Tree species in tropical rain forests exhibit a rich panoply of spatial patterns that beg ecological explanation. The analysis of tropical census data typically relies on spatial statistics, which quantify the average aggregation tendency of a species. In this article we develop a cluster-based approach that complements traditional spatial statistics in the exploration and analysis of ecological hypotheses for spatial pattern. We apply this technique to six study species within a fully mapped 50-ha forest census in peninsular Malaysia. For each species we identify the scale(s) of spatial aggregation and the corresponding tree clusters. We study the correlation between cluster locations and abiotic variables such as topography. We find that the distribution of cluster sizes exhibits equilibrium and nonequilibrium behavior depending on species life history. The distribution of tree diameters within clusters also varies according to species life history. At different spatial scales, we find evidence for both niche-based and dispersal-limited processes producing spatial pattern. Our methodology for identifying scales of aggregation and clusters is general; we discuss the method's applicability to spatial problems outside of tropical plant ecology.
Cities are currently experiencing serious, multifaceted impacts from global environmental change, especially climate change, and the degree to which they will need to cope with and adapt to such challenges will continue to increase. A complex systems approach inspired by evolutionary theory can inform strategies for policies and interventions to deal with growing urban vulnerabilities. Such an approach would guide the design of new (and redesign of existing) urban structures, while promoting innovative integration of grey, green and blue infrastructure in service of environmental and health objectives. Moreover, it would contribute to more flexible, effective policies for urban management and the use of urban space. Four decades ago, in a seminal paper in Science, the French evolutionary biologist and philosopher Francois Jacob noted that evolution differs significantly in its characteristic modes of action from processes that are designed and engineered de novo (Jacob in Science 196(4295):1161-1166, 1977). He labeled the evolutionary process "tinkering", recognizing its foundation in the modification and molding of existing traits and forms, with occasional dramatic shifts in function in the context of changing conditions. This contrasts greatly with conventional engineering and design approaches that apply tailor-made materials and tools to achieve well-defined functions that are specified a priori. We here propose that urban tinkering is the application of evolutionary thinking to urban design, engineering, ecological restoration, management and governance. We define urban tinkering as:A mode of operation, encompassing policy, planning and management processes, that seeks to transform the use of existing and design of new urban systems in ways that diversify their functions, anticipate new uses and enhance adaptability, to better meet the social, economic and ecological needs of cities under conditions of deep uncertainty about the future.This approach has the potential to substantially complement and augment conventional urban development, replacing predictability, linearity and monofunctional design with anticipation of uncertainty and non-linearity and design for multiple, potentially shifting functions. Urban tinkering can function by promoting a diversity of small-scale urban experiments that, in aggregate, lead to large-scale often playful innovative solutions to the problems of sustainable development. Moreover, the tinkering approach is naturally suited to exploring multi-functional uses and approaches (e.g., bricolage) for new and existing urban structures and policies through collaborative engagement and analysis. It is thus well worth exploring as a means of delivering co-benefits for environment and human health and wellbeing. Indeed, urban tinkering has close ties to systems approaches, which often are recognized as critical to sustainable development. We believe this concept can help forge much-closer, much-needed ties among engineers, architects, evolutionary ecologists, health specialists, and numerous other urban stakeholders in developing innovative, widely beneficial solutions for society and contribute to successful implementation of SDG11 and the New Urban Agenda.
In Peninsular Malaysia child mortality rates (5q0) vary from 13 to 63 per thousand at district level. The spatial pattern is closely associated with the regional distribution of socio-economic factors. But due to multicollinearity it is difficult to isolate the influence of socio-economic variables from other variables by employing aggregated data. However, individual data collected in a case-control-study that was conducted in Perlis and Kuala Terengganu confirm the important role of socio-economic factors. So it should be possible to achieve a further reduction of child mortality by raising the income and educational level of the under-privileged groups. Apart from that, as the case of Perlis shows, the provision of family planning and preventive medical services may also contribute to lower child mortality independent from socio-economic changes. But, as the comparison with Kuala Terengganu shows, the utilization of family planning and preventive medical services is not only influenced by the accessibility to, but also by the socio-culturally determined acceptability of such services.
