The behaviours and night disturbances of the green turtle in Penang Island, Peninsular Malaysia

This paper focuses on the observation and behaviours of green turtles for one breeding season at Penang Island. Green turtle breeding behaviours and morphological characteristics were studied at Pantai Kerachut and Teluk Kampi, situated at Penang Island, the northern island of Peninsular Malaysia between December 2012 and August 2013. The findings revealed that from the eight green turtles landed; 106 were emergences, 38 were nests, and 158 digging attempts were made over the duration of one breeding season. The total clutch size deposited ranged from 170 to 979 eggs per turtle, and total nests ranged from three to eight nests per turtle. The inter-nesting interval ranged from 9 to 29 days, and the average was 13.5 days. Longer inter-nesting intervals were due to disturbances from feral dogs, wild pigs, sea-coated otters and night activities of fishermen (use of wide torch lights, sounds of boat engines) especially at Teluk Kampi. Lack of full-time personnel to control at Teluk Kampi was found to be a cause to nest poaching. Based on these findings and observation, the study suggests that Kerachut Turtle Conservation Centre should hire sufficient staffs to patrol the two beaches in order to prevent from human poachers and animal disturbances

The foraging tactics of chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera) and Abbott’s Babbler (Malacocincla abbotti) in a Lowland Rainforest, Malaysia

Foraging pattern of Chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera) and Abbott’s Babbler (Malacocincla abbotti) was studied in Lenggong Valley, Perak from July 2010 until July 2011. The study examines the patterns of foraging height, foraging substrates and attack manoeuvres of two babbler species (Family: Timaliidae), to explain how these trophically similar species can coexist in the same habitat; a central question in ecology. Information on the foraging height, foraging substrate and attack manoeuvres was collected independently for each foraging bird. Principal component analysis and Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that these two species used similar proportion of foraging height (>0-2 m above the ground) and foraging substrate (dead leaves), but differed in the use of attack manoeuvres. The Chestnut-winged babbler used primarily stretching manoeuvre, whereas the Abbott’s babbler used primarily gleaning manoeuvre. This niche separation allowed these species to coexist in the same area, thus follows the Gause’ Law of competitive exclusion, that states two species occupying the same niches will not coexist forever

Distribution, abundance, and clutch size of hawksbill turtle nests in Melaka, Malaysia

The nesting of hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) was monitored from 2006 until 2014, while the eggs survival was monitored from 1990 until 2014 at the beaches of Melaka, Peninsular Malaysia. From 2006 until 2014, the yearly nesting ranged from 353 to 568 nests with a mean of 431.6 (n=9). Among the 21 recognized nesting beaches, five of the main beaches that included Padang Kemunting (55-107 nests), Pulau Upeh (36-111 nests), Kem Terendak (31-98 nests), Pasir Gembur (28-59 nests), and Tanjung Serai (14-60 nests) recorded the highest nesting in Melaka. Yearly number of live hatchlings ranged from 27.9% to 81.4% from 1990 until 2014. In 25 years, the overall number of live hatchlings produced was 491,643 hatchlings (53.4%) from 920,996 eggs. Hawksbill turtle eggs ranged from 9 to 212 eggs from the observation in 2013 and 2014, and most of the clutch sizes were deposited in a group of 121-150 eggs (36.2% observations). This study provides basic knowledge on the distribution and number of hawksbill turtle for a period of 25 years in Melaka; besides providing suggestion and recommendations to the conservation of this endangered species

Temperature influence on emergence success and swimming speed for In-situ nesting for Chelonia mydas in Penang Island, Malaysia

The study was performed in Penang Island, Malaysia from October 2013 to March 2015. This is the first study performed by using the In-situ incubation method, and the eggs were incubated naturally at Kerachut. As the In-situ procedure is not advisable to be performed due to risk from eggs poachers and predator disturbance, only nine nests were incubated. Three objectives were formulated; First, to determine the influence of sand temperature on the hatching success and emergence success. Second, to evaluate the effects of sand temperature on hatchlings swimming speed, and third, to observe the pattern of hatchling emergence between day-time and night-time. The result shows that there is significant correlation between hatching success and emergence success on the sand temperature, and also a significant correlation between sand temperature and swimming speed. Furthermore, the study identified that the hatchling emerges during night-time rather than day-time, and the percentage was 94.18%, 80.67, and 78.05%, based on observation from Day 1 until Day 3. The overall mean hatchlings straight carapace length was 40.80 mm±5.08, mean hatchlings straight carapace width was 31.78 mm±4.55, and mean hatchlings weight was 20.5 g±1.22. For future conservation, first, the sample size of In-situ nests is suggested to be increased because the result from the study provides a new knowledge, and widens the scope of the research by including the study on hatchlings locomotors performance (crawling performance and self-righting performance). Second, additional study on the relationship between surroundings water temperatures on the swimming speed performance is also suggested. This paper provides basic knowledge for the first research of In-situ nesting in Penang Island, and the recommendation may benefit the management of the Kerachut Turtle Conservation Centre

