The Seasonal Monsoon Variations and The Climatic Effects on The Abundance of Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) At Klias River, Beaufort, Sabah, East Malaysia

Understanding the pattern of firefly abundance in an area is useful in minimizing visitors' impact on firefly populations and enhancing the quality of the firefly experience for all visitors. Implementing strategic protection guidelines greatly helps conserve species population and the chances of bioluminescent courtship behaviour in the firefly population. Klias River in Sabah, Malaysia has been listed among the top sites featuring congregating fireflies in Southeast Asia. In this study, the abundance of congregating fireflies was studied from 2006 to 2007, during the transitional monsoon (phase 1) and the northeast monsoon (phase 2) at Klias River. A total of 155 display tree stations were sampled by using a two-minute sweep netting technique, resulting in a total of 5,368 individual fireflies collected from both phases. Five species of fireflies from two genera i.e Pteroptyx and Luciola were recorded namely Pteroptyx tener (91.30%), Pteroptyx malaccae (8.53%), Pteroptyx valida, Luciola sp. 1 and Luciola sp. 2. The number of males was higher than the females in a ratio of ±7:3 on each sampling occasion. Mann-Whitney analysis [U(n=12)=34, P0.05]. The abundance of the firefly community was significantly different from the two sampling phases [U(n1=6, n2=6)=34, P<0.05)], with the northeast monsoon season (phase 2) presenting a higher abundance of congregating fireflies. Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that the mean of climate parameters i.e relative humidity (±82.52%; P=0.779; r= -0.091), rainfall (±3.84 mm; P=0.210; r=0.390), and temperature (±27.34℃; P=0.557; r=0.189) were significantly but weakly correlated with the mean of firefly abundance from the whole sampling sessions. Twelve display tree species were recorded, namely, Excoecaria indica, Heriteria littoralis, Cerbera odolam, Hibiscus tiliaceus, Ficus benjamina, Sonneratia alba, Rhizophora apiculata, Nypa fruticans, Hernandia nymphacifolia, Barringtonia racemosa, Acrostichum sp. and Acacia magnum. Heriteria littoralis (n=83) was the highest in frequency used as the display trees, but the firefly abundance was higher on Excoecaria indica (n=32) with 42% of abundance tendencies. The survival of congregating firefly species population is interconnected with the existence of certain species of mangrove trees. Identifying these display trees is important to support the protection of the natural mangrove ecosystem and the conservation of mangrove swamp tree species

The seasonal monsoon variations and the climatic effects on the abundance of fireflies (COLEOPTERA: LAMPYRIDAE) at Klias River, Beaufort, Sabah, East Malaysia

Understanding the pattern of firefly abundance in an area is useful in minimizing visitors' impact on firefly populations and enhancing the quality of the firefly experience for all visitors. Implementing strategic protection guidelines greatly helps conserve species population and the chances of bioluminescent courtship behaviour in the firefly population. Klias River in Sabah, Malaysia has been listed among the top sites featuring congregating fireflies in Southeast Asia. In this study, the abundance of congregating fireflies was studied from 2006 to 2007, during the transitional monsoon (phase 1) and the northeast monsoon (phase 2) at Klias River. A total of 155 display tree stations were sampled by using a two-minute sweep netting technique, resulting in a total of 5,368 individual fireflies collected from both phases. Five species of fireflies from two genera i.e Pteroptyx and Luciola were recorded namely Pteroptyx tener (91.30%), Pteroptyx malaccae (8.53%), Pteroptyx valida, Luciola sp. 1 and Luciola sp. 2. The number of males was higher than the females in a ratio of ±7:3 on each sampling occasion. Mann-Whitney analysis [U(n=12)=34, P<0.05] indicated that the abundance of male fireflies during phase 2 was significantly higher, while the abundance of females was not significantly different in both phases [U(n=12)=24, P>0.05]. The abundance of the firefly community was significantly different from the two sampling phases [U(n1=6, n2=6)=34, P<0.05)], with the northeast monsoon season (phase 2) presenting a higher abundance of congregating fireflies. Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that the mean of climate parameters i.e relative humidity (±82.52%; P=0.779; r= -0.091), rainfall (±3.84 mm; P=0.210; r=0.390), and temperature (±27.34℃; P=0.557; r=0.189) were significantly but weakly correlated with the mean of firefly abundance from the whole sampling sessions. Twelve display tree species were recorded, namely, Excoecaria indica, Heriteria littoralis, Cerbera odolam, Hibiscus tiliaceus, Ficus benjamina, Sonneratia alba, Rhizophora apiculata, Nypa fruticans, Hernandia nymphacifolia, Barringtonia racemosa, Acrostichum sp. and Acacia magnum. Heriteria littoralis (n=83) was the highest in frequency used as the display trees, but the firefly abundance was higher on Excoecaria indica (n=32) with 42% of abundance tendencies. The survival of congregating firefly species population is interconnected with the existence of certain species of mangrove trees. Identifying these display trees is important to support the protection of the natural mangrove ecosystem and the conservation of mangrove swamp tree species

Kajian taburan dan kelimpahan kelip-kelip (coleoptera: lampyridae) di Sungai Klias, Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia.

