rssN 0121-812 Vol XXVI 2009.2010

The Journalof WILDLIFE ANdPARKS Journal of Wildlife antl Parks (2009-2a ) 26 . 47 57

AVIAN TEMPORAL DIVERSITY ASSESSMENTIN PANGSUN,SELANGOR

Farah Shafawati,Mohd-Taib and Shukor,Md-Nor

SchoolofEnvironmentql Science and Natural Resources Faculty Scienceand Technology,Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia, Bangi, 43600,Selangor.

ABSTRACT

Due to the rising need of effective conservation strategies around the world, biodiversity monitoring or assessmenthas been one of the main concerns. Biodiversity residing in specific habitat is the best indicator of the habitat condition regardlessof species diversity changes or their health condition. This information, combining with ecological condition of the habit;t will provide sound knowledge for future conservation and research activities. Therefore, we came out with a small scale temporal biodiversity assessmentat pangsun, Hulu Langat forest reserve for a start, but concentrating on avian diversity only. Data were compiled from thesis, reports, proceedings,and published papers from various institutions. we were able to gather dat; from 1993 to 2011.From this compilation th€re were 66 speciesfrom g orders, and 23 families recorded from all years. This numbers comprised of only 260/oof speciesrecorded by siti Hawa in her preliminary survey in Hulu Langat Forest Reservein 19g3.The most dominant families were Timaliidae (babblers)with 12 species, foltowed by Turdidae (Thushers, Robin, Forktail, shama) with 8 species. Species richness was found to increase temporally which shows good habitat condition ofthe study area. There were several speciesrecorded in all years which were the ceyx erithqcus (oriental Dwarf ki tgfisher), Arachnothera longirostrq (Little spiderhunter) and stachyris nigriceps (Grey-throatedbabbler). However, someofthe forest that have been recorded previously were no longer present in the latest monitoring data suggesting that this forest is slowly loosing precious bird speciessome of which are listed as vulnerable (vU) and near-threatened(NT). Thus, these speciescan be an indicator of habitat changes.Nevertheless, Cacomantissepulcralir (Rusty-breasted cuckoo),Ficedula suspecilliaris (tJltramarine flycatcher) an.dArachnothera alfrls (streaky-breastedspiderhunter) were among the speciesthat appear in the later year and never been recorded in the study areabefore. Keywords: biodiversity assessment,avian, temporal scale,Hulu Langat

INTRODUCTION

In conjunction to the global phenomenaofbiodiversity loss, conservationeffort around the world has stressedthe importance ofbiodiversity monitoring as a guideline for conservation strategies (Gerecke& Lehmann, 2005). Biodiversity monitoring or inventory is a form oflong-term stuJies to determine the biological diversity in specific habitat. These data, combining with knowledge on ecological condition at various spatial scales and ecosystem (O>Connor, l99g; O>Connell. 2000; Polasky & solow,2001) is essentialfor environmental planning (Groomsbridge, 1992)by indicating the state of habitat in the area of concern. Speciesrichness as a standard biological componentprovides information on biodiversity valuesofa site while fluctuating trends ofspecies richness allow the study of dynamics, threats, spatial and temporal distribution of biodiversity (Mazaris, 2008). Apart from that, it also allows recognition of indicator species that directly designatehabitat condition of specific habitat or ecosystemand thus provides a cost-effective conservation prioritization. Mazaris (2008) in his study recognize that richness of species of 48 Farah Shafawati, Mohd-Taib & Shakor, Md-Nor

conservation interest could be reliably predicted ftom the richness of highel order taxa such as genusand family in amphibians,birds and mammals.

Tropical region is especially crucial in terms of biodiversity monitoring as it encompasses majority of speciesresiding in the tropical forest (Hawkins, 2001).However, the lack ofbaseline data becomes a barrier to the efficacy of these measures(Collen et a1.,2008). Malaysia as one of the tropical country has undergone constant biodiversity monitoring to determine biological diversity in various sites for biodiversity assessment,environmental impact assessment(EIA) etc. Scientist and researchersfrom various institutions have published these findings in journals and reports but up to date, there were very few efforts in compiling these data for a long-term study. We also lack of knowledge about the biodiversity pattems and changesthrough time, and therefore we are facing challenges to determine implication of habitat changes on biological diversity, Furthermore, realizing the pressureof developmenttowalds natural forest particularly biodiversity, more advanceknowledge need to be explored to better understandthe condition of these natural ecosystem.Direct measure thus will be based on secondary data which includes previous studies ol biodiversity monitoring. Similar to other tropical countries in general, Malaysia faced significant obstaclesincluding insufficient funding,lack ofadequateinfrastlucture and expertise for data collection, inaccessibility to research sites due to political upheaval, and difficulties in getting data published or made public (Collen et a|.,2008).

