1,721,029 research outputs found
Home range and activity patterns of Sunda scops owl in Peninsular Malaysia
No full textNajmi-Hanis, Z., Puan, Chong Leong, Zakaria, Mohamed, Azhar, Badrul (2016): Home range and activity patterns of Sunda scops owl in Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 64: 28-32, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.535486
Birds associated with different tree species and structures in oil palm agroforestry landscapes in Malaysia
No full textThe expansion of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) cultivation has been recognised as a major threat to tropical biodiversity. Smallholdings, however, unlike large-scale conventional monoculture oil palm plantations, often practice polyculture which may resemble an agroforestry system. These private holdings provide more heterogeneous vegetation which may support greater a greater diversity of birds. This study compared species richness and abundance of birds detected perching in oil palm (both dead and living trees) and seven other planted crop species within oil palm smallholdings. Using transect line surveys, we recorded a total of 816 birds of 39 species from 20 families. Our results indicate that bird species richness and abundance differed significantly between oil palm and the other planted tree species. Non-oil palm trees cumulatively increased bird species richness and abundance. Although birds overall perched more frequently on living oil palm trees (probably reflecting relative abundance), other species including breadfruit, mango, papaya, banana, and coconut, as well as dead trees, were also used. By measuring effect size, we also found that both bird species richness and abundance rely on tree structure and type of tree species. These findings tentatively suggest that providing a larger diversity of tree species within intensively managed oil palm plantations may support a wider variety of local bird species compared to monocultures.</p
Assessment of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2L-band and Sentinel-1 C-band SAR backscatter for discriminating between large-scale oil palm plantations and smallholdings on tropical peatlands
No full textOil palm agriculture is rapidly expanding across the tropics, particularly on peatlands to meet increasing global demand for palm oil based products. Oil palm production systems can be divided into two broad categories of management system: large-scale monoculture plantations and smallholdings. Both categories are separated by large differences in environmental and social impacts. These oil palm production systems are often characterized by different agricultural practices and vegetation characteristics and therefore land cover. To date, there are no examples of radar remote sensing studies in oil palm production landscapes assessing differences between large-scale plantations and smallholdings. Here, we investigate whether these management systems have distinct radar signatures that can be identified through backscattering intensity using ALOS (Synthetic Aperture Radar) – PALSAR (Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar) L-band and Sentinel-1 C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). SAR has been shown to be superior to other remote sensing sensors in the tropics for monitoring oil palm expansion due to its all-weather capabilities. In this study we measured backscattered intensity of 196 plots planted with oil palm that were established on peatland in Peninsular Malaysia. Our results indicated that backscattered intensity was significantly influenced by the management systems. We found that canopy and soil moisture was greater in smallholdings compared to large-scale plantations. With the exception of HV polarization method, season had significant effect on backscattered intensity. Irrespective of management systems, canopy and soil moisture was greater in wet months compared to dry months. Our findings suggest that ALOS-2-PALSAR-2L-band and Sentinel-1 C-band have great potential to discriminate oil palm production landscapes managed under different management systems. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the current findings are consistent for oil palm in mineral soils
Alley-cropping system increases vegetation heterogeneity and moderates extreme microclimates in oil palm plantations
No full textForest conversion to oil palm plantation is causing a major loss of biodiversity in Southeast Asia and other tropical regions. Oil palm plantations have less biodiversity because of their simplified vegetation, human disturbances, and extreme microclimate conditions. Alley-cropping system incorporates a secondary crop in the alleys between the main crops. In some cases alley-cropping can result in a greater vegetation structural complexity, thus potentially providing agricultural and ecological benefits, including: buffering against weather extremes, reduction in soil erosion, increased biodiversity, and increased nutrient and water-use efficiency. In this study, we compared vegetation structure (height and cover of vegetation), microclimate (air temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and wind speed), and soil conditions (soil surface temperature, soil pH and soil moisture) across a range of alley-cropping systems and two ages of monoculture oil palm. We found that alley- cropping system had varied structural complexity across different crops when compared to oil palm monoculture system. Careful selection of crops was essential, with black pepper and cacao having the largest impact on improving vegetation heterogeneity and microclimate regulation when incorporated into an alley-cropping system. In particular, we found that systems intercropped with black pepper had air and soil surface temperatures up to 1.3 °C and 2.1 °C cooler than those in oil palm monoculture. In contrast, systems intercropped with bactris and bamboo had increased air temperatures. Our findings show that some alley-cropping systems have great potential as a climate-smart practice in sustainable oil palm agriculture. This study also shows that careful selection of crops is important in the planning and management of future alley-cropping system to optimise the ecosystem benefits that can be gained from this management system.</p
Cattle-oil palm integration – a viable strategy to increase Malaysian beef self-sufficiency and palm oil sustainability
