A Bird Survey of Gunung Lumut Protection Forest, East Kalimantan and a Recommendation for its Designation as an Important Bird Area - Part 1

We report on a bird survey in and near Gunung Lumut Protection Forest in East Kalimantan, and evaluate our results against the BirdLife International criteria for recognition as an Important Bird Area. Five globally threatened species (Storm 's Stork Ciconia stormi, Bomean Peacock-pheasant Polyplectron schleiermacheri, Large Green Pigeon Treron capellei, Short-toed Coucal Centropus rectunguis and Blue-headed Pitta Pitta baudii) were encountered, as well as 91 species endemic to the Sundaic Lowland Forest biome, and up to 1% of the biogeographic population of the congregatory Storm's Stork. Based on these observations, we recommend Gunung Lumut Protection Forest to be included in Birdlife International 's Important Bird Area network

Are Small GTPases Signal Hubs in Sugar-Mediated Induction of Fructan Biosynthesis?

External sugar initiates biosynthesis of the reserve carbohydrate fructan, but the molecular processes mediating this response remain obscure. Previously it was shown that a phosphatase and a general kinase inhibitor hamper fructan accumulation. We use various phosphorylation inhibitors both in barley and in Arabidopsis and show that the expression of fructan biosynthetic genes is dependent on PP2A and different kinases such as Tyr-kinases and PI3-kinases. To further characterize the phosphorylation events involved, comprehensive analysis of kinase activities in the cell was performed using a PepChip, an array of >1000 kinase consensus substrate peptide substrates spotted on a chip. Comparison of kinase activities in sugar-stimulated and mock(sorbitol)-treated Arabidopsis demonstrates the altered phosphorylation of many consensus substrates and documents the differences in plant kinase activity upon sucrose feeding. The different phosphorylation profiles obtained are consistent with sugar-mediated alterations in Tyr phosphorylation, cell cycling, and phosphoinositide signaling, and indicate cytoskeletal rearrangements. The results lead us to infer a central role for small GTPases in sugar signaling

An update on the avifauna of Gunung Lumut Protection Forest (East Kalimantan) and reflections on the potential conservation value of hutan adat

We present results of a second survey of the hutan adat (forest traditionally exploited on a small scale by local people) situated in the Gunung Lumut Protection Forest, East Kalimantan, conducted in 2007 and closely following the first survey in 2005 (Wielstra & Pieterse 2009. Kukila 14: 1-15). An additional 29 species were observed. These comprise two globally threatened (Vulnerable) species, 16 “Sundaic Lowland Forest” biome-restricted species, one “Sundaic montane forest” biome-restricted species and a congregatory waterbird species of which 1% of its biogeographic population is present. The findings substantiate our previous suggestion to recognize Gunung Lumut Protection Forest as an Important Bird Area. We also provide some remarks on the potential conservation value of hutan adat and raise issues to be addressed in further studies

The use of avian feeding guilds to detect small-scale forest disturbance: a case study in East Kalimantan, Borneo

Volume: 27Start Page: 55End Page: 6

TransCom model simulations of hourly atmospheric CO2: analysis of synoptic scale variations for the period 2002-2003

The ability to reliably estimate CO2 fluxes from current in situ atmospheric CO2 measurements and future satellite CO2 measurements is dependent on transport model performance at synoptic and shorter timescales. The TransCom continuous experiment was designed to evaluate the performance of forward transport model simulations at hourly, daily, and synoptic timescales, and we focus on the latter two in this paper. Twenty-five transport models or model variants submitted hourly time series of nine predetermined tracers (seven for CO2) at 280 locations. We extracted synoptic-scale variability from daily averaged CO2 time series using a digital filter and analyzed the results by comparing them to atmospheric measurements at 35 locations. The correlations between modeled and observed synoptic CO2 variabilities were almost always largest with zero time lag and statistically significant for most models and most locations. Generally, the model results using diurnally varying land fluxes were closer to the observations compared to those obtained using monthly mean or daily average fluxes, and winter was often better simulated than summer. Model results at higher spatial resolution compared better with observations, mostly because these models were able to sample closer to the measurement site location. The amplitude and correlation of model-data variability is strongly model and season dependent. Overall similarity in modeled synoptic CO2 variability suggests that the first-order transport mechanisms are fairly well parameterized in the models, and no clear distinction was found between the meteorological analyses in capturing the synoptic-scale dynamics

Targeted Conservation to Safeguard a Biodiversity Hotspot from Climate and Land-Cover Change

Responses of biodiversity to changes in both land cover and climate are recognized [1] but still poorly understood [2]. This poses significant challenges for spatial planning as species could shift, contract, expand, or maintain their range inside or outside protected areas [2, 3 and 4]. We examine this problem in Borneo, a global biodiversity hotspot [5], using spatial prioritization analyses that maximize species conservation under multiple environmental-change forecasts. Climate projections indicate that 11%–36% of Bornean mammal species will lose ?30% of their habitat by 2080, and suitable ecological conditions will shift upslope for 23%–46%. Deforestation exacerbates this process, increasing the proportion of species facing comparable habitat loss to 30%–49%, a 2-fold increase on historical trends. Accommodating these distributional changes will require conserving land outside existing protected areas, but this may be less than anticipated from models incorporating deforestation alone because some species will colonize high-elevation reserves. Our results demonstrate the increasing importance of upland reserves and that relatively small additions (16,000–28,000 km2) to the current conservation estate could provide substantial benefits to biodiversity facing changes to land cover and climate. On Borneo, much of this land is under forestry jurisdiction, warranting targeted conservation partnerships to safeguard biodiversity in an era of global change