Nuruddin AA, Shafri HZ, Hamid HA
    Sensors (Basel), 2014 May 07;14(5):8259-82.
    PMID: 24811079 DOI: 10.3390/s140508259
    Various classification methods have been applied for low resolution of the entire Earth's surface from recorded satellite images, but insufficient study has determined which method, for which satellite data, is economically viable for tropical forest land use mapping. This study employed Iterative Self Organizing Data Analysis Techniques (ISODATA) and K-Means classification techniques to classified Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Surface Reflectance satellite image into forests, oil palm groves, rubber plantations, mixed horticulture, mixed oil palm and rubber and mixed forest and rubber. Even though frequent cloud cover has been a challenge for mapping tropical forests, our MODIS land use classification map found that 2008 ISODATA-1 performed well with overall accuracy of 94%, with the highest Producer's Accuracy of Forest with 86%, and were consistent with MODIS Land Cover 2008 (MOD12Q1), respectively. The MODIS land use classification was able to distinguish young oil palm groves from open areas, rubber and mature oil palm plantations, on the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) map, whereas rubber was more easily distinguished from an open area than from mixed rubber and forest. This study provides insight on the potential for integrating regional databases and temporal MODIS data, in order to map land use in tropical forest regions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests*
  14. Fulltext Identification and analysis of expressed sequence tags present in xylem tissues of kelampayan (Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser)
    Ho WS, Pang SL, Abdullah J
    Physiol Mol Biol Plants, 2014 Jul;20(3):393-7.
    PMID: 25049467 DOI: 10.1007/s12298-014-0230-x
    The large-scale genomic resource for kelampayan was generated from a developing xylem cDNA library. A total of 6,622 high quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated through high-throughput 5' EST sequencing of cDNA clones. The ESTs were analyzed and assembled to generate 4,728 xylogenesis unigenes distributed in 2,100 contigs and 2,628 singletons. About 59.3 % of the ESTs were assigned with putative identifications whereas 40.7 % of the sequences showed no significant similarity to any sequences in GenBank. Interestingly, most genes involved in lignin biosynthesis and several other cell wall biosynthesis genes were identified in the kelampayan EST database. The identified genes in this study will be candidates for functional genomics and association genetic studies in kelampayan aiming at the production of high value forests.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  15. Fulltext Screening of anticancer activity from agarwood essential oil
    Hashim YZ, Phirdaous A, Azura A
    Pharmacognosy Res, 2014 Jul;6(3):191-4.
    PMID: 25002797 DOI: 10.4103/0974-8490.132593
    Agarwood is a priceless non-timber forest product from Aquilaria species belonging to the Thymelaeaceae family. As a result of a defence mechanism to fend off pathogens, Aquilaria species develop agarwood or resin which can be used for incense, perfumery, and traditional medicines. Evidences from ethnopharmacological practices showed that Aquilaria spp. have been traditionally used in the Ayurvedic practice and Chinese medicine to treat various diseases particularly the inflammatory-associated diseases. There have been no reports on traditional use of agarwood towards cancer treatment. However, this is most probably due to the fact that cancer nomenclature is used in modern medicine to describe the diseases associated with unregulated cell growth in which inflammation and body pain are involved.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  16. Distribution of detritivores in tropical forest streams of peninsular Malaysia: role of temperature, canopy cover and altitude variability
    Che Salmah MR, Al-Shami SA, Abu Hassan A, Madrus MR, Nurul Huda A
    Int J Biometeorol, 2014 Jul;58(5):679-90.