No full textPalm oil production in Malaysia contributes significantly to the national economy, but its production has adverse effects on the environment. A solution to mitigate environmental impacts and increase resource use efficiency is integrating palm oil and beef cattle production. This can reduce deforestation, needs for grazing land, and reduce herbicide use in plantations when cattle graze the weeds. Integration is more complex if the plantation and cattle are owned by different parties, as plantation owners indicate they perceive little or no benefit from integration. As a result, plantation managers consider the undergrowth as weeds and do not aim at improving the nutritional quality and biomass. This disinterest may explain why the potential of the undergrowth as forage has been understudied. The first objective of this study was, therefore, to assess the nutritional quality of the undergrowth in an integrated oil palm-cattle system where cattle are owned by smallholder farmers. The second objective was to estimate to what extent the nutritional requirements of cattle grazing the undergrowth are met. Plant species composition was determined and biomass was measured in an oil palm plantation in Peninsular Malaysia. Furthermore, the cattle diet was estimated from observations during grazing and interviews with five smallholder farmers were conducted. The species with the highest biomass in the undergrowth were Ottochloa nodosa, Axonopus compressus, Cyrtococcum oxyphyllum, Arthraxon hispidus, and Adiantum latifolium. Cattle selected for the more nutritious species within the available biomass. The grass A. compressus (64 %) and pruned oil palm fronds (18%) made up most of the cattle's diet, and the leguminous cover crop Pueraria phaseoloides was preferred if present. The diet contained 151 g crude protein (CP) kg−1 DM, and the ME content was 7.5 MJ ME kg−1 DM. The nutritional quality was estimated to cover energy requirements of cattle for maintenance by 1.6 times, whereas it provided ample CP. These results suggest that energy requirements may not always be fully met. Energy deficiency could be mitigated by feeding cattle with palm kernel meal, an energy-rich by-product from palm kernel oil production. Cattle were kept at or above the recommended stocking density for Malaysian plantations (0.11 TLU ha−1). Our observations suggest that the carrying capacity of the undergrowth is higher than the recommended stocking density, which implies scope to increase stocking densities and beef production, thereby reducing the need for further deforestation. In conclusion, integrating palm oil and cattle production is a viable strategy for both smallholders and plantation management to increase resource use efficiency in plantations and beef self-sufficiency in Malaysia
Urban forest fragmentation impoverishes native mammalian biodiversity in the tropics
No full textUrban expansion has caused major deforestation and forest fragmentation in the tropics. The impacts of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity are understudied in urban forest patches, especially in the tropics and little is known on the conservation value of the patches for maintaining mammalian biodiversity. In this study, camera trapping was used to determine the species composition and species richness of medium- and large-sized mammals in three urban forest patches and a contiguous forest in Peninsular Malaysia. We identified the key vegetation attributes that predicted mammal species richness and occurrence of herbivores and omnivores in urban forest patches. A total number of 19 mammal species from 120 sampling points were recorded. Contiguous forest had the highest number of species compared to the urban forest patches. Sunda Pangolin and Asian Tapir were the only conservation priority species recorded in the urban forest patches and contiguous forest, respectively. Top predators such as Malayan Tiger and Melanistic Leopard were completely absent from the forest patches as well as the contiguous forest. This was reflected by the abundance of wild boars. We found that mammal species richness increased with the number of trees with DBH less than 5\ua0cm, trees with DBH more than 50\ua0cm, and dead standing trees. In the future, the remaining mammal species in the urban forest patches are expected to be locally extinct as connecting the urban forest patches may be infeasible due to land scarcity. Hence, to maintain the ecological integrity of urban forest patches, we recommend that stakeholders take intervention measures such as reintroduction of selected species and restocking of wild populations in the urban forest patches to regenerate the forest ecosystems
Selective logging causes the decline of large-sized mammals including those in unlogged patches surrounded by logged and agricultural areas
Full text linkLegal and illegal logging is prevalent throughout the tropics, impacting on natural habitat and wildlife. This study aimed to investigate the sensitivity of forest mammals to selective logging in the lowland dipterocarp forests of South-West Peninsular Malaysia and identify the underlying factors that determine species occurrence. A total of 120 camera trap locations were deployed within selectively logged and unlogged forests. We found that unlogged forest had greater wildlife occurrences compared to selectively logged forests, including two endangered mammal species not found in logged forest. Forest vegetation structure characteristics such as the abundance of lianas, large trees, saplings, palms, bamboo and seedlings were associated with mammal species richness. Mammal species richness increased with number of forest trees, particularly those with a DBH of >45 cm, but this was limited to high altitude forest. Worryingly, we did not detect any large mammalian apex predators such as leopards or tigers in either unlogged or selectively logged forests. The absence of these animals may be the result of poaching, habitat degradation or other pressures; these mammals are expected to be present in intact forests in Peninsular Malaysia. Restoring logged forests and preserving the remaining unlogged lowland dipterocarp forests are critically important to safeguard mammalian biodiversity in the region. Besides that, we recommend that conventional logging practices are replaced with reduced impact logging methods
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
- …
