Trends in Seagrass Research and Conservation in Malaysian Waters

The seagrass ecosystems found in the marine and coastal areas, with substantial economic and ecological services and span all over the globe excluding the Antarctic region. The Coral Triangle and Southeast Asia are recognized as a worldwide hotspot of seagrass species and habitats, encompassing 10-21 species of seagrass in every nation, although the study, understanding, and quantity of publications on seagrass ecosystems are rather limited in the region, including Malaysia. Malaysia contains 18 seagrass species from three families, which occupy 16.8 km2 of coastal area, where the study and discovery of seagrass species and meadows began in 1904 with the report of Beccari. All of the published papers reviewed reported on Malaysian seagrass-related research, which was divided into nine topic groups: biology and distribution, carbon sequestration, fauna, remote sensing, impact and pollution genetic study, restoration, microbiological investigation, and others. The extensive study of the seagrass ecosystem began in 1993, and we have identified 183 published papers from Scopus, 141 publications from Web of Science, and 42 from Google Scholar. However, the average trend of the number of publications from 1993 to 1999 was 0.71 ± 0.36, while from 2000 to 2022 was 7.70 ± 1.16 followed by the average trend of the yearly number of publications was 6.78 ± 1.08. The highest number of publications was found on faunal categories (43.17%), followed by biology and distribution (21.85%). The number of articles that were published on Malaysian seagrass meadows each year has been discovered to be rising, which indicates that the trends in seagrass study and publishing were progressively garnering the attention of researchers, academics, and the government. However, to better understand the sustainable ecology and ecosystem services provided by seagrass habitats, an emphasis on certain research niches, such as the genetic study of flora and fauna in seagrass meadows, microbial ecology, and restoration as well as conservation of seagrass species might be helpful.22 página

Effects of different stocking density of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) on the growth performance and rice yield in rice-fish farming system

A 105 day investigation was conducted to measure the impacts of stocking densities at different ratios of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio)on their growth and rice yields in rice-fish farming systems. The experiment was conducted by randomized complete block design with three replications. The plot size was 6×3 m, 50 cm height with ditch (3×1 m) for fish. Mean initial weight of O. niloticus was 12.2±1.92 g using three different fish stocking densities (4, 6 and 8 fish m-2) in five different ratios (1:1, 1:0, 0:1, 1:2, 2:1) of O. niloticus and C. carpio. At the end of the investigation specific growth rate, total length (cm), final weight (g), and survival rate (%) for fish were estimated. Plant height and tiller number were also calculated. The study showed that fish growth performance, fish survival rate, plant height, number of tiller, and abundance of plankton were significantly affected by culture system (p<0.05). The final weight was higher in 4 fish m-2, followed by 6 fish m-2 while the 8 fish m-2 treatment recorded the lowest growth performance. The survival showed the same trend, the highest survival rate was found in C. carpio - O. niloticus ratio of 1:1 (66.67±9.31%) with 6 fish m-2 followed by 4 fish m-2 then by 8 fish m-2 55.36 ±6.11%, and 49.78±4.17% respectively. The highest rice yield, were found in 6 fish m-2 (5.43) that was significantly (p<0.05) higher than in 4 fish m-2 and 8 fish m-2 treatment. The present study revealed that the suitable stocking density was 6 m-2 with 1:1 for C. carpio and O. niloticus for better growth, survival and maximum rice production

Fertilization effects on the growth of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and rice yields in an integrated rice-fish farming system

