Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah

Checklist of bat flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae and Streblidae) and their associated bat hosts in Malaysia

The number of publications on bat flies of Malaysia suggests that this group of parasitic dipterans is understudied. From April 2011 to September 2013, we surveyed 10 localities from seven states in Malaysia with the main objective to compile a checklist of bat flies. As a result, a total of 15 species of bat flies were recorded from 24 species of hosts. Our surveys indicated that there is a correlation between the number of bat species and the number of bat flies species recorded due to the host specific nature of bat flies.

Employing Genetic Algorithm to Construct Epigenetic Tree-Based Features for Enhancer Region Prediction

This paper presents a GA-based method to generate novel logical-based features, represented by parse trees, from DNA sequences enriched with H3K4me1 histone signatures. Current methods which mostly utilize k-mers content features are not able to represent the possible complex interaction of various DNA segments in H3K4me1 regions. We hypothesize that such complex interaction modeling is significant towards recognition of H3K4me1 marks. Our propose method employ the tree structure to model the logical relationship between k-mers from the marks. To benchmark our generated features, we compare it to the typically used k-mer content features using the mouse (mm9) genome dataset. Our results show that the logical rule features improve the performance in terms of f-measure for all the datasets tested.

A Brief Survey on the Birds in Belukar Bukit, Kenyir, Terengganu, Malaysia

There is lack of published data on avifauna in Kenyir to verify and update the bird species present in the area. Bird surveys were conducted in three sampling occasions: 15–21 May 2015, 25 September – 2 October 2015 and 31 March – 5 April 2016 at Belukar Bukit, Kenyir. The objective of the survey was to compare the bird species diversity in three occasions in relation to the forest phenology. A total of 118 birds were sampled representing 60 species from 25 families from the three sampling occasions. Pycnonotidae (14%) is the most diverse family followed by Nectariniidae (17%) and Timaliidae (7%). Among the 60 species recorded, 35 species were recorded in the first occassion, followed by 10 species from the second occasion and 19 species from the third occassion. The flowering season in May 2015 and the fruiting season from end of September to early October 2015 might be one of the factors that influence the bird diversity in three different occasions. Therefore a long-term survey using various sampling methods need to be conducted to update the bird checklist of Belukar Bukit, Kenyir.

Rapid Assessment and Taxonomic Checklist of Vertebrates at the Foot of Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve, Terengganu

The vertebrate diversity at the foot of Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve (GTFR) is not well documented therefore a study was conducted at lowland dipterocarp forest of Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve, Terengganu from 7th to 13th August 2016 and 27th August 2016 to 2nd September 2016 to record and construct a checklist of vertebrates from selected taxonomic group i.e.; mammals, aves and amphibians. A total of 470 individuals were observe and recorded consisting of 16 species of mammals (8 families and 4 orders), 64 species of aves (25 families and 10 orders) and 20 species of herpetofauna (6 families and a single order). The highest species abundance for bats recorded was Bicoloured Roundleaf Bat (Hipposideros bicolor) whereas for birds, the Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) shown highest species observed meanwhile for anurans, the highest species abundance documented was Spotted Litter Frog (Leptobrachium hendricksoni). An increase of sampling effort, number of transects and survey period could increase the number of species recorded in the area.

Sustainable Development of Tasik Kenyir Eco-Tourism Using System Dynamic

The sustainable development of Tasik Kenyir eco-tourism depends on the availibility of spatially explicit information on the state and trends of ecosystems and their services. Thus, we develop an interactive dynamic model of Tasik Kenyir Eco-Tourism that links ecological and economic systems, and generated the effects of the short and long terms besides to determine the direction of development and conservation in Tasik Kenyir development policies. In this study, Tasik Kenyir eco-tourism coins Macro Management Framework for Tasik Kenyir Tourism Dynamics consist of four different subsystem; Toursim Activity, Development of Tasik Kenyir (infrastucture and tourism activities), Waste Generated and Environment Sustainability (flora and fauna). The Model developed reveals that sustainable development of Tasik Kenyir eco-tourism requires continuous prolonged effort and insight towards creating a balance between social, economic and environmental developments.

