Ecology, Conservation, &

Taxonomy Studies in Borneo: An

Evolution of Research

Opportunities

M. T. Abdullah1 & Faisal Ali Anwarali Khan2

1Center For Kenyir Ecosystems Research

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu 2Department of Zoology

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

11 June 2015

International Conference on Rainforest

Ecology and Conservation In Borneo

How the world has changed in

our lifetime

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141016-your-life-on-earth

How the world has changed

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141016-your-life-on-earth?ocid=fbert

How the world has changed

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141016-your-life-on-earth

• 5 June 2015; 19 dead

How Malaysia has changed:

Disaster

”the iconic Donkey's Ears at Mount Kinabalu have been badly damaged”

Land slide - Highland Towers

December 1993

Mud flood - Cameron Highlands 2014

How Malaysia has changed:

Disaster

How Malaysia has changed: Man Made Disaster

• 57% forest (Wan Razali 2010) • Now - 63% “forest” (MNRE data)

i. Primary forest? ii. Secondary forest? iii. Rubber plantation? Forest? iv. Oil palm plantation? Forest? v. Cocoa Plantation? Forest? vi. Acacia Plantation? Forest? vii. Wasteland ? Forest?

Endemic & Threatened Endemic Species

11 June 2015: Man Made Disaster?

http://www.iucnredlist.org/

Contemporary Disappearance: Man Made Disaster

Rhinos 1977 – 1993:

• 1970s – oil palm as new industrial

crop

• 1980s – rhinos displaced & hunted

• 1990s – localised extinction Johore,

Pahang

• Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 88)

– Family, Mortgages & Loans?

• 2 January 1994 – migrated to Borneo

to teach & research @UNIMAS.

Sarawak Peninsular Malaysia

Tapirus indicusA

Dicerorhinus

sumatrensis

Dicerorhinus

sumatrensis

Rhinoceros

sondaicus

Bos gaurusA

Bos javanicus

Elephas maximusA

ALocalised extinction

Role of Malaysian

Academia & Institutions

• Generate new knowledge

• Communicate findings to stakeholders

through local and international journals.

Newspapers? TV show? Radio talk?

• Legislation & actions taken consistent to

research findings?

• Reality is?

Knowns - Malaysian reads 1 page/year 1. Are biologists hopeless to communicate the large body of knowledge?

2. Are management authorities unsuccessful to communicate to political

masters & planners?

Population & habitat protection; Law enforcement & monitoring 1. RW Flynn, MT Abdullah. 1983. Distribution and number of Sumatran rhinoceros in the Endau-

Rompin region of peninsular Malaysia. Malayan Nature Journal 36 (4), 219-247.

2. RW Flynn, MT Abdullah. 1984. Distribution and status of the Sumatran rhinoceros in Peninsular

Malaysia. Biological Conservation 28 (3), 253-273.

3. MT Abdullah. 1985. A Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Plan for the Endau-Rompin National

Park, Malaysia. West Virginia University, Morgantown.

4. BHM Nor, H Kassim, S Suri, S Othman, MT Abdullah. 1985. Survey on the Distribution of Large

Mammals in Endau Rompin State Park. Journal of Wildlife and Parks 14, 16-25.

5. ZA Zaaba, A Mohd Tajuddin, AR Mustafa, Y Ebil. 1991. Large Mammals in Peninsular Malaysia.

The Status of Nature Conservation in Malaysia. Malayan Nature Society., 173-176.

6. MT Abdullah, ZZ Zainuddin, MSM Suri. 1989. A review of the Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation

Programme and assessment of management alternatives for the future. Proceedings of the

International Conference on National Parks and Protected.

7. Z ZZ, Sheikh-Omar AR, MT Abdullah. 1989. Severe necrotizing enteritis in a Sumatran rhinoceros

(Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). First Congress of the Veterinary Association of Malaysia, 121-122.

8. ZZ Zainuddin, MT Abdullah, M Shamsuddin, M Suri. 1990. The husbandry and veterinary care of

captive Sumatran rhinoceros at Zoo Melaka, Malaysia. Malayan Nature Journal 44 (1), 7-19.

Known unknowns?

• What is the economic value of Sumatran rhinos?

– Proton Saga RM16K?

– Merc in Hong Kong?

• How does the Sumatran rhinoceros affects the

stakeholders e.g. livelihood of political masters, policy

makers, planners, businessmen, wildlife practitioners &

local communities?

• Captive breeding of rhinos in UK & USA but not in the

range states?

– Rhino diplomacy with Thailand & Indonesia

• Lacking of political will & accelerating rates of extinction

and species loss in Malaysia?

1994 -2013: Researchers’ Questions on Biodiversity of Borneo

Leaving out 700 kg rhinos using 1 kg to 3 g small mammals models.

Are species caught correctly identified using morphological characteristics?

Are we underestimating the biodiversity in Borneo?

