WETECOL

9th WETLAND REGIONAL TRAINING WORKSHOP, 10-27th June 2011

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Amir Shah Ruddin Md Shah and Asyraf Mansor. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang

A total of 20 participants from 18 universities (Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Japan and Malaysia) and seven international instructors were involved in the recent wetland workshop that was hosted by School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. The workshop was jointly funded by Universiti Sains Malaysia, International Crane Foundation and United State Geological Survey (USGS).

This workshop involved intensive lectures on wetland biodiversity, hydrology, soil and socio-economy study followed by field works, data collection and analysis, report writing and presentation. During this workshop, the participants gained knowledge on wetland ecology focusing on the Penang and Perak State, of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The participants studied wetlands covered mangrove swamp (Balik Pulau and Matang mangrove), peat swamp, flood plain, fresh water swamp (Paya Beriah) and man-made lake (Bukit Merah Lake and Temengor Lake).

With the support from Forestry Department of Malaysia, the States Forestry Department of Penang and Perak, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment, as well as the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the installation of SET (the first ever equipment been installed in Malaysia) has been successfully carried out at Balik Pulau Mangrove Forest Reserve. This is a long term collaboration research between USM and USGS which hope to provide comprehensive information about sediment deposition within selected mangrove areas of Malaysia. The workshop was officiated by Professor Abu Hassan Ahmad, Dean of School of Biological Sciences, whereas the closing ceremony was done by Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, Vice Chancellor of USM.

Following the success of the workshop, few follow up actions been taken to strengthen research collaborations between universities such as exchange of research staff, publication/presentation of related paper into related international seminar and others. The next regional wetland training workshop is planned to be held on June-July 2012 in China.

World Wetlands Day Celebration at Kuala Gula, Perak State, Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:32:00 +0000

Written by Yun Yun Wong,

On February 2011, I joined the internship program of Global Environment Centre (GEC) to work with the Friends of Mangrove (SHB), which based at Kuala Gula, a fishing village situated in the coastal area of northern Perak.

In conjunction with World Wetlands Day (WWD) 2011, I was assigned to organise an educational activity in the Chinese community of Kuala Gula for raising environmental awareness among the young generation.

In Kuala Gula, the Malay community celebrate WWD annually under the organisation of SHB since 2007. But, it was the first time for the local Chinese community to involve such a special occasion. Hence, it was a challenging yet meaningful task. I had represented GEC to collaborate with the Chinese primary school, SJK(C) Yuek Hwa for celebrating WWD 2011 with the theme “Wetlands and Forests”.

As an activity of WWD, the student members of the Nature Club of SJK(C) Yuk Hwa were invited to take part in a nature walk for exploring the adjacent mangrove wetlands. On 23^rd February 2011, a total of 34 students were registered for their first wetland adventure. At the beginning of the programme, the nature club’s guiding teacher, Ms. Lau Mei Ling was giving an opening speech to all the participants.

After the talk, the students were brought to the mangrove walkway, which located few minutes away from the school by cycling. Under the guidance of teachers, they first visited the mangrove nursery, which established and managed by SHB. The on-duty members of SHB were introducing the nursery to the students.

The next stop was a viewing platform not far from the nursery. I was there to guide the students to observe the unique environment of mangrove forest. The students were asked to quietly check on the soil condition, tree roots, viviparous seeds and various animals that live around.

The visit was ended with a short discussion on the importance of mangrove ecosystem. After that, the students followed their teachers back to the school. During the closing session, certificates of attendance were given to the newly registered “mangrove explorers”.

This WWD activity was a successful one. The students enjoyed the outing and very much interested to learn about the mangroves. It was definitely a good starting point for promoting the environmental awareness among the local Chinese of Kuala Gula.

* The full report has been submitted to Ramsar Secretariat and it will be published in the official website of Ramsar Convention.

Links

Global Environment Centre (GEC) (http://www.gec.org.my/)

Friends of Mangrove (SHB) (link here)

World Wetlands Day (link here)

Earth Hour Today

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:07:00 +0000

Earth Hour 2011: It's time to go beyond the hour

Click HERE to find out more

Composition and abundance of phytoplankton after invasion of comb jellyfish in the southwestern Caspian Sea

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:00:00 +0000

^1,2Siamak Bagheri, ¹Mashhor Mansor, ²Marzieh Makaremi, ²Alireza Mirzajani, ²Hadi Babaei,²Jalil Sabkara²Azemat Ghandi,²Hossein Negarestan and ¹Wan Maznah W.O, ²Ali Abedini,

¹School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 11800 Penang, Malaysia

²Inland Waters Aquaculture Institute, Iranian Fisheries Research Organization (IFRO), 66 Anzali, Iran

