Edaphic influences on tree species composition and community structure in a secondary-lowland dipterocarp forest of Kota Damansara Forest Reserve, Selangor

This research was conducted to determine tree species composition and its relationship with edaphic factors at Kota Damansara Forest Reserve (KDFR), Selangor. Ten study plots of 25 m × 20 m each were established randomly covering a total area of 0.5 ha. In each plot, all trees with diameters at breast height (DBH) of 5 cm and above were tagged and measured whilst topsoil samples at 10 cm depths were taken for their physical and chemical properties. A total of 205 trees from 46 species and 22 families were recorded in KDFR. As for species diversity, the forest showed a Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H’) of 3.43 and an evenness value of 0.89 which portrays the uniformity of tree species distribution in the study site. The soil analysis in this study demonstrated that KDFR was dominated by sandy clay texture with organic matter content ranging from 3.94% to 14.24% and acidic soil pH of 3.86. Redundancy analysis indicated that Cinnamomum iners, Cratoxylum arborescens, Myristica cinnamomea, and Syzygium grandis were closely related to soil chemical properties such as nutrients of Ca, P, K. Data and information from this study are crucial as a guideline for future ecological research in tropical forest areas

Edaphic influences on tree species composition and community structure in a secondary-lowland dipterocarp forest of Kota Damansara Forest Reserve, Selangor

This research was conducted to determine tree species composition and its relationship with edaphic factors at Kota Damansara Forest Reserve (KDFR), Selangor. Ten study plots of 25 m × 20 m each were established randomly covering a total area of 0.5 ha. In each plot, all trees with diameters at breast height (DBH) of 5 cm and above were tagged and measured whilst topsoil samples at 10 cm depths were taken for their physical and chemical properties. A total of 205 trees from 46 species and 22 families were recorded in KDFR. As for species diversity, the forest showed a Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H’) of 3.43 and an evenness value of 0.89 which portrays the uniformity of tree species distribution in the study site. The soil analysis in this study demonstrated that KDFR was dominated by sandy clay texture with organic matter content ranging from 3.94% to 14.24% and acidic soil pH of 3.86. Redundancy analysis indicated that Cinnamomum iners, Cratoxylum arborescens, Myristica cinnamomea, and Syzygium grandis were closely related to soil chemical properties such as nutrients of Ca, P, K. Data and information from this study are crucial as a guideline for future ecological research in tropical forest areas

Psychology Impact of Design-Based Students during Covid-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

COVID-19 Pandemic has created a new-norm society throughout the world. This is also impacting the architectural education conduct of university students. The aim of this study is to assess psychological impact of design-based students during Covid-19 pandemic. The objective of the study is to measure 18 psychological impact factor level of UiTM students' using five points Likert scale during the pandemic. The major findings indicate varies factors hierarchical level of impacts on design-based students and remedial actions should be taken to minimize the impacts

Diversity and distribution of class insecta from selected area of Tuba Island reserve forest

Insects are ubiquitous and inhabit all types of ecosystems that include island ecosystems. A study on the diversity and distribution of Class Insecta was conducted at a selected forest area in Pulau Tuba using malaise traps. No insect study has been conducted at Pulau Tuba before. Three study sites namely forest fringe, middle forest, and inner forest were chosen. A total of 5883 specimens belonging to seven orders and 106 morphospecies of insects were collected. The orders identified were Blattodea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Isoptera, and Lepidoptera. Diptera samples were the most found while Blattodea recorded the lowest number recorded. Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’) showed that the inner forest had the highest diversity value with H’ = 0.53, followed by the forest fringe with H’ = 0.44, and the middle forest with H’ = 0.22. The Evenness Index (E’) and Margalef Richness Index (R’) also showed the highest value comes from the inner forest with E’ = 0.28 and R’ = 0.81 respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there was a significant difference in insect distribution across three study sites where P< 0.05. Overall, this study suggested that the diversity of Class Insecta at Pulau Tuba was low in the three locations confirming the low species richness of insects in the island forest ecosystem

Diversity and distribution of class insecta from selected area of Tuba Island reserve forest

Insects are ubiquitous and inhabit all types of ecosystems that include island ecosystems. A study on the diversity and distribution of Class Insecta was conducted at a selected forest area in Pulau Tuba using malaise traps. No insect study has been conducted at Pulau Tuba before. Three study sites namely forest fringe, middle forest, and inner forest were chosen. A total of 5883 specimens belonging to seven orders and 106 morphospecies of insects were collected. The orders identified were Blattodea, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Isoptera, and Lepidoptera. Diptera samples were the most found while Blattodea recorded the lowest number recorded. Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’) showed that the inner forest had the highest diversity value with H’ = 0.53, followed by the forest fringe with H’ = 0.44, and the middle forest with H’ = 0.22. The Evenness Index (E’) and Margalef Richness Index (R’) also showed the highest value comes from the inner forest with E’ = 0.28 and R’ = 0.81 respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there was a significant difference in insect distribution across three study sites where P< 0.05. Overall, this study suggested that the diversity of Class Insecta at Pulau Tuba was low in the three locations confirming the low species richness of insects in the island forest ecosystem