This study hence aimed to develop a databaseon birds diversity at temporal scalecompiling data from survey and monitoring works that had been done previously beginning 1990sto presentin Pangsun.We are aware of the gaps in quality of data during data compilation within this period of time. Therefore,w€ tded to gather as much data in form ofreports, proceedingsand database from different organizationsand institutions that have carried out biodiversity monitoring in this area. Ftom these data, we hope to be able to determine indicator speciesin this area which is important for future prioritization and planning strategiesfor efficient conservationeffort in this atea.

METHODOLOGIES

Study area

Pangsunis located within the Hulu Langat Forest Reservein Selangol which is an extensionof Langat Basin (Figure 1.0 and 2.0). It comprise of 13,132ha area at 3'13'N latitude and 101"52'E longitude. This site is an ecologically important forest habitat for water catchments that provide water for Selangor through existing Pangsun and Semenyih Dam. Pangsun was located just a few metres away at the foot of Gunung (Mount) Nuang which is the highest mountain in Selangor with 1493m height. It also play important role in ecotourism as it received high number of visitor along the year for recreation, mountain climbing and also hiking. Therefore, this area is exposed to anthropogenic pressure. Avian Temporal Diversit:l Assessmmt In Pangsun, Selangor

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Figure2: LocationofPangsun and Gunung Nuang in Hulu LangatForest Reserve

Data compilation

Compilation ofavian diversity data was basedupon reports, thesis and databasewhich contained information on biodiversity monitoring in Pangsun and Gunung Nuang areas from year 1995, 1998,200'1,2008,2010and 2011.Compilation ofbirds in 1995was obtainedfrom PERHILITAN's database.However, this data was very scarce,but we still record it in the checklist. The 1998data was obtained from (Shukor el al., 2008), whereby 2007 and 2008 were obtained from (Armira, 2008; Farhana, 2008; Lee, 2009). Data for 2010 however was obtained from a brief study of undergraduate'sstudent from Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia and 2011 data was obtained from a doctorate field sampling (unpublished data). These studies used direct observation and mist- netting. Data from this compilation enable us to determine generalist species, and indicator speciesin Pangsunarea.

Next, we classified the birds according to their habitat, ranging from garden and parks, open country, and forest lringe by referring to Jeyarajasingam(2002). Apart from that, we also classified them according to the IUCN Red List (2009) ranging lrom least concern (LC), vulnerable (VU) and near-threatened(NT). Avian Temporcl Dtuefsi\, Assessme t In Pangsu , Selangor

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Data compilation in 16years has recorded 66 bird specieslrom 8 orders, and 23 families as listed in Table 1.0. Year 2011 recorded the highest species richness with 35 species (53% from total speciesrecorded in all years), followed by 2007 and 1998 with 26 (39o/o)and 24 (36%o)species respectively.Year 1995however r€corded the leastnumber of speciesdue to the scarcemonitoring data conducted by PERHILITAN. Year 2010 recorded the lowest speciesrichness with only 9 species(14%). This was expecteddue to the short sampling period with only 2 days.

There were stable pattern of occurrence across temporal scale on 8 species namely; Oriental dwarf kingfisher, Green-winged pigeon, White-rumped shama, Little spiderhunter, Rufous , Hairy-backedbulbul, Grey-throatedbabbler, and Short-tailedbabbler. These soecies can be consideredas resistanttowards habitat changeand generallyfed on various types of food resourcessuch as insects, mollusc, fruits and seed.Therefore, they were able to get adapted to the habitat change due to abundanceof food resources(Robinson & Holmes, 1982).These species can also be usedas indicatortowards habitat change by monitoring their abundance. Apart from that, there were several other species which is increasing temporally such as Chestnut-naped forktail, Grey-breasted spiderhunter, Long-billed spiderhunter and Grey-headedBabbler. These speciesare resident bird and categorized as totally protected (Tp) and some ol them listed as near-threatenedspecies (NT) by Red Data Book and IUCN Redlist such as Chestnut-napedForktail. Generally, this group of species comprised of insectivore, insectivore-frugivore and nectarivorestype ofleeding guild. According Wong (1986),abundance ofinsectivores and frugivores are characteristicofa good quality forest. Thus the positive species trend across temporal scale shows that Pangsun area still retained healthy habitat and provide abundantfood resourcesfor the birds.

