• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2013

Malaysia possesses about 1.56 million ha of Peat Swamp Forest (PSF). The PSF safeguard enormous biological diversity, while providing crucial benefits for the sustainable development of human communities. Numbers of threatened plant species are associated with the PSF, including the commercially important Gonystylus bancanus timber. To prevent significant losses of biodiversity, it is important to manage the PSF for both biological conservation and sustainable use. Equally important is to restore all degraded PSF in an attempt to ensure the PSF ecosystem is suitable for the vegetation to grow and rehabilitate back to the normal condition. Prior to plan any forest restoration program, there is a need to properly map the degraded PSF in order to estimate the forest conditions and determine the vegetations status. Most of the time this need to be done at a landscape level and requires a technology that can provide accurate, timely and reliable information for the planner to make decision. This paper describes a study using geospatial technology in combination with ground survey to classify the degraded PSF in South East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest (SEPPSF), Malaysia, into different degree of vegetation classes. With map accuracy of about 83%, the technique proved to be useful in delineating the different degree of PSF degradation from which the information can be used to properly plan forest restoration program in the area. The final output which is in the form of map can be used in developing a Restoration Master Plan for the degraded PSF areas.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.152-157
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• 2012

Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia that covers 37.5% of the total land area. Multitemporal satellite images of Landsat and SPOT were used to examine deforestation and forest fragmentation in Sarawak between 1990 and 2009. Supervised classification with maximum likelihood classifier was used to classify the land cover types in Sarawak. The overall accuracies of all classifications were more than 80%. Our results showed that forests were reduced at 0.62% annually during the two decades. The peat swamp forest suffered a tremendous loss of almost 50% between 1990 and 2009 especially at coastal divisions due to intensified oil palm plantation development. Fragmentation analysis revealed the loss of about 65% of the core area of intact forest during the change period. The core area of peat swamp forest had almost completely disappeared during the two decades.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.266-272
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• 2021

The aboveground biomass (AGB) was estimated in mixed dipterocarp forests (MDF), peat swamp forests (PSF), and heath forests (HF) in Brunei Darussalam. A total of 81 (20 m×20 m) plots were established for MDF, PSF, and HF in three regions. The diameter at breast height(DBH) of all live trees (DBH≥10 cm) was measured within the plots. The AGB was calculated using an allometric equation with the measured DBH. The AGB(Mg ha^-1) for MDF, PSF, and HF was 603.3±159.9, 305.9±23.4, and 284.3±19.3, respectively, and was significantly different among the forest types (p<0.05). The greater AGB in MDF than those in PSF and HF was due to the presence of emergent trees in MDF. The results showed that the number of emergent trees varied by forest type. Consequently, the appearance of the emergent trees could be one of the main factors affecting AGB in Southeast Asia's tropical rain forests.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.12.1-12.7
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• 2022

The two complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of Paedocypris progenetica, the smallest fish in the world which belonged to the Cyprinidae family, were sequenced and assembled. The circular DNA molecules of mitogenomes P1-P. progenetica and S3-P. progenetica were 16,827 and 16,616 bp in length, respectively, and encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and one control region. The gene arrangements of P. progenetica were identical to those of other Paedocypris species. BLAST and phylogenetic analyses revealed variations in the mitogenome sequences of two Paedocypris species from Perak and Selangor. The circular DNA molecule of P. progenetica yield a standard vertebrate gene arrangement and an overall nucleotide composition of A 33.0%, T 27.2%, C 23.5%, and G 15.5%. The overall AT content of this species was consistent with that of other species in other genera. The negative GC-skew and positive AT-skew of the control region in P. progenetica indicated rich genetic variability and AT nucleotide bias, respectively. The results of this study provide genomic variation information and enhance the understanding of the mitogenome of P. progenetica. They could later deliver highly valuable new insight into data for phylogenetic analysis and population genetics.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.218-224
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• 2021

This study was conducted to determine the mass-loss rates and the changes in carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of dead woods, which were of following species: Dryobalanops aromatic, D. rappa, and Cratoxylum arborescens. These were dominant tree species in mixed Dipterocarp forests (MDF) and peat swamp forests (PSF) in Brunei Darussalam. In May, 2019, 48 dead wood samples (15 cm×4.8 cm×5 cm) were placed in MDF and PSF sites, and all the samples were collected after 16 months. The effects of species on mass loss were statistically significant (p<0.05); however, no difference was observed in the mass loss obtained from the two forest types (p>0.05). The initial density (g·cm^-3) of the dead woods D. aromatic, D. rappa, and C. arborescens, was 0.64±0.02, 0.60±0.00, and 0.44±0.01, respectively. Also the annual mass loss rate (%) was estimated to be 6.37, 8.17, and 18.53 for D. aromatic, D. rappa, and C. arborescens, respectively. The proportion of dead woods in decay class III was only 25% of C. arborescens samples, which were attacked by wood-feeding invertebrates, such as termites. The C/N ratio decreased significantly in D. aromatic and D. rappa, but the decreasing trend of C/N ratio was not statistically significant in C. arborescens. The results indicate that physical traits of dead woods, such as density, could be one of the main factors causing the decomposition of dead woods initially, as invertebrates such as termites are one of the key decomposers of dead wood in tropical rainforests. In the samples of C. arborescens, which was attacked by invertebrates, nitrogen immobilization occurred to lesser extent as compared to that observed in D. aromatic and D. rappa.