    PMID: 23483291 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-013-0648-9
    The diversity and abundance of macroinvertebrate shredders were investigated in 52 forested streams (local scale) from nine catchments (regional scale) covering a large area of peninsular Malaysia. A total of 10,642 individuals of aquatic macroinvertebrates were collected, of which 18.22% were shredders. Biodiversity of shredders was described by alpha (αaverage), beta (β) and gamma diversity (γ) measures. We found high diversity and abundance of shredders in all catchments, represented by 1,939 individuals (range 6-115 and average per site of 37.29±3.48 SE) from 31 taxa with 2-13 taxa per site (αaverage=6.98±0.33 SE) and 10-15 taxa per catchment (γ=13.33±0.55 SE). At the local scale, water temperature, stream width, depth and altitude were correlated significantly with diversity (Adj-R2=0.205). Meanwhile, dissolved oxygen, stream velocity, water temperature, stream width and altitude were correlated to shredder abundance (Adj-R2=0.242). At regional scale, however, water temperature was correlated negatively with β and γ diversity (r2=0.161 and 0.237, respectively) as well as abundance of shredders (r2=0.235). Canopy cover was correlated positively with β diversity (r2=0.378) and abundance (r2=0.266), meanwhile altitude was correlated positively with β (quadratic: r2=0.175), γ diversity (quadratic: r2=0.848) as well as abundance (quadratic: r2=0.299). The present study is considered as the first report describing the biodiversity and abundance of shredders in forested headwater streams across a large spatial scale in peninsular Malaysia. We concluded that water temperature has a negative effect while altitude showed a positive relationship with diversity and abundance of shredders. However, it was difficult to detect an influence of canopy cover on shredder diversity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  17. Spatial scaling effects on soil bacterial communities in Malaysian tropical forests
    Tripathi BM, Lee-Cruz L, Kim M, Singh D, Go R, Shukor NA, et al.
    Microb Ecol, 2014 Aug;68(2):247-58.
    PMID: 24658414
    Spatial scaling to some extent determines biodiversity patterns in larger organisms, but its role in microbial diversity patterns is much less understood. Some studies have shown that bacterial community similarity decreases with distance, whereas others do not support this. Here, we studied soil bacterial communities of tropical rainforest in Malaysia at two spatial scales: a local scale with samples spaced every 5 mover a 150-m transect, and a regional scale with samples 1 to 1,800 km apart. PCR-amplified soil DNA for the bacterial 16S rRNA gene targeting the V1–V3 region was pyrosequenced using Roche/454 GS FLX Titanium platform. A ranked partial Mantel test showed a weak correlation between spatial distance and whole bacterial community dissimilarity, but only at the local scale. In contrast, environmental distance was highly correlated with community dissimilarity at both spatial scales,stressing the greater role of environmental variables rather than spatial distance in determining bacterial community variation at different spatial scales. Soil pH was the only environmental parameter that significantly explained the variance in bacterial community at the local scale, whereas total nitrogen and elevation were additional important factors at the regional scale.We obtained similar results at both scales when only the most abundant OTUs were analyzed. A variance partitioning analysis showed that environmental variables contributed more to bacterial community variation than spatial distance at both scales. In total, our results support a strong influence of the environment in determining bacterial community composition in the rainforests of Malaysia. However, it is possible that the remaining spatial distance effect is due to some of the myriad of other environmental factors which were not considered here, rather than dispersal limitation.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests*
  18. Fulltext Ecology of ephemeroptera, plecoptera and trichoptera (insecta) in rivers of the gunung jerai forest reserve: diversity and distribution of functional feeding groups
    Hamid SA, Md Rawi CS
    Trop Life Sci Res, 2014 Aug;25(1):61-73.
    PMID: 25210588 MyJurnal
    A field study was performed to describe the functional feeding groups (FFGs) of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) in the Tupah, Batu Hampar and Teroi Rivers in the Gunung Jerai Forest Reserve (GJFR), Kedah, Malaysia. Twenty-nine genera belonging to 19 families were identified. The EPTs were classified into five FFGs: collector-gatherers (CG), collector-filterers (CF), shredders (SH), scrapers (SC) and predators (P). In this study, CG and CF were the dominant groups inhabiting all three rivers. Ephemeroptera dominated these rivers due to their high abundance, and they were also the CG (90.6%). SC were the lowest in abundance among all groups. Based on the FFGs, the Teroi River was suitable for CG, whereas the Tupah and Batu Hampar Rivers were suitable for CG and CF. The distribution of FFGs differed among the rivers (CG, χ(2) = 23.6, p = 0.00; SH, χ(2) = 10.02, p = 0.007; P, χ(2) = 25.54, p = 0.00; CF, χ(2) = 21.95, p = 0.00; SC, χ(2) = 9.31, p = 0.01). These findings indicated that the FFGs found in rivers of the GJFR represent high river quality.
