Dietary habits of free-ranging banded langur (Presbytis femoralis) in a secondary-human modified forest in Johor, Malaysia

ABSTRACTBanded langurs, Presbytis femoralis, are distributed in southern Peninsular Malaysia, i.e., Johor and its borders including Singapore. It has been estimated that there are only < 250 mature individuals of P. femoralis in Malaysia and Singapore, and it is currently assessed as Critically Endangered. The dietary information of P. femoralis and even other closely related species has rarely been reported. This study, therefore, aimed to describe their dietary habits and discuss interaction between their feeding behaviour and its surrounding. This study was conducted from February to November 2018, with 15 sampling days each month. We collected a total of 186 sighting hours, using a scan sampling method with 10-min intervals, on a five-langur focal group. We have identified 29 species with 47 items consumed by the banded langur, mostly young leaves (51 %) followed by fruits (45 %), and flowers (3.8 %). The study group spent slightly more time consuming non-cultivated plants but relied on cultivated plants for the fruits. Over 75% of fruit feeding involved consuming cultivar plants; in most cases (73%), they ate only the pule, not the seeds. Since the cultivated plants was planted in human settlement, there is an urgent need to implement conservation measures to untangle the human-langur conflicts for instance, reforestation of a buffer region using non-cultivated plants. There is a potential for building upon our new findings with more detailed investigations, such as more extensive ecological factors influencing the dietary adaptation which would be necessary to support conservation efforts and management decisions of this species.

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A New Orchid Species of Dendrobium Sect. Calcarifera from Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia (Orchidaceae: Dendrobiinae)

Phytotaxa ◽

10.11646/phytotaxa.383.2.7 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 383 (2) ◽

pp. 213

Author(s):

EDWARD ENTALAI BESI ◽

DOME NIKONG ◽

MUSKHAZLI MUSTAFA ◽

RUSEA GO

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Related Species ◽

Montane Forest ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

Closely Related Species ◽

Orchid Species ◽

Summit Region ◽

A New Species

Dendrobium mizanii, a new species to science belonging to Dendrobium Sect. Calcarifera was discovered in a summit region of a disturbed montane forest in Setiu, Terengganu, and named after His Majesty Sultan of Terengganu, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. A description, illustration, field and comparison with the closely related species D. crocatum from Peninsular Malaysia and D. doloissumbinii from Borneo are provided here.

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Life on the Edge: Geminiviruses at the Interface Between Crops and Wild Plant Hosts

Annual Review of Virology ◽

10.1146/annurev-virology-092818-015536 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 411-433 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Fernando García-Arenal ◽

Francisco Murilo Zerbini

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Plant Viruses ◽

Crop Plants ◽

Wild Plants ◽

Wild Plant ◽

Cultivated Plants ◽

Emerging Pathogens ◽

Epidemiological Features ◽

Virus Emergence

Viruses constitute the largest group of emerging pathogens, and geminiviruses (plant viruses with circular, single-stranded DNA genomes) are the major group of emerging plant viruses. With their high potential for genetic variation due to mutation and recombination, their efficient spread by vectors, and their wide host range as a group, including both wild and cultivated hosts, geminiviruses are attractive models for the study of the evolutionary and ecological factors driving virus emergence. Studies on the epidemiological features of geminivirus diseases have traditionally focused primarily on crop plants. Nevertheless, knowledge of geminivirus infection in wild plants, and especially at the interface between wild and cultivated plants, is necessary to provide a complete view of their ecology, evolution, and emergence. In this review, we address the most relevant aspects of geminivirus variability and evolution in wild and crop plants and geminiviruses’ potential to emerge in crops.

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Birth season glucocorticoids are related to the presence of infants in sifaka ( Propithecus verreauxi )

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2008.1912 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 276 (1663) ◽

pp. 1855-1863 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Diane K. Brockman ◽

Amy K. Cobden ◽

Patricia L. Whitten

Keyword(s):

Stress Responses ◽

Physiological Stress ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Adult Males ◽

