Anticipated climate and land-cover changes reveal refuge areas for Borneo's orang-utans

Habitat loss and climate change pose a double jeopardy for many threatened taxa, making the identification of optimal habitat for the future a conservation priority. Using a case study of the endangered Bornean orang-utan, we identify environmental refuges by integrating bioclimatic models with projected deforestation and oil-palm agriculture suitability from the 1950s to 2080s. We coupled a maximum entropy algorithm with information on habitat needs to predict suitable habitat for the present day and 1950s. We then projected to the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s in models incorporating only land-cover change, climate change or both processes combined. For future climate, we incorporated projections from four model and emission scenario combinations. For future land cover, we developed spatial deforestation predictions from 10 years of satellite data. Refuges were delineated as suitable forested habitats identified by all models that were also unsuitable for oil palm – a major threat to tropical biodiversity. Our analyses indicate that in 2010 up to 260 000 km2 of Borneo was suitable habitat within the core orang-utan range; an 18–24% reduction since the 1950s. Land-cover models predicted further decline of 15–30% by the 2080s. Although habitat extent under future climate conditions varied among projections, there was majority consensus, particularly in northeastern and western regions. Across projections habitat loss due to climate change alone averaged 63% by 2080, but 74% when also considering land-cover change. Refuge areas amounted to 2000–42 000 km2 depending on thresholds used, with 900–17 000 km2 outside the current species range. We demonstrate that efforts to halt deforestation could mediate some orang-utan habitat loss, but further decline of the most suitable areas is to be expected given projected changes to climate. Protected refuge areas could therefore become increasingly important for ongoing translocation efforts. We present an approach to help identify such areas for highly threatened species given environmental changes expected this century

PEMBAKARAN HUTAN UNDANG KEPUPUSAN ORANG UTAN

PULAU PINANG, 15 Disember 2015 - Pencemaran udara yang menyebabkan fenomena jerebu yang terhasil akibat pembakaran hutan di Kepulauan Sumatera, Indonesia dan Borneo telah membawa ancaman kesihatan kepada negara di sekitarnya termasuklah Malaysia. Dalam kekecohan manusia menegakkan hak mereka untuk memiliki ruang udara yang bersih dan bagi memastikan kesihatan manusia terjaga, nasib menimpa hidupan liar khususnya orang utan seperti dilupakan

Estimasi Populasi Orang Utan dan Model Perlindungannya di Kompleks Hutan Muara Lesan Berau, Kalimantan Timur

Orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus) adalah satwa langka yang dilindungi dengan penyebaran yang sangat terbatas di Sumatera dan Kalimantan. Dengan terbatasnya habitat dan populasi orang utan yang termasuk dalam kawasan konservasi, terjadinya degradasi hutan yang berdampak penting bagi habitat dan populasi, maka kawasan hutan di luar kawasan konservasi menjadi penting untuk pelestarian orang utan. Dalam hal ini hutan produksi telah diketahui sebagai ekosistem esensial untuk tujuan pelestarian. Populasi orang utan yang diteliti di kawasan Muara Lesan eks HPH PT Alas Helau seluas 12.228 ha dilakukan dengan metode penghitungan sarang. Penghitungan sarang dilakukan dalam jalur yang dibuat pada transek 500-1000 m. Dengan panjang total jalur 28 km, areal survei setara dengan 5,7% luas kawasan. Kerapatan populasi orang utan di Muara Lesan berkisar antara 1,92-7,13 individu/km² (rata-rata 3,69 individu) dengan jumlah total populasi 365-450 individu. Estimasi populasi dengan metode penghitungan sarang ini dipengaruhi oleh umur sarang yang mencapai 285 hari, potensi pohon pakan, perilaku pergerakan, termasuk migrasi serta kondisi habitat. Berdasarkan jumlah total populasi, orang utan di kawasan ini tergolong dalam populasi kritis. Perlindungan habitat dan populasi orang utan di kawasan HPH di Kalimantan, dalam pengelolaannya harus menetapkan wilayah konservasi yang cukup atau mengusulkan ekosistem esensial bagi habitat dan populasi orang utan di areal eks HPH yang tidak dikelola menjadi kawasan konservasi

JANGAN SAMPAI ORANG UTAN HANYA BOLEH DILIHAT DALAM BUKU-PAKAR

PULAU PINANG, 15 Dis. 2015 - "Jangan biarkan kita dipersalahkan oleh generasi masa hadapan jika sekiranya orang utan hanya boleh dilihat dari buku dan rakaman visual semata-mata." Demikian tegas Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Yayasan Penyelamatan Orang Utan Borneo, Dr. Ir. Jamartin Sihite ketika mengulas sentimen masyarakat khususnya di Asia yang disifatkan kurang menghargai keistimewaan orang utan yang hanya wujud di dua negara, Malaysia dan Indonesia

The origin of human chromosome 2 analyzed by comparative chromosome mapping with a DNA microlibrary

Fluorescencein situ hybridization (FISH) of microlibraries established from distinct chromosome subregions can test the evolutionary conservation of chromosome bands as well as chromosomal rearrangements that occurred during primate evolution and will help to clarify phylogenetic relationships. We used a DNA library established by microdissection and microcloning from the entire long arm of human chromosome 2 for fluorescencein situ hybridization and comparative mapping of the chromosomes of human, great apes (Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus) and Old World monkeys (Macaca fuscata andCercopithecus aethiops). Inversions were found in the pericentric region of the primate chromosome 2p homologs in great apes, and the hybridization pattern demonstrates the known phylogenetically derived telomere fusion in the line that leads to human chromosome 2. The hybridization of the 2q microlibrary to chromosomes of Old World monkeys gave a different pattern from that in the gorilla and the orang-utan, but a pattern similar to that of chimpanzees. This suggests convergence of chromosomal rearrangements in different phylogenetic lines

Attempts to detect retrotransposition and de novo deletion of Alus and other dispersed repeats at specific loci in the human genome

Dispersed repeat elements contribute to genome instability by de novo insertion and unequal recombination between repeats. To study the dynamics of these processes, we have developed single DNA molecule approaches to detect de novo insertions at a single locus and Alu-mediated deletions at two different loci in human genomic DNA. Validation experiments showed these approaches could detect insertions and deletions at frequencies below 10(-6) per cell. However, bulk analysis of germline (sperm) and somatic DNA showed no evidence for genuine mutant molecules, placing an upper limit of insertion and deletion rates of 2 x 10(-7) and 3 x 10(-7), respectively, in the individuals tested. Such re-arrangements at these loci therefore occur at a rate lower than that detectable by the most sensitive methods currently available