However, there were contrastingly declining speciestrend for Siberian blue-robin, purple-naped sunbird, Grey-cheekedbulbul, Yellow-bellied bulbul, Spotted fantail, Banded Kingfisher, Black- naped Monarch, Chestnut-rumped Babbler and Scaly-crowned Babbler. Straw-headedbulbul was never to be found since 1995 survey. These specieswere also residentbird species,most of them are totally protected but some of them are vulnerable (VU) such as the banded kinefisher and near-threatened(NT) such as the Chestnut-rumpedbabbler and Scarlet-rumpedtrogo-n. The disappearanceofthese speciesmight indicate temporal disturbanceat pangsun area. On the flip side,there were severalspecies present in the later years.The Rusty-breastedcuckoo, Ultramarine flycatcher and Streaky-breastedspiderhunter were recordedin 2010.There were other sp€ciesthat only recorded in one year and most ofthese speciesare residentbird except crow-billed drongo, Tiger shrike and Mugimaki flycatcher which happened to be migrant species. They probably presenthere in 2008 during their passagemigratory. Their absentin other yearshowever could be due to insufficient sampling effort and not becausethey were absenthere.

Habitat categorizationon these birds show subtle increaseof birds of garden and parks (Gp) and open country (OC). This is somewhata seriousmatter that needto be focused,as spreadingofnon_ native speciesto the forest indicate that this lorest is undergoingtemporal disturbance.Moreovel the non-native or generalistspecies are generally known to be aggressiveand thus could result in elimination ol the native forest species.Figure 3.0 summarize the r€sults. Analysis on the IUCN red list statuson the other hand shows increasingtrend of speciescategorized as near-threatened (NT). These indicate that this forest is increasingly harvestingmore highly concernedspecies and thus it is essentialto protect these speciesfrom further depauperatethrough time. Farah Shafawdti, Mohd-Taib & Shltkot, Md-Not

2005 2010 2015

aGardenand Parks lOpen country A Mangroves

Figwe 3: Habitatcategorization across temporul scale

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0 1998 2007 2010 2011

Fisure 4: ruCN red list acrcsstemooral scal€

CONCLUSION

Pangsunresemble a good quality forest with the presenceof a large number of native forest species.However, due to anthropogenicactivities, this forestis slowly losingits valuewith the lost of severalvulnerable and near-threatened species through time. Therefore,it is essentialto preseryethis forestfrom further disturbance.Anthropogenic activities should be limited to a specific areaonly, in this caseGunung Nuang only. Avian Tefiporal Diyersit! Assessment In Pangsun, Selangor

Table1: Specieslist recordedaccording to tempomlscale fiom 1998to 2010 IUCN Family Species Nama Inggeris Habitat t993 1998 200'1 2008 Status 20r0 2011 Alcedinidae Lacedo Banded LF LC 0 0 0 0 pulchella Kingfisher Halcyon chlotis Collared LF LC 0 0 0 0 0 Kingfisher Ceyx erithacus OrientalDwarf MG LC 0 2 2 I 0 Kingfisher Halcyon Ruddy MG LC 0 0 0 0 0 Kingfisher Actenoides Rufous LF/ NT 0 0 3 0 0 2 collared LMF kingfisher Columbidae Chalcophaps Grcen-winged LF/ LC 0 3 I 2 0 3 indica LMF Cuculidae Cacomanlis Rusty-brcastedOC/LF LC 0 0 0 0 I 0 sepulcralis Cuckoo Dicaeidae Dicaeum Brown-backed LF NT 0 0 0 0 0 I elelettr flowerpacker Dicaeum Orange-bellied LF/ LC 0 0 I 0 0 I trigonostigma Flowerpecker LMF Prionochilus Yellow- LF/ 0 I I 0 0 I maculatus breasted LMF Flowerpecker Dicruridae Dicrurus aeneus Bronzed LF/ LC 0 I 0 0 0 Drongo LMF Eurylaimidae Colyptomena Green LF/ NT 0 0 I 0 I viritlis Broadbill LMF Falconidae Falco Peregrine oc/LFI LC 0 I 0 0 0 peregfnus Falcon LMF Indicatoridae Indicalot Malaysian LF NT 0 0 0 0 0 archipelagicus honeyguide Irenidae Irena puella Asian Fairy- LF/ LC 0 2 0 0 0 Bluebird LMF Laniidae Lanius tigrinus Tiger Strike LF/ LC 0 0 0 8 0 0 LMF Monarchidae Philentoma Rufous-wingedLF 0 3 0 0 0 pyrhopterum Philentoma Tersiphone Asianparadise MG/LF/ LC 0 0 0 0 0 2 paradisi flycatcher LMF Hypothymis Black-naped LF LC 0 0 0 0 0 aznfea Monarch Fanh Shalaiyati, Mohd-Taib & Shukor Md-Nor