Kajian taburan dan kelimpahan kelip-kelip ( Coleoptera: Lampyridae ) telah dijalankan selama dua tahun ( 2006 & 2007 ) di Sg. Klias, Beaufort, Sabah. Maklumat kajian seumpama ini diperlukan bagi menghasilkan satu data ekologi asas yang kukuh untuk perlindungannya, serta menyediakan maklumat asas bagi memperkukuhkan lagi sector pelancongan di Sg. Klias dan kawasan-kawasan yang terlibat. Persampelan adalah sebanyak 12 sesi, iaitu dua sesi setiap bulan bermula pad a bulan September, Oktober dan November bagi tahun 2006 ( Fasa 1 ) dan Januari, Februari dan Mac bagi tahun 2007 ( Fasa 2 ). Persampelan adalah mengunakan perangkap jaring daripada bot di sepanjang tebing Sg. Klias, pada jarak yang telah ditentukan ( 4090 m ). Dua hari penjaringan dilakukan daripada arah permulaan yang bertentangan bermula pada jam 1900 hingga 2200 malam. Penjaringan dilakukan pad a rimbunan daun yang mempunyai kerlipan berkelimpahan di setiap stesen pokok tumpuan, dalam cerapan masa dua minit. Hasil kajian mendapati, lima spesies kelip-kelip dikenalpasti dengan peratus kelimpahan yang berbeza, iaitu; Pteroptyx tener ( 91.57 % ), Pteroptyx malaccae ( 8.16 % ), Pteroptyx valida ( 0.04 % ), Luciola sp.l ( 0.21 % ) dan Luciola sp.2 ( 0.02 % ). Analisis Man Whitney-U mendapati kelimpahan kelip-kelip di sepanjang sesi adalah berbeza secara signifikan ( U=O.Ol 0.05, r=0.390 ) dan suhu ( P=0.557>0.55, r=0.189 ) tidak menunjukkan hubungan korelasi yang signifikan dan secara amnya kurang mempengaruhi kelimpahan serangga ini. Namun, kelembapan ( P=0.779>0.05, r=0.091 ) memberikan sedikit petanda bahawa terdapatnya korelasi yang signifikan. Ujian analisis Wilcoxon ( T=0.002<0.OS ) mendapati kelimpahan individu jantan biasanya akan melebihi kelimpahan individu betina pada nisbah ±7:3 dalam setiap cerapan di sepanjang kajian. Taburan kelimpahan serangga ini pula tertumpu pada 12 spesies pokok tumpuan iaitu; Excoecaria indica ( 19.95 % ), Heriteria littoralis ( 10.00 % ), Cerbera odolam ( 6.31 % ), Hibiscus tiliaceus ( 5.60 % ), Ficus benjamina ( 2.44 % ), Sonneratia alba ( 1.00 % ), Rhizophora apicu/ata ( 0.52 % ), Nypa fruticans ( 0.39 % ), Hernandia nymphacifolia (0.15 % ), Barringtonia racemosa ( 0.12 % ), Acrostichum sp. dan Acacia magnum. Umumnya, serangga ini lebih tertumpu pada spesies pokok E. indica ( 32 stesen ) sungguhpun ia adalah spesies pokok yang kedua dominan selepas H. littoralis ( 83 stesen ) di sepanjang sungai. Keputusan kajian ini akhirnya mencadangkan faktor-faktor yang menentukan kehadiran dan kelimpahan kelip-kelip di Sg. Klias sebagai ekologi atau lokasi yang dikenali adalah kerana persekitaran habitatnya yang lengkap. Kehadiran sumber makanan ( siput-siput kecil ), aliran air bersih yang sentiasa mengalir dan kombinasi suhu serta kelembapan menguatkan bukti dan memberikan petanda bahawa serangga cenderung kepada habitat yang bersifat demikian. Maka itu, satu usaha perlindungan harus difikirkan oleh pihak-pihak terbabit bagi meneruskan kelangsungan ini. Ini kerana, Sg. Klias kini berhadapan dengan beberapa tanda factor ancaman yang mungkin akan membawa kepada kepupusan spesies kelak, iaitu; kemusnahan habitat, pencemaran cahaya dan pencemaran air. Keadaan ini jika tidak dikawal akan membantutkan perkembangan industri pelancongan alam semulajadi yang berasaskan kelip-kelip di Sg. Klias

Komposisi alga mikro dalam tasik buatan di kampus Unimas, Sarawak, Malaysia

The study ojmicroalgae composition in man-made lake was conducted in UN/MAS campus, at Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. There are three lenthic freshwater lake chosen as the study sites and labeled A, Band C. The size range ojthe microalgae is between 2pm to 200pm. The abundance and distribution ojmicroalgae in the lakes are related to the composition ojwater quality especially nitrate (N03'-) and phosphate (POl). The result shows that members oj Chlorophyta division were abundance in the most ojlakes. There are Jour divisions from the eukaryotic was abundance in the lakes, namely; the genera from Chlorophyta are Pediastrum (5 species), Tetraedron (6 Species), Enchinosphaerella (l Species), Ankistrodesmus (3 Species), Scenedesmus (3 Species) and Chlamydomonas (2 Species). The genera from Euglenophyta are Phacus (4 Species), Lepocine/is (3 Species) and Trachelomonas (l Species). The genera from Pyrrhophyta are Glenodinium (4 Species) and Cystodinium (l Species). The genera from division oj Chrysophyta are Synedra (l Species) and Navicula (l Species). While the genera from the prokaryotic in the divisio