How are ecological, morphological, echolocation and genetic tools useful for species identification, phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies?

Where were we in 1994?

• Chasen (1940) – First to compile and describe the

MALAYSIAN mammals

Harrison and Medway;

• An Introduction to the Mammals of Sabah (1964) &

Mammals of Singapore and Malaya (1966) by J. L.

Harrison

• The wild mammals of Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia) and

Singapore (1969) & A checklist of mammals of Borneo

(1977) by Lord Medway.

• Junaidi Payne et al (1985) – Mammals of Borneo

• BIG gap in Sarawak & Kalimantan

New Emerging Species?

• Species complex = a group

of closely related species

very similar in appearance

• Ecological species –

specialised niches

• Morphological species -

morphological similarity

• Genetic species > 10%

genetic distant (Baker &

Bradley 2006)

Cynopterus brachyotis complex

• Primary forest – smaller

• Open – bigger (FA >60), “flock”

• 9 – 10% genetic distant

(Abdullah 2003; Abdullah & Kumaran

2009; Kumaran et al 2012; Fong 2013) • New species to be described

• Known unknowns;

• Museums are not sharing

• No USD & RM

17

(Sigit, Maryanto & Abdullah 2011. Phylogeny and Phylogeography of Myotis muricola (Gray, 1846)(Chiroptera:

Vespertilionidae) from the West and East of Wallace’s Line Inferred from Partial MtDNA Cytochrome b Gene)

Myotis muricola complex

24

(a) Skull of K. papillosa type L

(b) Skull of K. papillosa type S

(c) Skull of K. lenis – once known as

subspecies of K. papillosa

(d) K. papillosa – PM

(e) K. papillosa – Swk (Niah NP)

(f) K. papillosa – Swk (Lambir NP)

Morphologically Similar?

(d) Photo by: Faisal Ali

(e) Photo by: Mohd Shariff

(f) Photo by: Siti Nurlydia

(Hasan, 2009)

(Noor Haliza Hasan & MT Abdullah 2011)

Kerivoula Gray 1842 (Woolly Bats)

Small vespertilionids (FA=27 – 45 mm)

Roost in small groups

Efficient echolocators

Forage in cluttered forest

Kingston et al. 2003; Noor Haliza 2011

Cyt-b

1140 bp

K. pellucida

K. sp.

Myotis Murina

Harpiocephalus

K. papillosa

K. lenis

K. minuta

K. intermedia

K. hardwickii

Bootstrap = 80-100%

Post. Prob = 0.95-1.0

Seven monophyletic

clades

One undescribed

species from Borneo

Between species:

>10%

Within species:

5 % - 7%

Bayesian Phylogram

K. cf. lenis (Laos) GenBank

K. kachinensis (Laos) GenBank

Faisal unpublished data

HIPPOSIDEROS bicolor species group

H. cineraceus

H. bicolor

H. ater

~ half of all named Hipposideros

Africa, Asia, to Australia

Taxonomically problematic:

• Cryptic morphology

• Species named more

than once

Speciation: Echolocation shift

(Mate Recognition) (Hill 1963; Kingston et al. 2001, Guillen-Servent & Francis 2006, Murray et

al. 2012; Photos in: Douangboubpha et al. 2010)

Geological & Climatic Dynamics

(Heaney 1984; Corbet & Hill 1992; Hall 1998, 2002; Voris 2000)

Volcanic uplift

Sea level fluctuations

Forest fragmentation

Simkin T & Siebert (2002)

Distribution of 3 distinct forest types at the

Last Glacial Maximum

(Cannon et al. 2009) (Voris 2000)

Hipposideros ater complex

H. a. nallamalaensis

H. a. gilberti

H. a. aruensis H. a. ater

H. a. saevus

?

H. a. antricola

H. a. amboinensis

Phylogenetic Reconstruction

Identified 7 lineage of

“H. ater”

Divergence 1.8-18.5%

Faisal unpublished data

Cranial – PCA

Sexual dimorphism

H. sp. nov size > all

(except H. nicobarulae)

H. a. antricola size < all

Classification = 94.4%

Re-classification = 84.4%

Faisal unpublished data

Noseleaf Features

Borneo Borneo Borneo Sri Lanka

Luzon Australia Sulawesi

Java Papua NG Papua NG Nicobar Luzon

Hipposideros Diversification

Sahul Shelf

Sunda Shelf

Oceanic

Philippines

Palawan 0

m

50 100 150

Faisal unpublished data

Conclusions on H. ater complex

Described one new species from Borneo and elevated

two (Northern Territory and Luzon)

Lineages are generally confined within biogeographic

regions

Dispersal - lowest sea level in the late Miocene,

Vicariance/Dispersal - frequent fluctuations of sea level

in the Pleistocene

Echolocations

H. cervinus

Peninsular

Malaysia

Java

Borneo

Thailand

121 kHz

109 kHz

H. galeritus

Peninsular

Malaysia

Java

Borneo

Thailand

92 kHz

100 kHz

114 kHz

H. larvatus

Peninsular

Malaysia

Java

Borneo

Thailand

90 kHz

95 kHz

100 kHz

30

Maxomys whiteheadi Complex

Significant variation among Maxomys sp., M. whiteheadi, M. rajah, M. surifer, M. baeodon, M. ochraceiventer and M. alticola.