Information on the spawning migration, spawning ecology and life history of tropical eels in the Indo-Pacific region is very limited. The physiological and morphological characteristics of tropical freshwater eels, Anguilla bicolor bicolor and A. bengalensis bengalensis collected in Malaysia were examined in relation to their downstream migration patterns. A total of 455 eels were collected over monthly intervals between February 2014 and January 2016 and we examined both gonadosomatic index and gonad histology features. In both species, close positive relationships between advanced maturation stages and eye, fin, gonadosomatic indexes were found in males and females. A. bengalensis bengalensis was found to be larger and heavier than A. bicolor bicolor at the time of seaward migration. The final stage of maturation for seaward spawning migration occurred throughout the year in A. bicolor bicolor, although that of A. bengalensis bengalensis was estimated to six months due to the limited number of samples. These results suggest that year-round spawning in the open ocean occurs in the tropical eel. This non-seasonal spawning ecology is notably different from that of temperate eels, which are known to follow a well-defined spawning season, with spawning migrations generally taking place during autumn months.
Along with the mysteries of their ecology, freshwater eels have fascinated biologists for centuries. However, information concerning species diversity, geographic distribution, and life histories of the tropical anguillid eels in the Indo-Pacific region are highly limited. Comprehensive research on the species composition, distribution and habitat use among tropical anguillid eels in the Peninsular Malaysia were conducted for four years. A total of 463 specimens were collected in the northwestern peninsular area. The dominant species was A. bicolor bicolor constituting of 88.1% of the total eels, the second one was A. bengalensis bengalensis at 11.7%, while A. marmorata was the least abundant at 0.2%. A. bicolor bicolor was widely distributed from upstream to downstream areas of the rivers. In comparison, A. bengalensis bengalensis preferred to reside from the upstream to midstream areas with no tidal zones, cooler water temperatures and higher elevation areas. The habitat preference might be different between sites due to inter-species interactions and intra-specific plasticity to local environmental conditions. These results suggest that habitat use in the tropical anguillid eels might be more influenced by ambient environmental factors, such as salinity, temperature, elevation, river size and carrying capacity, than ecological competition, such as interspecific competition.
Benthic species, though ecologically important, are vulnerable to genetic loss and population size reduction due to impacts from fishing trawls. An assessment of genetic diversity and population structure is therefore needed to assist in a resource management program. To address this issue, the two-spined yellowtail stargazer (Uranoscopus cognatus) was collected within selected locations in the Indo-West Pacific (IWP). The partial mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and the nuclear DNA recombination activating gene 1 were sequenced. Genetic diversity analyses revealed that the populations were moderately to highly diversified (haplotype diversity, H = 0.490-0.900, nucleotide diversity, π = 0.0010-0.0034) except sampling station (ST) 1 and 14. The low diversity level, however was apparent only in the matrilineal marker (H = 0.118-0.216; π = 0.0004-0.0008), possibly due to stochastic factors or anthropogenic stressors. Population structure analyses revealed a retention of ancestral polymorphism that was likely due to incomplete lineage sorting in U. cognatus, and prolonged vicariance by the Indo-Pacific Barrier has partitioned them into separate stock units. Population segregation was also shown by the phenotypic divergence in allopatric populations, regarding the premaxillary protrusion, which is possibly associated with the mechanism for upper jaw movement in biomechanical feeding approaches. The moderate genetic diversity estimated for each region, in addition to past population expansion events, indicated that U. cognatus within the IWP was still healthy and abundant (except in ST1 and 14), and two stock units were identified to be subjected to a specific resource management program.
Conservation benefits from understanding how adaptability and threat interact to determine a taxon's vulnerability. Recognizing how interactions with humans have shaped taxa such as the critically endangered orangutan (Pongo spp.) offers insights into this relationship. Orangutans are viewed as icons of wild nature, and most efforts to prevent their extinction have focused on protecting minimally disturbed habitat, with limited success. We synthesize fossil, archeological, genetic, and behavioral evidence to demonstrate that at least 70,000 years of human influence have shaped orangutan distribution, abundance, and ecology and will likely continue to do so in the future. Our findings indicate that orangutans are vulnerable to hunting but appear flexible in response to some other human activities. This highlights the need for a multifaceted, landscape-level approach to orangutan conservation that leverages sound policy and cooperation among government, private sector, and community stakeholders to prevent hunting, mitigate human-orangutan conflict, and preserve and reconnect remaining natural forests. Broad cooperation can be encouraged through incentives and strategies that focus on the common interests and concerns of different stakeholders. Orangutans provide an illustrative example of how acknowledging the long and pervasive influence of humans can improve strategies to preserve biodiversity in the Anthropocene.
