All Creatures Great and Small #41

Rat Tailed Orchid

All Creatures Great and Small  #41

Orchids

Rat Tail Orchid (P. labukensis) is an endangered orchid, threatened due to habitat fragmentation and overharvesting. It is found in restricted locations in the Labuk River Basin, Sabah. The plant is also known as the ‘rat-tailed’ orchid, as its leaves hang downwards. This article describes efforts to propagate it.  https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9060681

Black wattlehickory wattlemangium, or forest mangrove

This tree was planted widely in Sarawak in the 1990s after deforestation. However, the trees are now being decimated by fungal diseases which attack its stems and its roots. There doesn’t seem to be any way to save the trees. doi.org/10.26525/jtfs2023.35S.SI.1

Carnivorous plants

Two of the threats are predominantly caused by “carnivorous plant lovers”. The actions include 1) sale and trade of plants that have been illegally collected from the wild, a threat that has continuously increased in the past years and 2) planting of exotic carnivorous plant species into pristine habitats of native species. This article discusses and illustrates these problems. doi.org/10.55360/cpn522.af323

Malay-Nusantara Women

The place of women as gatekeepers of crafts, spirits, fashion, history, genealogy and other aspects of the past is discussed. : https://doi.org/10.21315/kajh2023.30.1.1

Deforestation for Palm oil

Palm oil estates create a microclimate which provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-35452-6

Borneo oil

Explorations will continue in the Sanga oil fields in East Borneo. The shallow fields have been drained, but recovery of the deeper oil is a possibility. However, high-pressure problems need to be resolved. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0126477

Orangutans

Smoke from the wildfires in Borneo has changed the vocalization patterns of the orangutans. doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.107088.

Ants

Ants, whose back end is black, and the front is brown, of the genus Crematogaster is a diverse group containing more than 500 species and has historically been subdivided into 16 subgenera. This paper relates the biogeographic history of the group. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad005

Dabai

Dabai, found in the rural areas of Sarawak and widely sold as a fruit, could be used as a potential healthy edible fat and as a raw material as a substitute for cocoa butter or as an equivalent for palm oil. doi.org/10.1016/j.focha.2023.100311

Blood Cancers

The Bidayuh have the highest blood cancer rate when compared to Malays in this study from 1996-2015.  Leukaemia showed a downward trend, while Hodgkin lymphoma showed an increasing trend. /doi.org/10.1186/s12885-023-10988-y

Bungai Jarau

This essay describes the Bungai Jarau figures of the Sarawak Iban. DOI 10.4108/eai.9-11-2022.2329434

Tradition of bathing babies in the river among the Iban

 The Iban community strongly believes that in the river there are various types of spirits that are the guardians or guardians of the river. Bathing babies in the river acknowledges these spirits. DOI 10.4108/eai.9-11-2022.2329417

New Palm

A palm where the flower and fruit are both underground has been made known to science. Pinanga subterranea has a fruit hidden below ground and is actively sought after as a forest snack by people in Central Kalimantan (Indonesia) when the palm is encountered. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10393

New Capital

The relocation of the National Capital from Java to Borneo is the ambition of certain elites because the National Capital Law was passed through a process that was not long and seemed not transparent.  I have a copy or ask the author, etikaer2211@gmail.com

Construction Costs

This research found “delay issue” as the top key cause of construction disputes in Sarawak.

Fire

This study investigates the climate variables: temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed in relation to the fire’s characteristics in Borneo and Sumatra. DOI: 10.15575/join.v8i1.1035

Biology and People

Environmental and human features, and the interactions between them, are all consistently regarded as continuums. Combining the biological and social sciences of these continuums, provides an alternative view of the interactions between the environment and society. This allows new insights into the history of Southeast Asia.  DOI: https://doi.org/10.33736/jbk.5798.2023

Clean Water?

Although the Sarawak government has determined water at the Satow Waterfall is clean, this study shows a high coliform count at two locations. doi.org/10.55230/mabjournal.v52i2.2520

Adolescent Sex

 Efforts have been made to enhance the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health among adolescents in Sarawak, including school-based sex education and community outreach initiatives. However, there are still many efforts to be achieved to ensure that adolescents have access to the information and resources. https://doi.org/10.33736/jbk.5673.2023

Snapping Shrimp

Alpheus microrhynchus appears to be geographically restricted to South-East Asia, with confirmed records from Thailand, peninsular Malaysia and Borneo, where it occurs in transitional freshwater to brackish water habitats. This unique species is morphologically almost identical with A. microrhynchus and is presently known only from a few localities in southern Thailand, peninsular Malaysia and western Borneo (Sarawak).http://hdl.handle.net/10754/692754

Mango

Mango is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. According to FAO (2022), mango continued to be the most significantly traded commodity. This study aims to determine the genetic diversity and relationship of mango and its wild relatives (Mangier spp.) from Borneo Island, Indonesia, DOI: 10.1590/1983-40632023v5375339.

Bat Guano

This review will highlight the usage of bat guano as a valuable fertiliser which has a potential to diminish the effects of chemical fertiliser usage, increase yield and is cost-effective. DOI: https:doi.org/10.33736/bjrst.5100.2023

Civets

We examine the effects of forest degradation on a large fruit eater, civets (Viverridae) that play a key ecological role in supporting the resilience of degraded forests through seed dispersal. doi:10.1017/S0030605322001491

Pygmy Grasshoppers

A new species of pygmy grasshopper has been made known to the science world from Borneo Island. DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5315.1.3

Floods

Floods usually occur in Borneo during the December -March monsoon season. Strong northerly winds, westerly winds and sea surface temperatures brought on by El Nino seem to be the causes.

Mengkabong

This paper traces the history of Mengkabong north Borneo during the 18th century and the relationship of its people, the Dusun Lotud and the Bajau, with the Sultan Omar Ali Saifudin. https://doi.org/10.37134/munsyi.vol1.1.1.2023

Plant Hoppers

The study is aimed at investigating the noticeable physical appearance of this species between two different sexes in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.  https://doi.org/10.33736/bjrst.5283.2023

Fish

We investigated fish communities of tropical headwater streams in Bau District of Sarawak State that flow through different types of land-uses.  The headwater streams with high coverage of oil palm plantations showed significantly low species richness and high number of individuals. Fish richness and abundance in the dry season were significantly lower than rainy season.  https://doi.org/10.33736/bjrst.5321.2023

Rice Blast Disease

This study aims to identify the best media for culturing and maintaining P. oryzae (the fungus that causes rice blast disease) from Sarawak.  https://doi.org/10.33736/bjrst.5258.2023