An investigation was accompanied in the rice field plots with developing an infrastructure of 30 m2 to ascertain the felicitous fertilization effects of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and the common carp (Cyrpinus carpio) cultured along with the rice fish farming system in the plots. There were setting up three systems to assess the effect of fish species on tiller yield, regarding for fish species i.e. no fish stocking with rice (C), O. niloticus with rice (FT) and C. carpio with rice (FC). Each treatment of fish species cultured with different doses of fertilizer such as (T0) control: without any fertilization; (T1) with 100% recommended fertilizer (RF); (T2) with 75% recommended fertilizer (RF); (T3) with 10 ton compost fertilizer; (T4) with 5 ton compost fertilizer+75% RF, and rice culture with 5 ton compost fertilizer+50% RF. The maximum number of plant in the tiller were found in C. carpio (FC) species (7.02 no/tiller and 82.95 cm/tiller) whereas lowest in FT (6.40 no/tiller and 81.65 cm/tiller) during 75 DAT. In regards of fertilizer application, the highest values were observed in FC with an average of 31.71, 53.28 and 73.06 cm/tiller during 30, 40 and 60 DAT respectively, followed by F0 (31.92, 52.43 and 72.31 cm/tiller at 30, 45 and 60 DAT) and FT (30.28, 49.76 and 67.25 cm/tiller at 30, 45 and 60 DAT) respectively, in which there was found negative significant differences (P>0.05) among different treatments. The rice production in C. carpio fertilizer treatment T4 (7.30±1.86 kg/m2) was significantly higher than those of other treatments (7.16±2.78, 6.83±2.88, 6.67±1.44, 6.17±1.84 and 4.06±1.76 kg/m2 in treatments T5, T3, T2, T1, and T0 respectively). The yields of fish were significantly higher (P<0.05) in treatments T4, (11.70±3.86 kg/m2) than other fertilizer treatments T5 (11.25±3.56 kg/m2), T3 (10.85±5.76 kg/m2), T2 (10.80±5.55 kg/m2), T1 (9.90±4.66 kg/m2), T0 (4.78±3.48 kg/m2) and in FC and also compared to all other fertilizer treatments in FT. In regards of straw, the yields were significantly higher (P<0.05) in treatments T4, (13.76±6.24 kg/m2) and followed by T5 (13.55±4.42 kg/m2), T3 (12.88±6.24 kg/m2), T2 (10.75±4.65 kg/m2), T1 (10.65±3.36 kg/m2), T0 (4.28±3.86 kg/m2) and in FC and also compared to all other fertilizer treatments in FT. The outcome in T4 provided the maximum yields amongst all treatments, followed by treatments T5, T3, T2, T1 and T0 representing that the amalgamation of basal fertilization and compost fertilizer are the furthermost suitable nutrient input regime aimed at the rice-carpi fish integrated culture scheme

Variations in fatty acid and amino acid profiles of doi and rasomalai made from buffalo milk

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated and compared the chemical composition, cholesterol content, fatty acid (FA), and amino acid (AA) profiles of doi and rasomalai made from buffalo milk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bangladesh Agricultural University Dairy Farm, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh was the source of raw buffalo milk. Then, doi and rasomalai were produced and analyzed. Prior to the production of doi and rasomalai, the gross composition and AAs of milk were evaluated. Milk and dairy products were evaluated for gross composition using an automated milk analyzer and the Association of Agricultural Chemists techniques, respectively. At the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh, the cholesterol, FA, and AA levels of doi and rasomalai were determined. Additionally, atherogenic and thrombogenic indices were determined using established equations. RESULTS: The results indicated that the majority of the proximate components were significantly greater (p 0.05) than doi. The FA profile was identical across doi and rasomalai with the exception of oleic acid (C18:1cis-9), which was 1.50% greater (p 0.05). Similarly, the thrombogenic index was found to be significantly higher (p > 0.05) in doi (1.98) when compared to the rasomalai (1.92). The concentrations of all AAs were found to be quantitatively higher in doi than in rasomalai (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The conclusion is that buffalo milk rasomalai appears to have a higher nutritional density than buffalo milk doi

Distribution of zooplankton community in Toli shad (Tenualosa toli) habitats, Sarawak, Malaysia