Importance of sand particle size and temperature for nesting success of green turtles in Penang Island, Malaysia

The microhabitats of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests were investigated to identify key factors influencing nesting success by monitoring both successful nests (n = 43) and aborted nests (n = 106) created by the same individuals (n = 9) from September 2013 to September 2014 on Penang Island, Malaysia. The effect of sand particle size on nesting success was significant, suggesting that green turtles tend to abort nesting at sites with sands of particle sizes < 1 mm. In addition, nests were successful at superficial sand temperatures less than 32.95°C

Reproductive seasonality and environmental effects in green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Penang Island, Malaysia

For species with environmental sex determination, understanding the relationship between reproduction and environmental factors is important for predicting their reproductive output. Here, we study intra-annual variation in green turtle nesting during the 2010-2016 seasons at Penang Island (5°16′28″-5°28′15″N 100°10′52″-100°11′55″E), Malaysia. The additive modelling on a monthly-basis number of nests shows that fluctuation in the number of nests relates to temperature in addition to month of year, rather than precipitation. The number of nests tended to be higher in response to higher temperature during March-July, whereas the lower temperature during August-February also tended to result in a relatively higher number of nests. Concentration of nests during March-July resulted from a shorter inter-nesting interval during warm temperatures, whereas relatively low temperatures may homogenize the temporal distribution of the number of nests. This study provides fundamental information for green turtle nesting seasonality in response to environmental change

A survey of Acarine ectoparasite of bats (Chirpptera) in Malaysia

A comprehensive 8-yr survey of acarine ectoparasites (ticks and mites) of bats was carried out in 18 localities from 2002 to 2009. Most of the surveys were conducted during 14 national biodiversity scientific expeditions throughout Malaysia. The objective was to identify acarines of known public health importance from bats and thus determine whether there is any potential public health risk in Malaysia. Trapping of bats was conducted using Harp traps and Mist nets. In total, 1,579 individuals comprising of 6 families and 52 species of bats were examined alive. In general, 25.6% of the bats were infested with acarines. Infestation rates of ticks, mesostigmatid mites, and chiggers on bats examined were 0.4, 10.4, and 14.7%, respectively. Their prevalence and mean intensity were tabulated. Genera of ticks extracted were Amblyomma, Dermacentor, Ixodes, and Ornithodoros. Of these genera, only two species can be identified to species level and they are Amblyomma cordiferum and Ixodes simplex. In total, 8 genera and 15 species of mesostigmatid mites were found; the species were Ancystropus eonycteris, Ancystropus zeleborii, Echinonysus nasutus, Laelaps aingworthae, Laelaps nuttalli, Laelaps sanguisugus, Laelaps sculpturatus, Longolaelaps longulus, Longolaelaps whartonii, Meristaspis lateralis, Meristaspis macroglossi, Paraperiglischrus rhinolophinus, Spinturnix acuminatus, Spinturnix americanus, and Spinturnix bakeri. Chiggers on bats were represented by 12 genera and 6 species; the species identified were Gahrliepia fletcheri, Riedlinia lipoxena, Trombigastia cadei, Walchiella impar, Walchiella oudemansi, and Whartonia caobangensis. The study produced an up-to-date list of acarine ectoparasites of bats in Malaysia where a total of 38 genera and 47 species of acarines were listed. Findings of the study demonstrated that 5 genera and 1 species of acarines that may pose potential health risks, can be found on bats

Contribution of rice fields to bird diversity in Peninsular Malaysia

There is a lack of documentation on rice fields as an important habitat that harbour different bird diversity compared to natural habitats in Peninsular Malaysia. This study investigated the contribution of rice fields to bird diversity in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 83 rice fields and 53 natural habitats throughout Peninsular Malaysia were included in this study. Birds were observed and counted using point-count and mist-netting methods. A total of 10,707 bird-sightings, with rice fields, recorded 129 species from 15 orders and 50 families from October 2013 to December 2014; whilst natural forests recorded a total of 438 species from 14 order and 59 families from February 1992 to January 2015. Diversity t-test showed a significant difference in the species richness between the two different habitats (t=11.009, p<0.05). The high values of Δ+and ʌ+ in many areas of rice fields were significantly influenced by the presence of waterbirds, albeit low species richness. This temporary wetland habitat harbours land birds and waterbirds in one place. The data presented here suggest that waterbirds and migratory birds in rice fields contribute significantly to the total bird species found in Peninsular Malaysia