Insect diversity of Bukit Hampuan Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

An insect diversity survey was carried out at Bukit Hampuan Forest Reserve, adjacent to Kinabalu Park in Sabah, Malaysia. The nocturnal insect diversity was very high, with a mean of 113 species recorded from one square metre of light-trapping cloth. Diurnal insects were sampled using sweep nets and fine forceps. A total of 19 Bornean endemic insect species were recorded, comprising 15 moth and four beetle species. A few of the endemic moths are confined to Sabah, namely Buzara saikehi, Cyana saulia and Lyclene mesilaulinea. Forty-two butterfly species were recorded. Endemic insect species sampled from this survey indicate the significance of protecting and conserving this forest reserve. Such findings provide important data to enhance the need and effort in biodiversity conservation. The recent gazettement of Bukit Hampuan Forest Reserve is appropriate, and it is also recommended that Bukit Hampuan Forest Reserve be connected to the adjacent Kinabalu Park, i.e. to gazette the connecting state land area into a forest reserve. Forest fires, illegal hunting for wild animals and orchids, and agricultural activities are among the threats to Bukit Hampuan Forest Reserve which directly affect its insect diversity. To mitigate these threats, it is important to adopt a multi-disciplinary and participatory approach in a smart partnership involving relevant stakeholders and the local communities in monitoring, enforcement and promoting environmental awareness

Oil palm monoculture induces drastic erosion of an Amazonian forest mammal fauna

Oil palm monoculture comprises one of the most financially attractive land-use options in tropical forests, but cropland suitability overlaps the distribution of many highly threatened vertebrate species. We investigated how forest mammals respond to a landscape mosaic, including mature oil palm plantations and primary forest patches in Eastern Amazonia. Using both line-transect censuses (LTC) and camera-trapping (CT), we quantified the general patterns of mammal community structure and attempted to identify both species life-history traits and the environmental and spatial covariates that govern species intolerance to oil palm monoculture. Considering mammal species richness, abundance, and species composition, oil palm plantations were consistently depauperate compared to the adjacent primary forest, but responses differed between functional groups. The degree of forest habitat dependency was a leading trait, determining compositional dissimilarities across habitats. Considering both the LTC and CT data, distance from the forest-plantation interface had a significant effect on mammal assemblages within each habitat type. Approximately 87% of all species detected within oil palm were never farther than 1300 m from the forest edge. Our study clearly reinforces the notion that conventional oil palm plantations are extremely hostile to native tropical forest biodiversity, which does not bode well given prospects for oil palm expansion in both aging and new Amazonian deforestation frontiers

Insect diversity of Sungai Serudong Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Insect diversity of Sungai Serudong Forest Reserve in Sabah was investigated under the Heart of Borneo programme in Sabah. The nocturnal insect diversity was evaluated by using light-trap from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. for three consecutive nights. Diurnal insects were sampled using sweep net. A total of nine insect orders were recorded namely Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Odonata, and Phasmida. There were four Bornean endemic species recorded during the survey, namely Chalcosoma moellenkampi (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Aethalida borneana (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), Amata prepuncta (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) and Calvisia sammannani (Phasmida: Diapheromeridae). The mean Shannon Index was 4.00, Simpson Index was 47.76 and Fisher Alpha Index was 83.64. The diversity is considered high, however moderate when compared to other forest reserves in Sabah, Malaysia. This study was able to identify insect communities inside the reserve. It was also able to identify the potential threats affecting the insect diversity. The documented data can serve as baseline information to be used in forest management plan and other relevant research

Comparison of Insect Assemblages (butterfly, dragonfly and moth) in Different Lowland Forest Types in Sabah, Malaysia

A comparative study on butterfly, dragonfly and moth assemblages was conducted in different lowland forest types (mangrove, plantation and dipterocarp forests) in Sandakan, eastern Sabah. The family and species composition of the three insect orders in various sites are highlighted. Highest insect diversity was recorded in the dipterocarp forest, followed by plantation forest and mangrove forest. The variety and abundance of food sources for insects are higher in the dipterocarp forest compared to the other forests due to the higher plant diversity. However, the presence and abundance of host-specific insects depend on the availability of their host plant in the habitat. Of the three insect orders, moth was the most diverse, followed by butterfly and dragonfly in all the study sites. The similarity among species for the three insect orders among the forests was relatively low although they were located within the same district. This could have been affected by the adjacent land-use changes as well as forest fragmentation. Inventories from this study on insect assemblages have identified some species with conservation interest, nature tourism potential and insects that can be detrimental to the habitat. Such information would contribute towards best practices in sustainable forest management in Sabah

Logging cuts the functional importance of invertebrates in tropical rainforest

Invertebrates are dominant species in primary tropical rainforests, where their abundance and diversity contributes to the functioning and resilience of these globally important ecosystems. However, more than one-third of tropical forests have been logged, with dramatic impacts on rainforest biodiversity that may disrupt key ecosystem processes. We find that the contribution of invertebrates to three ecosystem processes operating at three trophic levels (litter decomposition, seed predation and removal, and invertebrate predation) is reduced by up to one-half following logging. These changes are associated with decreased abundance of key functional groups of termites, ants, beetles and earthworms, and an increase in the abundance of small mammals, amphibians and insectivorous birds in logged relative to primary forest. Our results suggest that ecosystem processes themselves have considerable resilience to logging, but the consistent decline of invertebrate functional importance is indicative of a human-induced shift in how these ecological processes operate in tropical rainforests