• Six major morphological

distinct populations; M. rajah

(G), M. surifer (I), M. baeodon

(A), M. alticola (B), M.

ochraceiventer (H), M.

whiteheadi (D,E,F), Maxomys

sp. nov (C) in Kalimantan

(Anang 2010; Anang et al 2012)

2007 – 2010 Knowledge discovery &

capacity building; Eco-zoonosis @UNIMAS

• Plasmodium knowlesi – Prof Balbir Singh

• Avian virus – Prof Ismail Ahmad & Prof Mustafa

• Leptospira – Prof Mohd Taha et al

• E. coli – Prof Kasing Apun et al

• Ectoparasites – Prof Fatimah et al

• 12 MSc & >12 BSc go on for 5 PhD on other

grants

• ISI & SCOPUS papers; networking

• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/MT_Abdulla

h/contributions

2011 – 2017 - Current Studies

Nasalis larvatus Genome Grant @UNIMAS; RM500K

• Primate Ecology & Genome – 3 PhD & 3 MSc

• Parasites from mammals – 1 PhD & 2 MSc

• Leptospira in wildlife – 1 PhD

• Plasmodium, E. coli in primates – (MSc using samples)

TRGS, GGP, NRGS @Universiti Malaysia Terengganu;

RM1,020K

• Is Kenyir Orang Asli livelihood sustainable? 3 PhD & 8 MSc

• How does canopy height affect wildlife distribution in Tasik

Kenyir dipterocarp forest and Setiu wetland forest? - 8 MSc

• Sustainability of Tasik Kenyir landscape? - 4 Postdoctoral

Known Unknowns Future Challenges

Poor funding and scarce resources – need strong collaboration and networking among researchers, policy makers and industries interested in biodivesity.

In situ conservation.

Interconnected PAs & corridors network for better management. ESUs vs MUs; Single vs metapopulations.

Many species with “endangered taxonomist”

NO NO NO easy answers

Roadblocks

1. Extinction of

Taxonomist

2. Type specimens

3. Malaysian reference collection

4. Natural Field Stations

5. Evolution and selection understandin

g

6. Vicariance Biogeography

7. Ecological Changes

8. Molecular Ecology

Unknown Roadblocks to Understanding on

Biodiversity

Parameter Value USD/ha Reference

Mangrove – coastal protection 845 Bane, 1999

Mangrove – fishery resources 526 Bane, 1999

WTP by pharmaceutical company 539 Rausser & Small, 1998

Mangrove – fishery protection 526 Kumari, 1996

WTP Belum-Temenggor 435 Vincent et al., 2014

Social value & genetic resources 206 Simpson & Craft, 1996

Average forest revenue 10 Pearce, 2001

Protection of hydroelectric areas 4 Shahwahid et al 1997

WTP for pharmaceutical 1.5 Simpson et al., 1996

Knowns Theory on Payment For

Ecosystem Services, Malaysia

WTP Simpson dan Craft (1996), Simpson et al. (1996) dan Rausser

dan Small (1998);

• Establishment of wildlife corridors in Kenyir landscapes,

Terengganu

415 km2 = RM36,787,260.00

Average WTP = USD249/ha x 3.56 x 41500 ha

Estimated total economic value ( climate stability,

hydrogeomorphic disaster protection, ecotourism and outdoor

recreation, education and research , water resources and

clean environment ) 3x

USD110,361,780/year

+ 6% GST = USD116,983,486.80

Knowns Value of Ecosystem

Services in Malaysia?

PES Malaysian Federal Government to

Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang;

– RM2000/ha/year

PES UN-UNESCO to Malaysia

– USD1000/ha/year

Sp. nov. = RM1,000,000/new species?

Unknown Knowns PES For Sustainable

Environment in Malaysia

Acknowledgements

Professor Ghazally Ismail, Dr Waidi Sinun, Dr Yap Sau Wai & Yayasan Sabah for invitation and hospitality. Sdr

Pak Yeop UCSF for cosmetic comments.

Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, UNIMAS & UCSF for administrative support.

Department of Wildlife and National Parks (KL),

Sabah Parks, Sarawak Forest Department, Sabah Wildlife Department & Sabah Biodiversity Centre for various

research permits and use of facilities.

DWNP, WWF Switzerland, GEF, UNIMAS, FRGS, IRPA, TRGS, MoHE, MoE, Rufford, MTSF, SAAS-MPN, MoSTI

UNIMAS & UMT for various financial support of my studies since 1977.