Sains Malaysiana 43(5)(2014): 655–666

Assessment of Riparian Ecosystem on Amphibians along a Green Corridor in Oil Palm Plantation, Pasoh, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia

(Penilaian Ekosistem Riparia terhadap Amfibia di sepanjang Koridor Hijau di Ladang Kelapa Sawit,

Pasoh, Negeri Sembilan, Semenanjung Malaysia)

A. NORHAYATI*^{1 2}, N. EHWAN¹& T. OKUDA³

¹Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor

 Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

²Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

43600 Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

³Graduate School of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Division of Environmental Sciences (Forest Ecology)

Hiroshima University, 1-7-1, Kagamiyama Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8521, Japan

Received: 18 June 2012/Accepted: 23 August 2013

ABSTRACT

The large scale expansion of oil palm plantations nowadays bring huge negative impact on habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity, especially at Pasoh, Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular Malaysia. The monoculture system that was developed since the 1970s has suppressed biodiversity levels because of the lack of suitable microhabitats. In order to assess ecological remediation of plantation, a green corridor was established along Sg. Petekah at Felda Pasoh 2. The assessment was conducted from March to May 2012 at Sg. Petekah green corridor (SPGC) at Felda Pasoh 2 and Felda Pasoh 3 with no green corridor (FP3). Amphibians were sampled for species richness by using fenced pit fall traps and visual encounter surveys. Microhabitat selection of amphibians was identified to come up with recommendations for improvement. The low Shannon-Wiener diversity value, H’ at SPGC (1.82 ± 0.126) was obtained indicating that the remediation is yet to be achieved, but the H’ value was much lower at PF3 (0.62±0.2) indicating a positive projection of remediation. Microhabitat selection study indicated that each amphibian species tend to avoid overlapping of microhabitat based on specific guilds. Based on the results, the green corridor should be widened to allow space for foraging and territorial defence, planted not only with trees but also shrubs and herbs to improve the ground cover for the amphibians and also to include other animal groups, such as birds and mammals.

Keywords: Biodiversity; frog; microhabitat; REDD; species richness

ABSTRAK

Pembukaan ladang kelapa sawit secara besar-besaran telah mengakibatkan pelbagai kesan negatif seperti kemusnahan habitat dan kehilangan kepelbagaian biologi terutamanya di Pasoh, Negeri Sembilan, Semenanjung Malaysia. Sistem monokultur yang dibangunkan sejak tahun 1970-an telah menghalang peningkatan kepelbagaian biologi disebabkan oleh kekurangan mikrohabitat yang sesuai. Bagi menaksir pemulihan ekologi di ladang, satu koridor hijau telah dibina di Sg. Petekah, Felda Pasoh 2. Penilaian telah dilakukan dari Mac hingga Mei 2012 di koridor hijau Sg. Petekah, Felda Pasoh 2 (SPGC) dan di Felda Pasoh 3 tanpa koridor hijau (FP3). Haiwan amfibia disampel menggunakan perangkap lubang berpagar dan kaedah tinjauan visual. Pemilihan mikrohabitat amfibia dikenal pasti untuk mencadangkan penambahbaikan terhadap jalur hijau ini. Nilai Indeks Kepelbagaian Shannon-Wiener, H’ yang rendah (1.82 ± 0.126) diperoleh menunjukkan bahawa status pemulihan ekologi kawasan tersebut masih belum dicapai, tetapi nilai H’ di PF3 yang lebih rendah (0.62 ± 0.2) menunjukkan unjuran positif terhadap pemulihan di koridor tersebut. Penilaian mikrohabitat mendapati setiap spesies amfibia lebih cenderung mengelak pertindihan mikrohabitat dengan spesies yang lain serta cenderung memilih mikrohabitat yang sesuai dengan ciri morfologi. Berdasarkan hasil kajian ini, koridor hijau perlu dilebarkan untuk menambah ruang untuk mencari makanan dan mempertahankan kawasan, perlu ditanam dengan pokok renek dan tanaman herba untuk menutup tanah sebagai tempat perlindungan amfibia dan perlu mengkaji kumpulan haiwan lain seperti burung dan mamalia.

Kata kunci: Katak; kekayaan spesies; kepelbagaian biologi; mikrohabitat; REDD

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*Corresponding author; email: noryati@ukm.my