26 research outputs found
Nocturnal bird composition in relation to habitat heterogeneity in small scale oil palm agriculture in Malaysia
The expansion of oil palm cultivation is recognised as a major cause of tropical biodiversity loss. In contrast to large-scale plantations, oil palm smallholdings being more heterogeneous may support greater biodiversity. This study examined the effects of local and landscape level variables on the composition of nocturnal bird species in Malaysian oil palm smallholdings. Using visual and aural point sampling, we made 1408 encounters with nine owl and two nightjar species. The Biota-Environment-Stepwise matching analyses (BEST) indicated four predictor variables (three local variables; number of crop species, widths of roads and trenches, and one landscape variable; distance to the nearest main road) significantly influenced the community assemblages of nocturnal bird species in the smallholdings. Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) further indicated seven predictor variables (numbers of palms and houses, widths of roads and trenches, distances to the nearest forest and house, as well as palm height) significantly influenced the abundances of certain nocturnal species. These findings not only improve our understanding on habitat preference of nocturnal birds in the Sunda region but also support the argument that habitat complexity in cultivated areas may aid in biodiversity conservation, at least for nocturnal birds
Impacts of 2 species of predatory Reduviidae on bagworms in oil palm plantations
Integrated pest management (IPM) is widely practiced in commercial oil palm agriculture. This management system is intended to minimize the number of attacks by pest insects such as bagworms on crops, as well as curb economic loss with less dependency on chemical pesticides. One practice in IPM is the use of biological control agents such as predatory insects. In this study, we assessed the response of predatory natural enemies to pest outbreak and water stress, and document the habitat associations of potential pest predators. The abundances of 2 predatory insect species, namely Sycanus dichotomus and Cosmolestes picticeps (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), were compared bagworm outbreak sites and nonoutbreak sites within oil palm plantations. We also examined habitat characteristics that influence the abundances of both predatory species. We found that the abundance of C. picticeps was significantly higher in bagworm outbreak sites than in nonoutbreak sites. There were no significant differences in the abundance of S. dichotomus among outbreak and non-outbreak sites. Both species responded negatively to water stress in oil palm plantations. Concerning the relationship between predatory insect abundance and in situ habitat quality characteristics, our models explained 46.36% of variation for C. picticeps and 23.17% of variation for S. dichotomus. Both species of predatory insects thrived from the planting of multiple beneficial plants in oil palm plantations. The results suggest that C. picticeps can be used as a biological agent to control bagworm populations in oil palm plantations, but S. dichotomus has no or little potential for such ecosystem service
Effects of polyculture and monoculture farming in oil palm smallholdings on tropical fruit-feeding butterfly diversity
1. In many developing countries, commercial oil palm farming supports the livelihood of millions of small-scale farmers in the rural areas. However, forest conversion into oil palm monocultures has a major impact on tropical biodiversity. In existing oil palm production landscapes, little is known about how different oil palm agricultural practices affect farmland biodiversity, particularly insect biota.
2. We quantified fruit-feeding butterfly species richness and community composition in oil palm areas subject to polyculture and monoculture farming in Peninsular Malaysia. Polyculture smallholdings were predicted to support greater butterfly diversity than monoculture smallholdings because of the greater structural complexity and floristic diversity associated with crop diversity in polyculture smallholdings.
3. We also identified local-scale habitat attributes important for maintaining fruit-feeding butterfly species richness.
4. We found no significant differences in butterfly species richness, abundance and the composition of butterfly assemblages between polyculture and monoculture smallholdings. Local-scale habitat quality explained 32.1% of the variation in fruit-feeding butterfly richness in oil palm smallholdings.