Muscicapidae Brown- LF LC 0 0 I 0 2 streaked Flycatcher Enicurus Chestnut- LF/ NT 0 0 I 0 4 ruJicapillus napedForktail LMF Cyotnis Hill Blue LF/ LC 0 0 0 0 0 I banyumas flycatcher LMF Ficedula Mugimaki LFI LC 0 0 0 I mugimakt Flycatcher LMF Luscinia cyane SiberianBlue LF/ LC 3 0 2 0 0 Robin LMF Cyornis Tickell>sblue LFI LC 0 0 0 0 tickelliae flycatcher LMF Ultramarine LC 0 0 I 0 suspecilliaris Flycatcher '7 Copsychus White-rumpcd LF LC 0 3 3 4 malaboricLts Shama Cyornis White-tailed LF/ LC 0 0 0 0 I flycatcher LMF Myiomela White-tailed LC 0 0 0 0 0 Robi n Nectariniidae Grey-breasted LFI LC 0 0 I 0 lt modesta Spiderhunter LMF Little GP/ LFI LC 0 7 18 53 12 35 longtrosrra Spiderhunter LMF Long-bi!led LF/ LC 0 0 3 u 6 robusta spidehunter LMF olive-backed GP/OC/ LC 0 0 0 0 0 jugularis sunbird MG Hypogramma Purple-naped LFI LC 0 5 3 0 hypogrammtcum Sunbird LMF Streaky- LMF/ LC 0 0 0 0 ffinis breasted UMF Spiderhunter Picidae Blythipicus Maroon LFI LC 0 0 2 0 I rubiginosus LMF Sasiaabnormis RufousPiculet LF/ LC 0 0 I 0 I LMF Ayian Tenporal Diversiry Assessment In Pangsun, Selangor

Pycnonotidae Hemixos favala Ashy bulbul LF/ LC 0 0 0 t) 0 I LMF

Pycnonotus Black-headed LF/ LC 0 0 0 0 I alriceps bulbul LMF Criniger bres Grey-cheeked LF LC 6 I 0 0 2 Bulbul H),psipetes Hairy-backed LC 0 0 3 I 3 crlnlger Bulbul Pvcnonotus Red-eyed LF LC 0 0 0 .l 0 0 Bulbul Pycnonotus Spectacled LF LC 0 0 0 0 0 erfthropthalmos bulbul Pycnonotus Straw-headed LF VU 2 0 0 0 0 0 zeylanicus Bulbul Alophoixus Yellow-bellied LF 0 5 0 0 0 Bulbul Rallidae Amaurornis White- tS 0 0 0 0 breastecl Waterhen Rhipiduridae Rhipidura Spottedfantail LF LC 2 0 0 0 0

Strigidae Otus Collared GP/OC/ LC 0 0 I I bakkamonea Scops-Owl LF Sturnidae Gracula Hill Myna MG/LF 2 0 0 0 0 religiosa

Sylvidae Orthotomus Rufous-tailed MG/LF LC 0 0 2 2 0 0 seficeus Tailorbird Rufous- LF NT 0 0 0 t chested flycatcher Malacocincla Abbott)s LC 0 I 0 0 abbotti Babblcr Farah Shafawati. Mohd-Taib & Shukor, Md-Nor

Timaliidae Pellotneum Black-capped LMF LC 0 0 0 0 I capBlratum Babbler Stachyris Chestnut- LF NT 0 0 0 0 0 rumped Babbler Macfonous Fluffy-backed LF NT 0 0 0 0 0 ptilosus Tit Babbler Malacopleron Grey-breasted LF NT 0 0 0 I 0 0 albogulale Babbler Stachyris Grey-headed LC 0 6 0 2 3 ll poliocephala Babbler Stachyris Grey-thrcated LF/ LC 0 I I 4 I 2 ntgrlceps Babbler LMF Malacoptelon Moustached LF LC 0 I 2 0 0 0 magnir$tle Babbler Malacopteron Scaly-crowned LF LC 0 I 0 0 0 I cinereum babbler Tlichastoma Short-tailed LF NT 0 I I 0 2 malaccensis Babbler Macronous StripedTit LF/ LC 0 I 0 0 0 gularis Babbler LMF Yuhina white-bellied LF/ LC 0 0 0 I 0 2 zantholeuca Yuhina LMF Trogonidae Harpactes Scarlet- LF NT 0 I 0 0 0 0 duvaucelii rumped Trogon Tytonidae Phodilus badius BayOwl LF LC 0 I 0 0 0 0 Number of species 5 26 22 9 35 Ayian Temporal Dirersit) Assessment In Pangsun, Selangor

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