Weedy plants of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve, Selangor

The Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve has possibly been under constant threat from invasive species especially the weeds from surrounding development sites. The total number of weed taxa identified from this forest were 33 species, 29 genera and J3 families. Of these taxa, only two species aquatic weeds vizs., Ceratopteris thalictroides (Parkeriaceae) and Hydrilla venieillata (Hydrocharitaceae). The most dominant terrestrial weedy speeies in this forest were Clidemia hirta (Melastomataceae) and Chromalaena odorata (Compositae). All grasses and sedges !lIJi~si,~s were recorded at the disturbed sampling sites only. Limosa pigra was only found at the most disturbed site bordering the forest

Medicinal Aroids Conservation: A Case Study Of Floral Garden, School Of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

The aroids are monocotyledonous herbaceous plants, which are widely found in tropical countries. This Araceae family has played an important role not only in botanical world but also in economical aspects such as by providing medicinal resources. The medicinal properties, which proved to have a curative effect on certain diseases, indicate that these species have a potential value in medicinal industries

Utilization Of Malaysian Aroids For Medicinal Purposes.

The aroid family or also known as Araceae, is generally a tropical plant, however some of the species are distributed worldwide. This family is grouped into nine subfamilies, 106 genera and 3200 species

Eutrophication of Loch Kilconquhar, with special reference to phosphate

This thesis is mainly based on work done in Loch Kilconquhar, Fife, and also to a lesser extent in Loch Lindores, Fife, from March 1979 to March 1981. It discusses the seasonal productivity of the lakes and also the nutrient concentrations, with special reference to phosphate. The overall productivity of phytoplankton in Loch Kilconquhar is high compared with Loch Lindores. The high plankton densities in Loch Kilconquhar during winter were attributed to Diatom species such as Stephanodiscus. Anabaena flos-aquae formed the massive bloom during May 1980 and reached the maximum value of 461.84 +/- 47.02 mg m-2 chlorophyll a in the middle of the month, which was followed by a second blue-green bloom of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae in late summer. The submerged macrophytes such as Myriophyllum spicatum. Zanichellia palustris and Enteromorpha intestinalis grew well on the west side of the loch after the decline of the Anabaena bloom in July 1980, The value of sedimentary chlorophyll reached a maximum of 13.96 +/- 2.04 mg m in late April 1980. The high concentration of Soluble Reactive Phosphate (range: 0.004 - 0.780 mg/l PO4-P) and Nitrate-nitrogen (range: 0.980 - 2.350 mg/l NO3-N) also indicates that Loch Kilconguhar is a nutrient-rich freshwater loch. It is interesting to note that the soluble phosphate is exceptionally high compared with other freshwater lochs in Scotland. There are several possible reasons for this high concentration. Firstly, drainage from an agricultural area may contain much phosphate. However, the inflow in this case has little soluble phosphate but is high in soluble nitrate. Secondly, decomposition of organisms, notably phytoplankton blooms and macrophytes, may contribute to the high concentration of phosphate; these organisms, however, must in turn obtain their phosphorus from water and sediment. The third possibility, and probably the most important, is the nutrient release from the loch sediment. In a laboratory experiment, it was shown that when the dissolved oxygen dropped below 1 mg/1 and the redox potential E7 fell below 240 mVolt, substantial amounts of nutrients, particularly phosphate, were released into the overlying water. The primary source of nutrient in Loch Kilconquhar is the phosphorus-rich excrements of the large wildfowl population and also gulls on the loch. The results show that one g of fresh duck dropping has a mean content of 4170 +/- 350 mg/kg total phosphate and one g of gull dropping has 5072 +/- 748 mg/kg total phosphate