5. We found that polyculture farming failed to increase fruit-feeding butterfly diversity as a result of a limited number of crop species in oil palm smallholdings. To improve current agricultural practices and maintain high levels of butterfly diversity, commercial growers should increase the number of crop species planted in oil palm smallholdings
Effects of monoculture and polyculture farming in oil palm smallholdings on terrestrial arthropod diversity
Oil palm agriculture has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversity-rich countries in the tropics. The conversion of native forests to oil palm monoculture plantation has caused unprecedented biodiversity loss in Southeast Asia. Little is known about the effects of oil palm polyculture farming on arthropod diversity. In this study, arthropods were sampled using pitfall traps at 120 sites in Peninsular Malaysia. We examined how arthropod biodiversity responded to different oil palm farming practices and local-scale vegetation structure characteristics. We found that the number of arthropod orders was significantly greater in polyculture than monoculture smallholdings. However, we did not detect a significant difference in arthropod order composition nor abundance between monoculture and polyculture practices. In situ habitat characteristics explained 16% of the variation in arthropod order richness, with key predictor variables including farming practice, height of oil palm stands, and number of immature palm. The findings of this study suggest that polyculture farming together with management for in situ habitat complexity may be a useful strategy in supporting biodiversity within in oil palm plantations
Sensitivity and specificity of waist circumference as a single screening tool for identification of overweight and obesity among Malaysian adults
Generalised obesity and central obesity are risk factors for Type II diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Waist circumference (WC) has been suggested as a single screening tool for identification of overweight or obese subjects in lieu of the body mass index (BMI) for weight management in public health program. Currently, the recommended waist circumference cut-off points of ≥ 94cm for men and ≥80cm for women (waist action level 1) and ≥ 102cm for men and ≥ 88cm for women (waist action level 2) used for identification of overweight and obesity are based on studies in Caucasian populations. The objective of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the recommended waist action levels, and to determine optimal WC cut-off points for identification of overweight or obesity with central fat distribution based on BMI for Malaysian adults. Data from 32,773 subjects (14,982 men and 17,791 women) aged 18 and above who participated in the Third National Health Morbidity Survey in 2006 were analysed. Sensitivity and specificity of WC at waist action level 1 were 48.3% and 97.5% for men; and 84.2% and 80.6% for women when compared to the cut-off points based on BMI ≥25kg/m 2. At waist action level 2, sensitivity and specificity were 52.4% and 98.0% for men, and 79.2% and 85.4% for women when compared with the cut-off points based on BMI (≥30 kg/m 2). Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that the appropriate screening cut-off points for WC to identify subjects with overweight (≥25kg/m 2) was 86.0cm (sensitivity=83.6%, specificity=82.5%) for men, and 79.1cm (sensitivity=85.0%, specificity=79.5%) for women. Waist circumference cut-off points to identify obese subjects (BMI≥30 kg/m 2) was 93.2cm (sensitivity=86.5%, specificity=85.7%) for men and 85.2cm (sensitivity=77.9%, specificity=78.0%) for women. Our findings demonstrated that the current recommended waist circumference cut-off points have low sensitivity for identification of overweight and obesity in men. We suggest that these newly identified cut-off points be considered
Responses of tropical fruit bats to monoculture and polyculture farming in oil palm smallholdings
The oil palm industry is one of the main economic drivers in Southeast Asia. The industry has caused tropical deforestation on a massive scale in producing countries, and this forest conversion to oil palm agriculture has decimated the habitat of numerous native species. Monoculture and polyculture practices are two distinctive oil palm production systems. We hypothesize that polyculture farming hosts a greater diversity of species than monoculture farming. Habitat complexity in smallholdings is influenced by multiple farming practices (i.e. polyculture and monoculture). However, little is known about the effects of such farming practices in smallholdings on mammalian biodiversity, and particularly frugivorous bats. Our study aimed to find the best farming practice to reconcile oil palm production with biodiversity conservation. Mist-nets were used to trap frugivorous bats at 120 smallholdings in Peninsular Malaysia. We compared species richness and the abundance of frugivorous bats between monoculture and poly-culture smallholdings. We investigated their relationships with vegetation structure characteristics. Our results revealed that species richness and abundance of frugivorous bats were significantly greater in polyculture smallholdings than monoculture smallholdings. We also found that 28.21% of the variation in species richness was explained by in situ habitat characteristics, including the number of dead standing oil palms and immature oil palms, non-grass cover, height of non-grass cover, and farming practices. Thein situ habitat quality was closely associated with oil palm farming management. Commercial growers should implement polyculture rather than monoculture farming because polyculture farming has positive effects on the abundance and species richness of bats in oil palm production landscapes
Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia
Oil palm plantation has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversityrich
countries in the tropics. It plays a major role in the economy of Malaysia as
the second largest producer of palm oil and oil palm related products after
Indonesia. The conversion of native forests to oil palm monoculture system has
caused biodiversity loss. With proper planning and implementation of farming
practice, oil palm agriculture in Malaysia can go further as an economic
backbone. However, little is known about the effects of oil palm polyculture
system on biodiversity. Studying arthropod diversity in response to different
habitat variables will give evidence to support wildlife conservation in the
expanding oil palm industry. The smallholdings were chosen as representatives
of the oil palm smallholdings in Peninsular Malaysia as they include both oil palm
and banana plants. In this study, arthropods are used as ecological indicators
while pitfall traps were used in data collection. Systematic sampling of insects
with random starting points were used in pitfall trapping in each plot. Arthropod
diversity was examined with respect to abundance, number of orders (order
richness) and community composition responded to different farming practices
and vegetation structure characteristics. Across oil palm smallholdings, the
number of arthropod orders were significantly higher in polyculture smallholdings
than monoculture smallholdings. However, there were no significant difference
in arthropod abundances in both monoculture and polyculture smallholdings.
