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Current research in Borneo
Current Research in Borneo
Plates Uplifting
When did one ocean plate move under another ocean plate and cause it to rise upwards forming a landmass? Scientists have dated the movement of the Sarawak plate under the Rajang plate to 60-36 million years ago. https://doi.org/10.1130/B35895.1
Barbed Wire Law School in POW Camps in Kuching
For students of prisoner of war camps in Kuching, this articles describes the ongoing education in law under the noses of the Japanese. https://lsj.com.au/articles/the-barbed-wire-law-school/
Freshwater Turtles
Freshwater turtles in Borneo are endangered because of over-harvesting for food and the pet trade mainly in China. However, very is little known about their life cycle in the wild. Borneo has twelve land-based turtle species with half being considered endangered. “They detected many large adults and recent juveniles indicative of a healthy, breeding population in the Deramakot Forest Reserve (despite the prevalence of reduced-impact logging).” The turtles travelled short local distances which made them vulnerable to the food and pet trade. SALAMANDRA 57(2): 251–262
Jumping Spiders
Jumping Spiders are still in the news. For those involved with their preservation, six new species of Jumping Spiders have been found in Sarawak. A new genus and species of hisponine(a family of jumping spiders) from Sarawak, Jerzego corticicola Maddison sp. nov. are described, representing one of the few hisponine jumping spiders known from Asia, and the only whose male is known. https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/researchdata/items/1.0397644
Reforestation
A study on the planting of seedlings in an attempt to reforest parts of Sarawak has been explored. The seedlings, Shorea macrophylla were grown and replanted at intervals of 3,6,9 and 24 month age of seedlings. However, the survival rates of those planted declined from 62% to 44% if they were planted after the 12, 24 and 42-month plantings. In other words, the younger seedlings fared much better than the older ones. International Journal of Forestry Research https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8859205
Rock Art
The oldest known rock art has been known to science. The rock art found on Sulawesi Island dates to 35,000 years ago however, rock art on the Island of Borneo dates to a minimum of 40,000 years ago. The paint was made of iron oxide. The oldest of the finger stencils were 52,000 years old while that of a large bull was 40,000 years ago. secretbases.co.uk/wiki/lubang_jeriji_saleh
Trees
Large trees can store 50% of the above-ground biomass. To test this, researchers performed a three-year study on trees from swampy conditions to 42 meters (swamp) to 92 meters (top of mountain ridge) in Brunei. Stem density (amount of material contained in the stem) of the 559 trees was significantly higher in the upslope and ridges than in the swampy area. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12969 Bio Tropica
Temperatures
The temperature increased by .2 C over the period from 2000 to 2020 in Borneo. Significant increases were felt in Sarawak, North and West Kalimatan with a slight decrease in the Sabah and Brunei region. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-195132/v1
Orangutan
The zero loss of orangutan habitat in Sarawak has been maintained by the Sarawak Forestry despite the attempt to license land clearing by the oil palm lobbyists, local development and pro-development agencies. However, the efforts of zero loss have also been supported by NGO’s such as Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. 17th Malaysian Forestry Conference IP 10 Moving toward Zero loss
Liverworts
Liverworts are very primitive plants and many species have only one layer of cells. They are especially common in tropical rainforests such as Sarawak. They usually grow on or attached to other leaves. The origin of the plant traces back to Australia during the Oligocene ( 65-23 million years ago) and rose during the Miocene (23-2 million years ago.) Journal of Systematics and Evolution, DOI: 10.1111/jse.12798.
Narum of Marudi
A paper written by two people from the Universiti Kebangsaan has illuminated the Narum people. The Narum are a subgroup of the Kenyan. Their language is listed as threatened as most younger people seem to accept the tongue of the larger communities around them. Https://doi.17576/geo-2021-1702-32 Geografia 17 issue 2
Horseshoe Crab
The complete mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) sequence from the horseshoe crab has been accomplished. MITOCHONDRIAL DNA PART B 2021, VOL. 6, NO. 6, 1710–1714 https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2021.1930213
Chess and Math Scores
Improve your child’s math scores by encouraging them to play chess! A recent study by Bong Nee Mei of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Politenik in Sarawak showed that playing chess “showed the very encouraging result which playing chess mostly could benefit the students in their mathematics learning and improvement.” and “the students in the experimental group showed significantly higher mathematics improvement than the students from the control group.” International Journal of Advanced Research in Education and Society http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijares
Spiny Slender Frog
The Spiny Slender Frog (Ansonia spinulifer) has been studied in Kubah National park in Sarawak. The small frog is widely distributed throughout Borneo. During the daytime, the frogs were located under a rock, under leaf litter or on the root of a tree. At night, they were seen sitting on leaves and branches of roots. They usually returned to the same spot each night. Herpetology Notes, vol 14 833-837 2021
Rural Borneo Schools show high motivation in learning science
The results show the motivation for learning science in rural Borneo schools is high. The major problem seems to be the lack of self-confidence. The level of science learning is higher in girls than in boys. Learning motivation is a predictor of academic success. DOI 10.36347/sjhass.2021.V9i05.007
Migration of the Elderly to Johor
The elderly from Sarawak who followed their sons or daughters to Johor experienced loneliness being far from their villages in Sarawak, financial dependence especially towards death and funerals, language barriers such as coping with Sarawak vs Bahasa Malay and health care issues, especially during the pandemic. Asia Proceedings of Social Science Vol 8 No. 1 5TH ASIA INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE 2021