Resiliency of Singkil Coastal Vegetation due to Natural Catastrophes

Aceh Singkil west coast of Northern Sumatra was affected by natural catastrophes both tsunami and coastal deformation. Apparently most of the inter-tidal vegetation communities suffered because of the inundation intensity and duration changed. Investigation was carried on the structure and composition of littoral and mangrove forests in Singkil coast for 52 and 49 months after the 2004 and 2005 natural catastrophes, respectively. In each vegetation type, data were collected from four sampling plots, each measuring 30 m x 30 m. The sampling plots were separated into 10 m x 10 m sub-plots for matured trees and 5 m x 5 m sub-plots for smaller trees or shrubs. All plants within the subplots were identified and counted. Pure stand of littoral forests were dominated by Casuariana equisetifolia in the mature stage and Cerbera manghas in regeneration stages as natural regeneration. In the mangrove area, most of the mangrove trees such as Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, B. parviflora, and Rhizophora apiculata dead. Sonneratia caseolaris was higher survival rate compared than mangrove trees. B. gymnorrhiza seedlings were growing well. Mangrove palm Nypa fruticans populations were recorded growing well and with a good resiliency and persistence. In fact some of coastal vegetations both in coastal dry lands and in wetland forests have a good capacity to naturally restore and grow after the environmental destruction. From ecological point of view, these plant species should be selected for rehabilitation program in the natural catastrophes both tsunami and coastal subsidence as the impact of large earthquake could be reduced

Effect of Aquathol K on Hydrilla verticillata (L.F.) Royle

A recently synthesized herbicide Aquathol K was tested on the water weed Hydrilla verticil. Results from the laboraoty tests indicated that Aquathol K with concentrations ranging from 1.0 mg/l to 2.0 mg/l can kill this weed. EVidently, 100% injury was achieved within 10 days for the plants treated with the highest concentration., 2. 0 mg/l of Aquathol K. The rate of 100% injury was recorded much slower with 1.0 mg/l. With lower concentration O.Smg/1 and 0.1 mg/l, 100% injury was never achieved within 25 days. Therefore, the herbicide was not very effective at lower concentrations

Growth, Mortality and Recruitment Pattern of Longsnouted Catfish, Arius argyropleuron (Valenciennes, 1840) in Kuala Muda and Merbok, Kedah

A study was conducted to investigate the growth parameters, mortality and recruitment pattern of longsnouted catfish, Arius argyropleuron collected at Kuala Muda and Merbok estuary fish landing site, northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. A. argyropleuron were collected from March 2009 to December 2009. The length-frequency data was analyzed using FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tools (FiSAT) software. Bhattacharya’s plot produced  two groups of A. argyropleuron at modal length 11.13 ± 1.28 cm and 25.10 ± 2.32 cm. Population parameters were estimated by using various models including Powell-Wetherall plot, ELEFAN I , growth performance index, mortality estimation and recruitment pattern. Overall, growth parameters; asymptotic length (L?) = 34.26 cm and growth coefficient (K) = 0.7 year-1. Growth performance index (Ø’) = 2.915, total mortality (Z) = 2.56 year-1, natural mortality (M) = 1.39 year-1, fishing mortality (F) = 1.17 year-1 and exploitation rate (E) = 0.46 year-1. The length at first capture at 50%, (Lc) was 24.56 cm. The observation of the annual recruitment of A. argyropleuron was found to occur in two pulses in January and August. Keywords: Arius argyropleuron, growth, mortality, recruitment patter

Notes on the ecology of Crypcoryne ciliata (Roxb.) School (Araceae)

According to Jacobsen (1987), Cryptocoryne ciliate (Roxb.) Schott, an aquatic member of the Araceae, is widely distributed in mangrove ecosystems in peninsular Malaysia. A study of its distribution within part of Larut Matang mangrove forest reserve, Perak, was carried out in ApriI 1994. The three main rivers in the area, Sungai Larut, Sungai Lang and Sungai Jebong were surveyed by sampan over a distance of 20 km

Differential temporal patterns of insect populations visiting Cryptocoryne ciliate flowers

Cryptocoryne ciliata is an amphibious aroid which is only found in mangrove areas in the Indo-Malayan region. Observation on insects visiting Cryptocoryne ciliata flowers were made during the flowering month of April in 1994 in the ten hectares oil palm plantation, Larut Matang (Perak). Fruit flies (Drosophilidae) and beetles (Nitidulidae) were found inside the kettle of the flower and could be considered as potential pollinators. However not all insects visiting the flowers were pollinators. Hoover flies (Syrphidae) were observed to destroy the flowers and the grasshoppers (Acrididae) apparently consumed the flowers and leaves. During a 24 hour period, a total of 313 insect individuals visited 120 flowers. The major pollinator insects were from the families Drosophilidae and Nitidulidae. They visited the flowers in a temporal clumped pattern with the Green Index values 0.029 and 0.130 respectively