Birth Season ◽

Propithecus Verreauxi ◽

Group Stability ◽

Dispersal Events ◽

Free Ranging ◽

Plural Breeding

The responses of plural breeding mammals to environmental stressors are little understood in free-ranging populations, but recent studies of singular breeders suggest that ecological factors and social milieu influence the variable physiological stress responses observed among individuals. Our previous studies examining faecal glucocorticoid (fGC)–behaviour interactions in plural breeding male sifaka ( Propithecus verreauxi ) show that fGC elevations coincide with specific dispersal events, particularly the eviction of subordinates by resident alpha males. This study examined the utility of fGC assays for assessing the stress responses of male sifaka to demographic changes in the population during the birth season. Analyses were based on 889 faecal samples collected over five birth seasons from 124 adult males residing in 55 different groups at Beza Mahafaly, Madagascar. Results show that fGC levels in males are unrelated to age, residence, group stability or rank, but are significantly and positively correlated with the presence of infants, annual elevations in weekly mean fGC concentrations in males paralleling increasing numbers of infants born annually in the population. These data are the first to show that in seasonal plural breeding species such as sifaka, elevated fGC in males reflects specific events related to reproduction rather than states or social context during the birth season.

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Tumors in Cetaceans: Analysis and New Findings

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f87-152 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 44 (7) ◽

pp. 1289-1300 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

J. R. Geraci ◽

N. C. Palmer ◽

D. J. St. Aubin

Keyword(s):

Gastrointestinal Tract ◽

Bronchogenic Carcinoma ◽

Reproductive Tract ◽

Sampling Bias ◽

Female Reproductive Tract ◽

Sufficient Detail ◽

Organ Systems ◽

New Findings ◽

Free Ranging ◽

Do So

We describe 14 tumors, including 5 leiomyomas, 6 papillomas, 2 adrenal adenomas, and a bronchogenic carcinoma collected from over 1800 free-ranging and captive cetaceans examined since 1973. These bring to 41 the number of confirmable tumors reported from cetaceans. Of the 52 cases previously reported, 23 were described in sufficient detail to confirm the diagnoses, 15 were considered probable, and 4 were reclassified. Organ systems most commonly affected were the gastrointestinal tract (31%), skin (24%), and female reproductive tract (21%). Sampling bias may account for this apparent trend. Etioiogic agents have rarely been identified, and attempts to do so are hampered by inadequate sample sizes.

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Convergent evolution of karst habitat preference and its ecomorphological correlation in three species of Bent-toed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus) from Peninsular Malaysia

Vertebrate Zoology ◽

10.3897/vz.71.e66871 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 71 ◽

pp. 367-386

Author(s):

Amanda Kaatz ◽

Jesse L. Grismer ◽

L. Lee Grismer

Keyword(s):

Habitat Preference ◽

Phylogenetic Signal ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

Head Width ◽

Closely Related Species ◽

Morphometric Characters ◽

Group A ◽

Associated Species ◽

Univariate Analyses

Abstract By studying ecomorophology in the context of phylogeny, researchers can parse out similarity due to common ancestry versus that due to convergence. This is especially true among relatively closely related species where both phylogenetic and environmental constraints may be operating simultaneously. We explored these issues among three karst-associated species from two lineages of Cyrtodactylus—the sworderi group from Peninsular Malaysia and the swamp clade from Peninsular Malaysia and western Indonesia of the agamensis group. A stochastic character mapping analysis using five different habitat preferences corroborated a larger previous analysis in recovering a general habitat preference as an ancestral condition for all habitat preferences and a karst habitat preference in C. guakanthanensis and C. gunungsenyumensis of the sworderi group and C. metropolis of the swamp clade as convergently evolved. Multivariate and univariate analyses of 10 morphometric characters revealed that the ecomorphological similarity between C. guakanthanensis and C. gunungsenyumensis of the sworderi group was also convergent. The ecomorphology of C. metropolis of the swamp clade was intermediate between a karst-adapted ecomorphology and a swamp-generalists ecomorphology. Of the 10 morphometric characters employed in this analysis, only three—head length, head width, and forelimb width—showed any signs of phylogenetic signal. Cyrtodactylus metropolis is hypothesized to be a recently refuged swamp-dwelling species that frequented the Batu Caves environments prior to urbanization of the surrounding swamp habitat to which it is now confined.