Habitat quality variables explained 15.98% of arthropods richness. The most
significant predictor variables in influencing arthropod diversity were polyculture
farming practice, height of oil palm crop and number of immature oil palm. This
study concluded that polyculture smallholdings can host a wider arthropod order
than monoculture smallholdings. Arthropods were shown to favour multiple crops
that offer variety of food sources for different trophic levels. The findings of this
study suggest that, in order to preserve biodiversity, oil palm stakeholders should
maintain as much of the remaining arthropod biodiversity as possible by
sustaining local habitat complexity in the smallholdings. This practice is not only important for the oil palm smallholding sustainability, but it also increases
arthropods richness that helps to carry out important ecological niche and
functions in the oil palm landscape such as floral pollination, pest predation,
decomposing of litter layer and recycling of nutrient cycle
Perceived norms and smoking status among secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia
Social norms, though an important contributing factor of adolescent smoking
in developed countries, has not been extensively studied in Malaysia. The
objective of this study was to determine the association between certain
perceived norms regarding smoking with smoking status among Malaysian
secondary school students in Kota Tinggi, Johor.
Methods Data were collected from 2311 respondents consisting of 1379 male and 923
female secondary school students in Kota Tinggi district via a self
administered questionnaire. Five perceived norms regarding smoking were
assessed, namely: perceived peer smoking prevalence, perceived parental
reaction towards adolescent smoking, perceived public perception of
adolescent smoking, ever noticed peers smoking inside and outside school
and perceived enforcement of anti-smoking policy in school and their
association with smoking status. Multiple logistic regressions controlling for
gender, peer smoking and family smoking was performed.
Results Of the five perceived norms, four were associated with smoking status,
(perceived peer smoking prevalence (p<0.001value), ever seen friends
smoking inside or outside school (p <0.001), perceived parental reaction
towards adolescent smoking (p<0.001 value) and perceived public
disapproval (p <0.001)). Higher odds for smoking was observed for
adolescents who: perceived a few (aOR 3.22), many (aOR 3.01) or a lot (aOR
3.52) of their peers smoke; had ever observed friends smoking in or outside
of school (aOR 1.79); perceived their parents will react badly to smoking
(aOR 0.84) or perceived the public disapprove of smoking (aOR 0.93).
Conclusions These results suggest that perception of social norms influence adolescents’
decision to smoke, thus measures to curb smoking incidence amongst
adolescents should address these perceptions of social norms
القيم التربوية السائدة في نصوص مسرح الدمى Educational values prevailing in the texts of the puppet theater
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Switching from monoculture to polyculture farming benefits birds in oil palm production landscapes: evidence from mist netting data
Monoculture farming is pervasive in industrial oil palm agriculture, including those RSPO plantations certified as sustainably managed. This farming practice does not promote the maintenance of farmland biodiversity. However, little scientific attention has been given to polyculture farming in oil palm production landscapes. Polyculture farming is likely to increase the floristic diversity and stand structural complexity that underpins biodiversity. Mist nets were used to sample birds at 120 smallholdings in Peninsular Malaysia. At each site, 12 vegetation structure characteristics were measured. We compared bird species richness, abundance, and composition between monoculture and polyculture smallholdings and used predictive models to examine the effects of habitat quality on avian biodiversity. Bird species richness was significantly greater in polyculture than that of monoculture smallholdings. The number of fallen and standing, dead oil palms were also important positive predictors of species richness. Bird abundance was also strongly increased by standing and dead oil palms and decreased with oil palm stand height. Our results indicate that polyculture farming can improve bird species richness in oil palm production landscapes. In addition, key habitat variables that are closely associated with farming practices, such as the removal of dead trees, should and can be managed by oil palm growers in order to promote biodiversity. To increase the sustainability of oil palm agriculture, it is imperative that stakeholders modify the way oil palms are currently planted and managed. Our findings can guide policy makers and certification bodies to promote oil palm production landscapes that will function more sustainably and increase existing biodiversity of oil palm landscapes