NOTE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF PTEROSPERMUM PECTENIFORME KOSTERM. (DOMBEYOIDEAE : MALVACEAE S .L.) IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

The rare species Pterospermum pecteniforme previously is only known from two herbarium collections in the late 1960 and early 1970 in Perlis and Kedah (Langkawi Islands; Pulau Timun), respectively. In this paper, we have added two additional localities from two islands of Langkawi Archipelago namely, Pulau Dayang Bunting and Pulau Singa Besar. This species is locally quite common on both islands. All fertile collections of this species are only from the fruits while the flower is still unknown

Effects of agricultural grade nutrient modulation on the biomass production and carbon fixation rate of Isochrysis sp. microalgae

This study looked at what happens when the nutrients in agricultural grade (AG) medium are changed and how that changes the biomass production and CO2 fixation ability of Isochrysis sp. It aims to address the challenges in establishing biofuel stocks due to the microalgae issue. A medium optimization system (AMOS) was first used to determine the optimum level of nitrogen, phosphorus, and micronutrients in AG medium using Factorial and Box Behnken Experimental Design, which resulted in improvements to N, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Z with 15 mM, 10 mM, 0.5 mM, 0.8 mM, 0.3 mM, and 0.15 mM, respectively. Subsequently, the improved medium was tested in a 1L culture volume, resulting in a 2.37 gL-1 biomass extracted from cultivation in the improved AG medium compared to cultivation in the traditional F/2 medium (1.63 gL-1). Cultures with higher Ca and Fe tested in an interim study yielded 9% and 7% enhanced biomass production compared to AG medium. The new optimized medium, which is known as TNBR-optimized medium (OM), was tested at the live coal-fired power plant in a 250 L air-lift bubbling column-type photobioreactor supplied with simulated and actual flue gas. The TNBR-optimized medium has demonstrated better algae growth, especially on actual flue gas, which has increased the concentration of CO2. The improved CO2 fixation rate was 0.72 gCO2.L-1 day-1, respectively, against those obtained from the previous report – 0.52 gCO2 L-1 day-1. An improved medium has been formulated to cultivate Isochrysis sp., and the current work can be further utilized for larger-scale cultivations

Effects of agricultural grade nutrient modulation on the biomass production and carbon fixation rate of Isochrysis sp. microalgae

This study looked at what happens when the nutrients in agricultural grade (AG) medium are changed and how that changes the biomass production and CO2 fixation ability of Isochrysis sp. It aims to address the challenges in establishing biofuel stocks due to the microalgae issue. A medium optimization system (AMOS) was first used to determine the optimum level of nitrogen, phosphorus, and micronutrients in AG medium using Factorial and Box Behnken Experimental Design, which resulted in improvements to N, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Z with 15 mM, 10 mM, 0.5 mM, 0.8 mM, 0.3 mM, and 0.15 mM, respectively. Subsequently, the improved medium was tested in a 1L culture volume, resulting in a 2.37 gL-1 biomass extracted from cultivation in the improved AG medium compared to cultivation in the traditional F/2 medium (1.63 gL-1). Cultures with higher Ca and Fe tested in an interim study yielded 9% and 7% enhanced biomass production compared to AG medium. The new optimized medium, which is known as TNBR-optimized medium (OM), was tested at the live coal-fired power plant in a 250 L air-lift bubbling column-type photobioreactor supplied with simulated and actual flue gas. The TNBR-optimized medium has demonstrated better algae growth, especially on actual flue gas, which has increased the concentration of CO2. The improved CO2 fixation rate was 0.72 gCO2.L-1 day-1, respectively, against those obtained from the previous report – 0.52 gCO2 L-1 day-1. An improved medium has been formulated to cultivate Isochrysis sp., and the current work can be further utilized for larger-scale cultivations

Crayfish Research: A Global Scientometric Analysis Using CiteSpace

A scientometric analysis was conducted to investigate the trends and development of crayfish research in terms of literature published, author, affiliation, and countries’ collaborative networks, as well as the co-citation dataset (e.g., author, article, and keywords). The study analyzed 12,039 bibliographic datasets from the Web of Science, using CiteSpace as a tool for the co-citation analysis. The study revealed extraordinary increases in publication trends, with a total of 21,329 authors involved in approximately 80% of countries around the world (163/195) having conducted crayfish research. Unsurprisingly, countries such as the USA and China, followed by European countries, were among the top countries that have published crayfish-related studies. The findings also indicated that “invasive crayfish” was the world’s top keyword for crayfish research. Crayfish species are important for both environmental sustainability (invasiveness and species composition) and social wellbeing (aquaculture), which provides directions for research, philanthropic, academic, government, and non-government organizations regarding how to invest limited resources into policies, programs, and research towards the future management of this species. Our study concluded that strategic collaboration among authors, institutions, and countries would be vital to tackle the issue of invasive crayfish species around the world