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Red and Fallow Deer Determine the Density of Ixodes Ricinus Nymphs Containing Anaplasma Phagocytophilum

10.21203/rs.3.rs-96286/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Katsuhisa Takumi ◽

Tim Hofmeester ◽

Hein Sprong

Keyword(s):

Ixodes Ricinus ◽

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Anaplasma Phagocytophilum ◽

Roe Deer ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Principal Component ◽

Fallow Deer ◽

Forest Sites ◽

Free Ranging ◽

Larval Burden

Abstract Background: The density of Ixodes ricinus nymphs infected with Anaplasma phagocytophilum is one of the parameters that determines the risk for humans and domesticated animals to contract anaplasmosis. For this, I. ricinus larvae need to take a blood meal from free-ranging ungulates, which are competent hosts for A. phagocytophilum.Methods: Here, we compared the contribution of four free-ranging ungulate species, red deer (Cervus elaphus), fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and wild boar (Sus scrofa) to A. phagocytophilum infections in nymphs. We used a combination of camera and live trapping to quantify the relative availability of vertebrate hosts to questing ticks in nineteen Dutch forest sites. Additionally, we collected questing I. ricinus nymphs and tested these for the presence of A. phagocytophilum. Furthermore, we explored two potential mechanisms that could explain differences between species: 1) differences in larval burden, which we based on data from published studies, and 2) differences in associations with other, non-competent hosts.Results: Principal component analysis indicated that the density of A. phagocytophilum infected nymphs (DIN) was higher in forest sites with high availability of red and fallow deer, and to a lesser degree roe deer. Initial results suggest that these differences are not a result of differences in larval burden, but rather differences in associations with other species or other ecological factors.Conclusions: These results indicate that the risk for contracting anaplasmosis in the Netherlands is likely highest in the few areas where red and fallow deer are present. Future studies are needed to explore the mechanisms behind this association.

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Modelling In-situ Factors Affecting Bud’s Growth of Rafflesia kerrii Meijer in Lojing Highlands, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia

Pertanika Journal of Science and Technology ◽

10.47836/pjst.29.2.30 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Abdul Hamid Mar Iman ◽

Nor Hizami Hassin ◽

Muhamad Azahar Abas ◽

Zulhazman Hamzah

Keyword(s):

Data Collection ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Geographic Area ◽

Ordinary Least Squares ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

In Situ Observation ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Consistent Error

Studies on the statistical approach to analyzing growth factors of bud’s growth in the genus Rafflesia have been lacking. This study quantified the effects of eight selected ecological factors hypothesized to be influencing bud’s growth (diameter and circumference) of Rafflesia kerrii Meijer. A non-experimental cross-sectional data collection was conducted between April and August 2018 by in-situ observation and measurements on eight ecological factors utilizing thirty-four sampled individual plants in Lojing Highlands, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Heteroscedasticity-Consistent- Error (HCE) OLS regression models were employed to establish the statistical relationship between bud’s growth and its influencing factors. Host plant’s ecological ability, level of temperature, light shading, soil acidity, and interaction between plant survival condition and growth stage were found to be the significant and influential ecological factors to bud’s growth of Rafflesia kerrii. The results also showed that, model wise, HCE OLS models outperformed the OLS models in explaining the cause-and-effect relationship under study. Due to some limitations in sampling and data collection, further studies were recommended to corroborate this study using a larger sample covering a larger geographic area – possibly across different localities.

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Population dynamics and ranging behaviors of provisioned silvered langur (Trachypithecus cristatus) in Peninsular Malaysia

10.1101/2020.12.16.423156 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Norlinda Mohd-Daut ◽

Ikki Matsuda ◽

Badrul Munir Md-Zain

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Food Supply ◽

Significant Positive Correlation ◽

Educational Programs ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

Range Size ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Management Policies ◽

Free Ranging ◽

Trachypithecus Cristatus

AbstractTourists are attracted to the Bukit Melawati Kuala Selangor (BMKS) of Peninsular Malaysia, a small hill park, both for its status as a historical site and the free-ranging silvered langurs (Trachypithecus cristatus) that come for provisioning. We assessed the population trends and group sizes ofT. cristatusover 10 years in the BMKS and examined their ranging patterns. Comparisons of observed populations between 2005 (190 individuals) and 2017 (193 individuals) revealed the stable demography and group sizes of the sixT. cristatusgroups in the BMKS. Based on a total of 185 location points of the six groups in 2017, their mean ranging area was 3.6 ha with a range of 0.86 to 6.93 ha with extensive spatial overlap. We also found a significant positive correlation between the six groups’ ranges and group sizes in 2017. Additionally, qualitative ecological comparisons with a previous study onT. cristatusin 1965 (before provisioning) suggest that the artificial food supply in the study area could modify the socioecology of theT. cristatus. The modifications might alter their range size and territoriality in the BMKS. Overall, we found that provisioning had negative effects on the ecology ofT. cristatusin the BMKS. Therefore, modifying management policies, such as banning feeding and implementing educational programs, may contribute to their proper conservation.