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  19. Fulltext Factors that are associated with the risk of acquiring Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in Sabah, Malaysia: a case-control study protocol
    Grigg MJ, William T, Drakeley CJ, Jelip J, von Seidlein L, Barber BE, et al.
    BMJ Open, 2014 Aug 22;4(8):e006004.
    PMID: 25149186 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006004
    INTRODUCTION: Plasmodium knowlesi has long been present in Malaysia, and is now an emerging cause of zoonotic human malaria. Cases have been confirmed throughout South-East Asia where the ranges of its natural macaque hosts and Anopheles leucosphyrus group vectors overlap. The majority of cases are from Eastern Malaysia, with increasing total public health notifications despite a concurrent reduction in Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria. The public health implications are concerning given P. knowlesi has the highest risk of severe and fatal disease of all Plasmodium spp in Malaysia. Current patterns of risk and disease vary based on vector type and competence, with individual exposure risks related to forest and forest-edge activities still poorly defined. Clustering of cases has not yet been systematically evaluated despite reports of peri-domestic transmission and known vector competence for human-to-human transmission.

    METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A population-based case-control study will be conducted over a 2-year period at two adjacent districts in north-west Sabah, Malaysia. Confirmed malaria cases presenting to the district hospital sites meeting relevant inclusion criteria will be requested to enrol. Three community controls matched to the same village as the case will be selected randomly. Study procedures will include blood sampling and administration of household and individual questionnaires to evaluate potential exposure risks associated with acquisition of P. knowlesi malaria. Secondary outcomes will include differences in exposure variables between P. knowlesi and other Plasmodium spp, risk of severe P. knowlesi malaria, and evaluation of P. knowlesi case clustering. Primary analysis will be per protocol, with adjusted ORs for exposure risks between cases and controls calculated using conditional multiple logistic regression models.

    ETHICS: This study has been approved by the human research ethics committees of Malaysia, the Menzies School of Health Research, Australia, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
  20. Microbacterium mangrovi sp. nov., an amylolytic actinobacterium isolated from mangrove forest soil
    Lee LH, Azman AS, Zainal N, Eng SK, Mutalib NA, Yin WF, et al.
    Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2014 Oct;64(Pt 10):3513-3519.
    PMID: 25056298 DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.062414-0
    Strain MUSC 115(T) was isolated from mangrove soil of the Tanjung Lumpur river in the state of Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. Cells of this strain stained Gram-positive and were non-spore-forming, short rods that formed yellowish-white colonies on different agar media. The taxonomy of strain MUSC 115(T) was studied by a polyphasic approach, and the organism showed a range of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with those of the genus Microbacterium. The cell-wall peptidoglycan was of type B2β, containing the amino acids ornithine, alanine, glycine, glutamic acid and homoserine. The muramic acid was of the N-glycolyl form. The predominant menaquinones detected were MK-12, MK-13 and MK-11. The polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, phosphoglycolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, two unidentified lipids, three unidentified phospholipids and four unidentified glycolipids. The major fatty acids of the cell membrane were anteiso-C15:0 and anteiso-C17:0. The whole-cell sugars detected were ribose, glucose, mannose and galactose. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, strain MUSC 115(T) showed the highest sequence similarity to Microbacterium immunditiarum SK 18(T) (98.1%), M. ulmi XIL02(T) (97.8%) and M. arborescens DSM 20754(T) (97.5%) and lower sequence similarity to strains of other species of the genus Microbacterium. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed a low level of DNA-DNA relatedness (less than 24%) between strain MUSC 115(T) and the type strains of closely related species. Furthermore, BOX-PCR fingerprint comparison also indicated that strain MUSC 115(T) represented a unique DNA profile. The DNA G+C content determined was 70.9 ± 0.7 mol%, which is lower than that of M. immunditiarum SK 18(T). Based on the combination of genotypic and phenotypic data, it is proposed that strain MUSC 115(T) represents a novel species of the genus Microbacterium, for which the name Microbacterium mangrovi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MUSC 115(T) ( = MCCC 1K00251(T) = DSM 28240(T) = NBRC 110089(T)).
    Matched MeSH terms: Forests
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links