Species Richness Estimation of Reptiles in Selected Sites of Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu, Malaysia

The knowledge on the composition of reptile species at Tasik Kenyir and its vicinity is still lacking as there is no comprehensive checklist available to date. This study aimed to provide a checklist and to estimate the species richness of reptiles in recreational forests located at and around Tasik Kenyir, namely Sungai Buweh, Belukar Bukit, Sekayu, and Saok. Visual Encounter Survey (VES), pitfall trapping, and opportunistic survey methods were used in this study. From 46 sampling days between April 2015 and February 2016, a total of 118 individuals from 26 species, 19 genera and nine families of reptiles were successfully recorded. Almost half of the reptile species belongs to family Gekkonidae (42%), followed by Agamidae (23%) and Scincidae (11%). The most abundant species observed were Eutropis multifasciata (24%), Hemidactylus frenatus (16%) and Gekko monarchus (13%). Eleven of the recorded species are protected under Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 and nine species are listed as Least Concern by IUCN 2016. The number of species estimated by non-parametric estimators, Chao 1 and Chao 2 were 35 and 39 species respectively. The results from this study could be useful to monitor the impact of habitat changes and human disturbances at Tasik Kenyir and the neighbouring areas.

Vertical Stratification of Fruit-Feeding Butterflies in Tasik Kenyir

The diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies at different vertical stratification were studied in secondary forests in Tasik Kenyir areas using 20 baited traps at each site. This study aimed to determine the species diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies at different forest strata which included ground and canopy levels. A single rope technique was applied in 23-days sampling period and a slice of fermented pineapple was used as bait. A total of 307 individuals from 72 species and 8 subfamilies were documented. Species diversity was higher at ground level than canopy level with Shannon diversity index H′ = 3.51 and H′ = 3.03. Butterflies compositions at ground level have high diversity compared to canopy level. Besides that, the graph of rarefaction curve did not reach an asymptote at either level. The species richness might reach to equilibrium while the specimen of butterflies increases if the periods of sampling are extended.

Checklist of Small Mammals of Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu

Despite their ecological importance, small mammals record in east-coast of Peninsular Malaysia is particularly rare and scattered, as compared to records made in west of Peninsular Malaysia. In this paper, we assembled data from various trapping occasions conducted at surrounding areas of Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu, including Taman Negara Terengganu, from 1990 to present. We documented 55 species of bats and 19 species of non-volant small mammals, mainly of rats and squirrels. This represent approximately 30% of the total non-marine mammal species reported for Peninsular Malaysia, indicating the important of Hulu Kenyir forest areas as conservation area for small mammals.

Trade-Off Analysis for Eco-Tourism of the Tasik Kenyir Protected Area

Continuous pandemic of sustainable development rise numerous concern, hence resulting towards integration of multidimensional principle as an underlay in order to form sound decision-making process especially in ecological-sensitive area such as Tasik Kenyir. This study develops the structural framework for decision-making inclusive of all variables in order to strive for sustainable development of Tasik Kenyir in order to promote responsible tourism practices. Several criteria are selected and analyzed using Multi-criteria Analysis (to show the corresponding trade-off); ranged from economic, ecological and social variables such as economic revenue, employment, conservation of flora and fauna and environmental quality. The results show that under different scenarios, the score of different type of variables will change accordingly.

Taxonomic Composition of Non-volant Small Mammal Assemblages in Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu

A study was carried out in the area of Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu from July 2015 to April 2016. The aims of the study were to access the taxonomic composition of non-volant small mammal assemblages in Tasik Kenyir area and to investigate if the types of ecosystems influence the species richness and diversity of non-volant small mammal assemblages in that area. A total of 56 individuals comprising five orders, six families and 12 species of non-volant small mammals were recorded. The Common Treeshrew (Tupaia glis) was the most abundant species of non-volant small mammals recorded in Tasik Kenyir area. The highlights of this study included the Grey-cheeked Flying Squirrel (Hylopetes platyurus) and the world’s smallest mammal, Savi’s Pigmy Shrew (Suncus etruscus). In conclusion, Kampung Kemat recorded the highest diversity of small mammals with 13 individuals belonging to three orders, four families and six species. The types of habitat may influence the species richness and diversity of non-volant small mammals by their tendency to adapt to those types of habitat due to the fact that certain species are more adaptable to many kinds of habitats than the other species.