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Influence of the number of calves and lactating adult females in a herd on the adrenocortical activity of free-ranging Asian elephants

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr18163 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (8) ◽

pp. 679 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel ◽

Polani B. Seshagiri ◽

Raman Sukumar

Keyword(s):

National Parks ◽

Body Condition ◽

Adult Female ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Herd Size ◽

Asian Elephants ◽

Adrenocortical Activity ◽

Adult Females ◽

Stress Levels ◽

Free Ranging

Abstract ContextPhysiological stress has the potential to influence animal population persistence. The endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is involved in intense conflict with humans in many parts of its range, which likely leads to stress for individuals and groups, with consequences for population survival. Thus, it is important to understand how the elephants’ stress levels are influenced by socio-ecological factors when not directly exposed to human-induced threats, and to use this understanding to improve conservation and management strategies. AimsThe present study was designed to provide baseline information on the link between socio-ecological factors and stress levels of undisturbed populations of elephants. The main aim was to determine the influence of a number of factors – herd size, season, number of calves and adult females present in a herd and their lactational status and body condition – on the adrenocortical activity of free-ranging adult female Asian elephants living in protected forests (without any direct exposure to human-induced threats), by measuring their faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) levels. MethodsA total of 145 fresh faecal samples were collected from 123 identified adult female elephants inhabiting Bandipur and Nagarahole National Parks of southern India, between the years 2013 and 2015. fGCM levels were measured by employing a group-specific standardised 11-oxoetiocholanolone enzyme immunoassay (EIA). A generalised linear mixed-effects model (GLMM) was used to assess the influence of socio-ecological factors on fGCM levels of adult female elephants. Key resultsWhen fGCM levels were analysed with a GLMM, the following patterns were observed: fGCM levels were negatively correlated with the number of adult females (herd size) and positively correlated with the number of calves in a herd and active lactational status of an adult female. fGCM levels of adult female elephants were higher during the dry season (February to May) than wet season (August to December) and negatively correlated with body condition scores. ConclusionsAdrenocortical activity of female elephants is significantly influenced by the number of calves and adult females present in the herd, seasonality and lactational status. ImplicationsIt is important to consider the influence of multiple ecological and social correlates when assessing and interpreting the adrenocortical activity of Asian elephants. Our findings highlight the importance of maintaining the social structure of elephants in the wild to avoid detrimental effects on their physiological health. Insights from such assessments could be used to evaluate the stress in elephants that are involved in direct conflicts with humans to take appropriate management decisions for mitigating conflicts.

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A contribution to the Heptageniidae (Insecta, Ephemeroptera) of Thailand and Malaysia

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2610.1.1 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2610 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

DIETRICH BRAASCH ◽

BOONSATIEN BOONSOONG

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Peninsular Malaysia ◽

The North ◽

New Findings ◽

Rivers And Streams ◽

First Time

A brief survey of Heptageniidae (Ephemeroptera) from Thailand and Malaysia is presented. New for science are Afronurus namnaoensis sp. nov., Compsoneuria langensis sp. nov., Epeorus inthanonensis sp. nov., Epeorus (Belovius) khayengensis sp. nov. and Epeorus nguyenbaeorum sp. nov., from Thailand and Compsoneuria perakensis sp. nov. from Malaysia; the new species originate from rivers and streams in the north of Thailand and from some streams in peninsular Malaysia. For the first time, the male of Asionurus primus Braasch & Soldán, 1986 is described and a larva of supposed Iron longitibius Nguyen & Bae, 2004 is illustrated from Thailand. Compsoneuria (Siamoneuria) kovaci Braasch, 2006 was originally not adequately placed in Compsoneuria Eaton, 1881. Its true affiliation remains unclear. Supposed Epeorus hieroglyphicus Braasch & Soldán, 1984, redescribed by Nguyen and Bae (2004), is renamed to Epeorus nguyenbaeorum sp. nov. Two new findings of Heptageniidae are reported from Thailand: Epeorus bifurcatus Braasch & Soldán, 1979 and Iron martinus Braasch & Soldán, 1984. Rhithrogeniella ornata Ulmer, 1939 is recorded from Malaysia for the first time.

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