The river ecosystems of Sarawak has been identified as important-spawning ground for economically important Toli shad (Tenualosa toli) fisheries. In these river ecosystems, zooplankton serves as a secondary producer to the different types of fish larvae including Toli shad. The productivity and biomass of zooplankton are important factors to control the production of higher trophic level organisms like fish larvae and fishes in different stages including T. toli larvae. In this viewpoint, the composition and abundance of zooplankton were investigated at 5 (five) sampling stations (considered to be spawning and nursing areas of Toli shad) at Batang Lupar and Batang Sadong estuaries from July 2016 to June 2017. A total of 29 zooplankton taxa were recorded that belong to 14 major groups comprised of Copepoda (Arthropoda), Crustacean nauplii (Arthropoda), Fish larvae (Chordata), Mollusca (Mollusca), Luciferidae (Arthropoda), Cnidaria (Cnidaria), Ostracoda (Arthropoda), Cirripedia (Arthropoda), Polychaete larvae (Annelida), Chaetognatha (Chaetognatha), Appendicularia (Chordata), Amphipoda (Arthropoda), Echinodermata larvae (Echinodermata) and Cladoceran (Arthropoda). Copepod was dominant group of zooplankton (82.40-94.41%) at all stations, contributing 477.37-25921.89 ind/m3 and 88.38% of total abundance. The second highest was crustacean larvae (2.45-9.38%) in all stations, contributing 0-2391.7 ind/m3 and 5.88% of total abundance. Zooplankton abundance was higher at downstream station 1 (8460.72 ind/m³) followed by station 2 (5479.80 indi/m³), station 3 (4571.95 ind/m³), station 4 (4394.20 ind/m³) and upstream station 5 (4156.73 ind/m³). Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that the abundance of copepods was highly influenced by total turbidity and nitrate in the riverine and estuarine ecosystems. Abundance of zooplankton was relatively higher (9549.31 ind/m³) during the post-monsoon and lower (3534.56 ind/m³) during the southwest monsoon

Status, biodiversity, and ecosystem services of seagrass habitats within the Coral Triangle in the western Pacific ocean

Area of the Coral Triangle (CT), namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste, comprises 5.7 million km2 of the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most bio-diverse marine eco-regions on the planet, as well as a global hotspot for seagrass species. Many sea creatures of this eco-region rely on the seagrass ecosystem, especially dugong species extensively (a total number of 2279 individuals), sea turtles (4–6 species), benthic organisms, and fish. Apart from these ecological services, carbon sequestration (2.6 billion Mg CO2 storage) by the seagrass ecosystem is considerably higher in comparison to terrestrial vegetation. In this paper, we scrutinized previously acknowledged seagrass species distribution, the associated fauna in seagrass meadows, the total carbon sequestration in the Coral Triangle, past and present research conducted on seagrass and other aspects, and major threats to seagrass ecosystems within this biogeographic region. Depending on their different locations, the six CT countries have a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 19 seagrass species that belong to four distinct families (Hydrocharitaceae, Cymodoceaceae, Zosteraceae, and Ruppiaceae) and cover almost 58,550.63‬ km2. While a total of 21 species of seagrass have been found throughout this eco-region, very little research has been conducted to assess the overall status of the ecosystems within this eco-region. Seagrass ecosystems and services from these habitats within the Coral Triangle are also associated with 100 million human inhabitants, who are supported directly or indirectly by the resources of this ecosystem. These inhabitants may cause considerable disturbance to seagrass ecosystems. For the long-term sustainable management and conservation of these ecosystems, two types of threats, namely local human activities and global transboundary issues including climate change, have been identified and need to be taken into consideration. In terms of human activities, local threats include water quality deterioration due to sewage and pollutant discharge, agricultural activities mainly from palm oil plantations, over-exploitation of seagrass-associated resources, sediment runoff, and destructive fishing practices. Global threats comprise macro and microplastics, sea-level rise due to climate change, global warming, and acidification. Further study of social, cultural, and economic interaction between the local inhabitants and seagrass ecosystems is highly recommended for assessing the ecological and economic contribution of this habitat to the human societies of the Coral Triangle. Despite their importance for human food services and the maintenance of the food web for marine and coastal animals, human activities have a negative impact on seagrass ecosystems around the world, particularly in the Coral Triangle