Insufficient use has been made of ecological data concerning potential hosts in studies to determine the life cycles of zoonotic parasites and pathogens. Factors such as the geographical distribution of hosts, the altitudes at which they live, their affinities for specific habitats, their vertical distribution within the habitat, and the periodicity of their activities have bearing on the hosts' predisposition to involvement in disease cycles. Diets and feeding habits may determine the likelihood of acquiring infection. Reproductive characteristics determine whether a species is suitable as a reservoir or as an amplifying host. Behavioral factors, such as selection of a particular kind of nest site, may also predispose the involvement of the host with parasites and pathogens. Behavior patterns may determine the maximum population densities of hosts. Estimates of population sizes, of relative abundances of species, and of the involvement of species in disease cycles may be strongly influenced by the collecting and sampling methods that are used and also by the behavioral response of the mammals toward collecting devices, such as traps.
A well-known planting medium in soilless culture is a coconut based material famously known in Malaysia as cocopeat.
It is a viable ecologically friendly peat soil substitute for containerized crop production. The multipurpose growing media
had received much interest particularly in commercial applications. This study focused on the physical and hydraulic
characteristics of cocopeat perlite mixture as a growing media in containerized plant production. Perlite was added to
cocopeat at a ratio of 3 cocopeat: 1 perlite. Bulk density, particle density, porosity, particle size distribution, water holding
capacity, wettability and hydraulic conductivity of the media were evaluated. About 82.93% of the total particles were
in the range between 0.425 and 4 mm in diameter at a bulk density of 0.09 g/cm3
. Total porosity (79%) and wettability
improved with the incorporation of perlite to cocopeat. This study showed that water holding capacity was very high at
912.54% whereas the saturated hydraulic conductivity was low at 0.1 cm/s. The results showed that adding perlite to
cocopeat had improved the physical and hydraulic characteristics of the media.
Thrips (Thysanoptera) are common pests on legume plants, yet little is known about their ecology or diversity in Peninsular
Malaysia. In legumes, thrips are typically found in flowers, where their feeding activity causes malformations that
eventually lead to crop damage. In this study, we examined the diversity of thrips species, particularly Megalurothrips
usitatus, in three selected legume farms around Peninsular Malaysia (Janda Baik, Pahang; Bestari Jaya, Selangor; and
Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan). Each month from April 2013 to May 2014, depending on growing season, legume flowers were
inspected for thrips in five random plots from each farm. Sampling was performed six times in Bestari Jaya and Jelebu
and twelve times in Janda Baik. The most abundant thrips species on legumes was M. usitatus (89.97%) followed by
Thrips parvispinus (9.77%), T. hawaiiensis (0.13%) and Ceratothripoides brunneus (0.12%). The abundance of M. usitatus
was not different between long bean, French bean and winged bean which equally distributed among different arbitrary
strata on legume plants. Temperature and light intensity were found to be positively correlated with the abundance of
M. usitatus, but relative humidity showed a negative relationship. M. usitatus was found in large numbers during hot
and dry months, but in lower numbers during raining season. This study suggested that wet season may help to regulate
the populations of M. usitatus on legume plants.
This paper presents the results for surface water quality parameters measured in the Setiu Wetland, on the east coast of Malaysia, which feeds into the southern part of the South China Sea. There are no previous studies dealing with the seasonal and spatial variation of water quality in this area, despite numerous anthropogenic inputs into this ecologically and economically important wetland. The parameters measured were salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS). These parameters were sampled monthly from October 2009 to September 2010, during both the wet and dry seasons, at ten sampling stations distributed throughout the area. The physical water quality parameters were measured in situ whilst TSS and BOD were determined using the standard methods. A deterioration of water quality in the Setiu Wetland was observed in areas near agriculture and aquaculture activities. This was expected to be as a result of the use of fertilisers, waste from fish farm food and the waste products of aquaculture. The parameters measured showed lower mean values of surface salinity, temperature, DO, pH and TSS during the wet season relative to the dry season. In contrast, the concentration of BOD was high during the wet season and lowest in the dry season. Results obtained from this study clearly showed the surface physical water quality for the Setiu Wetland was highly influenced by anthropogenic activities and seasonal variation. Therefore, both factors must be considered to move towards proper management of this wetland.
Minuartia nifensis Mc Neill belongs to Caryophyllaceae family. It is distributed only on Nif Mountain. In order to prepare the basis for the ex-situ and in-situ protection principles, ecological data was collected as well as population size and distributon areas were recorded in an earlier study. Present study investigates the M. nifensis anatomically, morphologically and cytologically, with the aim of improving the description of this endemic species and establishing the basic information for future biosystematic studies.
