Termite assemblages in rehabilitated forests of Bintulu and Serdang Malaysia .

Ahmad Said Sajap, . and Cheong Yew Loong, . (2011) Termite assemblages in rehabilitated forests of Bintulu and Serdang Malaysia . [Proceedings Paper]

Termites are good bio-indicator to represent the status of forest ecosystem since their species abundance and community structure are sensitive to food source and environment factors such as moisture and relative humidity in different forest habitats. In this study functional importance of termite community was assessed in four forest habitats including rehabilitated forests using a modified rapid diversity and spatial pattern assessment of termites from a single transect unit. Transects 100 m x 2 m were marked at 1 m interval to assess the spatial distribution of wood and soil feeding termites across the selected sampling plot. The result showed that 9 species from 6 genera in 5 functional taxonomic groups FTG were recovered from rehabilitated forest of Bintulu. Only 1 species from 1 genus representing 1 FTG was recovered from the newly rehabilitated forest of UPM Serdang. From an enriched forest Bukit Belata and logged-over of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve 28 and 21 species were recorded respectively. The result suggests that the rehabilitated forest of Bintulu and UPM Serdang are still under recovery stages where high percentage of wood feeder 57-100 were present compared to those recovered from Bukit Belata Forest and Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve with 17.9 and 15.7 respectively. However low recovery of Rhinotermitidae and the presence of organic soil feeders from rehabilitated forest of Bintulu Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve and Bukit Belata Forest a common trend in natural forests in comparison with disturbed areas indicates the termite community in the rehabilitated forest is progressing towards stable assemblages.

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Abstract

Termites are good bio-indicator to represent the status of forest ecosystem since their species abundance and community structure are sensitive to food source and environment factors such as moisture and relative humidity in different forest habitats. In this study functional importance of termite community was assessed in four forest habitats including rehabilitated forests using a modified rapid diversity and spatial pattern assessment of termites from a single transect unit. Transects 100 m x 2 m were marked at 1 m interval to assess the spatial distribution of wood and soil feeding termites across the selected sampling plot. The result showed that 9 species from 6 genera in 5 functional taxonomic groups FTG were recovered from rehabilitated forest of Bintulu. Only 1 species from 1 genus representing 1 FTG was recovered from the newly rehabilitated forest of UPM Serdang. From an enriched forest Bukit Belata and logged-over of Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve 28 and 21 species were recorded respectively. The result suggests that the rehabilitated forest of Bintulu and UPM Serdang are still under recovery stages where high percentage of wood feeder 57-100 were present compared to those recovered from Bukit Belata Forest and Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve with 17.9 and 15.7 respectively. However low recovery of Rhinotermitidae and the presence of organic soil feeders from rehabilitated forest of Bintulu Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve and Bukit Belata Forest a common trend in natural forests in comparison with disturbed areas indicates the termite community in the rehabilitated forest is progressing towards stable assemblages.

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Item Type:	Proceedings Paper
Additional Information:	2 tables; 11 ref. QH 541.5 R27 I61 2011
AGROVOC Term:	Termites
AGROVOC Term:	Forest rehabilitation
AGROVOC Term:	Isoptera
AGROVOC Term:	Ecosystems
AGROVOC Term:	Habitats
AGROVOC Term:	Malaysia
Geographical Term:	MALAYSIA
Depositing User:	Ms. Suzila Mohamad Kasim
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 05:14
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11584

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