A reciprocal transplant-replant experiment was carried out to investigate the clonal plasticity and local specialization of OAFE population (O type) and BF population (U type) of a clonal rhizome herb Iris japonica in contrasting reciprocal heterogeneous habitats on Jinyun Mountain. U Population had better performance of plant size and clonal propagation (including allocation to clonal propagation, daughter ramet and fine rhizome) in different reciprocal heterogeneous habitats than O population. Both the population origin and reciprocal spatial heterogeneous habitat had effects on clonal ramets and biomass of clonal components of experimental plants. The plasticity of clonal growth had difference in clonal components to balance High light-Low soil resources (water) (HL) or Low light-High soil resources (LH) due to the ecological isolation of the two I. japonica populations. Our findings indicated that two major types of patterns of spatial covariance of resources can have different effects on the growth and local variation of clonal plants.
The combination of geographic information system and mineral energy data management is helpful to promote the study of mineral energy and its ecological damage and environmental pollution caused by its development and utilization, which has important application value. The Trace Elements in Coal of China Database Management System (TECC) is established in this paper, applying the techniques of B/S three-layer structure, Oracle database, AJAX and WebGIS. TECC is the first database system which aims at managing the data of trace elements in coal in China. It includes data management and analysis module, document management module, trace elements in coal data maintenance module and authority management module. The data entry specification is put forward in the present study and the spatial data is included in TECC system. The system achieves the functions of data query, analysis, management, maintenance and map browsing, thematic map drawing as well as satellite video display, which lay the foundation for the analysis of large data of trace elements in coal. It is a practical platform for the acquisition, management, exchange and sharing of trace element research and geochemical research data of coal.
The serious deterioration of the ecological environment comes from a large number of geological disasters. These disasters were caused by a number of engineering activities. Ecological restoration is an important measure to reduce geological disasters and protect the ecological environment. On the basis of the introduction of cast-in-situ grids technology, external-soil spray seeding technology and vegetation bag technology, according to the ecological restoration experiment of the road slope attach to the Three Gorges Pumped-Storage Power Station in Hohhot, decision analysis of slope ecological restoration is done with AHP. It is shown that in arid and semi-arid area, selection of slope ecological restoration scheme mainly needs considering the ecological effect and stability. The major factor of ecological effects is survival rate of vegetation. The major factor of stability is the stability in a whole. Cast-in-situ grids technology will be the first choice for ecological restoration of road slope in arid and semi-arid area. This study provides reference for decision of the slope ecological restoration in arid and semi-arid region.
The relationship between β-diversity and latitude still remains to be a core question in ecology because of the lack of consensus between studies. One hypothesis for the lack of consensus between studies is that spatial scale changes the relationship between latitude and β-diversity. Here, we test this hypothesis using tree data from 15 large-scale forest plots (greater than or equal to 15 ha, diameter at breast height ≥ 1 cm) across a latitudinal gradient (3-30o) in the Asia-Pacific region. We found that the observed β-diversity decreased with increasing latitude when sampling local tree communities at small spatial scale (grain size ≤0.1 ha), but the observed β-diversity did not change with latitude when sampling at large spatial scales (greater than or equal to 0.25 ha). Differences in latitudinal β-diversity gradients across spatial scales were caused by pooled species richness (γ-diversity), which influenced observed β-diversity values at small spatial scales, but not at large spatial scales. Therefore, spatial scale changes the relationship between β-diversity, γ-diversity and latitude, and improving sample representativeness avoids the γ-dependence of β-diversity.
The conservation of charismatic and functionally important large species is becoming increasingly difficult. Anthropogenic pressures continue to squeeze available habitat and force animals into degraded and disturbed areas. Ensuring the long-term survival of these species requires a well-developed understanding of how animals use these new landscapes to inform conservation and habitat restoration efforts. We combined 3 y of highly detailed visual observations of Bornean orangutans with high-resolution airborne remote sensing (Light Detection and Ranging) to understand orangutan movement in disturbed and fragmented forests of Malaysian Borneo. Structural attributes of the upper forest canopy were the dominant determinant of orangutan movement among all age and sex classes, with orangutans more likely to move in directions of increased canopy closure, tall trees, and uniform height, as well as avoiding canopy gaps and moving toward emergent crowns. In contrast, canopy vertical complexity (canopy layering and shape) did not affect movement. Our results suggest that although orangutans do make use of disturbed forest, they select certain canopy attributes within these forests, indicating that not all disturbed or degraded forest is of equal value for the long-term sustainability of orangutan populations. Although the value of disturbed habitats needs to be recognized in conservation plans for wide-ranging, large-bodied species, minimal ecological requirements within these habitats also need to be understood and considered if long-term population viability is to be realized.