*Corresponding author: Siamak Bagheri, email: Siamakbp@gmail.com

The spatial and temporal distribution and species composition of phytoplankton in the southwestern Caspian Sea. Samples were collected from 12 stations along three transects: Lisar, Anzali and Sefidrood. A total of 79 (69 and 46 species during in 2001 and 2002, respectively) phytoplankton species were identified, the annual average phytoplankton density were calculated as 363,000 and 201,000 cells.l^–1, respectively during 2001 and 2002. Dinoflagellates formed almost half of the total abundance (58%–52%) while cyanophytes were the second important group in view of contribution to total phytoplankton number (29%–24%). The study showed that dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cordatum and cyanophyte Oscillatoria sp. are numerically dominated species in the southwestern Caspian Sea. The average total phytoplankton number, phytoplankton composition and nutrients concentrations were drastically changed during 2001 and 2002 as compared to 1996–1997. The results showed that there was no correlation between comb jellyfish number with phytoplankton density during 2001 and 2002. Some studies linked drastic changes in the phytoplankton community with comb jellyfish invasion in the south of Caspian Sea after the year 2000. It was not possible to determine to what extent the fluctuation of the phytoplankton is due to the impact of comb jellyfish, and not should be disregarded is the influence of meteorological and hydrological teleconnections on the ecosystem of Caspian Sea (Bilio & Niermann 2004; Polonsky et al., 2004; Stolberg et al., 2006). The fluctuations of the phytoplankton community’s relationship to environmental parameters (chemical factors; pollutions) and nutrient upwelling were not extensively investigated up to now (Dumont, 1995; Kideys et al., 2008). Since the southern Caspian Sea is influenced to a high extent by fresh water inflow with a heavy load of artificial nutrients (Sharifi, 1990; Salmanov, 1999; CEP, 2006; Mirzajani et al., 2010; Bagheri et al., 2010), it is important to assess to which extent the increased eutrophication affects the phytoplankton abundance, and species composition in the Caspian Sea. We believed hydrology regime variations, depletion of silicate level, and increased nutrient concentration have played important roles in blooming of non–diatoms phytoplankton such as dinoflagellates and cyanophytes in the southwestern Caspian Sea.

References

Bagheri, S, M. Mashhor, M. Makaremi, A.R. Mirzajani, H. Babaei, H. Negarestan, W.O. Wan Maznah, 2010. Distribution and Composition of Phytoplankton in the Southwestern Caspian Sea during 2001-2002, a Comparison with Previous Surveys. W J Fish and Mar Sci, 2: 416–426.

Bilio, M., U. Niermann, 2004. Is the comb jelly really to blame for it all? Mnemiopsis leidyi and the ecological concerns about the Caspian Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. 296: 173–183.

CEP, 2006. National report, Iran. Caspian environment programme, Tech. Rep., Programme Coordination Unit, Baku, Azerbaijan. www.caspianenvironment.org

Dumont, H.J, 1995. Ecocide in the Caspian Sea, Nature, 377: 673–674.

Kideys, A. E., A. Roohi, E. Develi, F. Melin and D. Beare, 2008. Increased chlorophyll a levels in the southern Caspian Sea, following an invasion of jellyfish. Research Letters in Ecology, Article ID 185642. pp:1–4.

Mirzajani, A.R., S.H. Khodaparast., H. Babaei., A. Abedini and A.D. Ghandi, 2010. Eutrophication trend of Anzali wetland based on 1992-2002 data. Journal of environmental studies. 35: 19-21.

Polonsky, A. B., D.V. Basharin, E. N., Voskresenskaya and S. Worley, 2004. North Atlantic Oscillation: description, mechanisms, and influence on the Eurasian climate, Phys. Oceanogr. 15: 96–113.

Sharifi, M., 1990. Assessment of surface water quality by an index system in Anzali basin. The Hydrological Basis for Water Resources Management. Proceeding of the Beijing Symposium, IAHS Publ, Beijing, Chain, pp:1-197.

Stolberg, F., O. Borysova, I. Mitrofanov, V. Barannik and P. Eghtesadi, 2006. Global international waters assessment Caspian Sea, Regional Assessment Report. University of Kalmar, Sweden. http://www.unep.org/dewa/giwa/areas/reports/r23/.

Salmanov, M. A., 1999. Ecology and Biological Productivity of the Caspian Sea. Institute of Zoology, Baku, Azerbaijan.

Cooperation between USM and ITB on Aquatic Resources

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:00:00 +0000

by Siti Nabilah Bt Mohd Tarmizi

The fish cages at Jatiluhur Lake

People once quote; “The world is the book, and those who do not travel read only a page”, and I could not agree more! I was involved in the 1st symposium between ITB and USM on 20 to 21 December 2010. As a graduate student, my paper on “The release of Orangutans (Pongo Pygmaeus) to BJ Island; A case for ex-site conservation study” have been accepted during the symposium. During the final day, Dr. Gede Suantika from ITB has invited us to visit his study site at Jatiluhur Lake. This cooperation will be pursued on future by ITB and USM team to study the river basins and man-made lake.

Cages are made from bamboo to prevent rotting

The trip to Jatiluhur Lake was really exciting yet opened up our minds on what we should learn from other people when travel to their places. Jatiluhur Lake, which is located halfway between Bandung and Jakarta, is the main water supply for Jakarta and had been used to generate electrical power for the region. Besides that, the lake had also been used for the irrigation of paddy fields in the surrounding areas. The water level can reach 100m in depth, and the lake has been used by the local and foreign people to commercially breed fishes such as goldfish, carp fish and tilapia. The interesting part was when we learnt that they make the fish cages in two layers. The upper part is for the carp fish, while the lower part is for the tilapia fish. They will provide the food five times a day for two cycles. The oddment from the first layer will be eaten by the fish from the second layer, and this is the main factor why the lake is still clean and manageble although there are thousands of fish cages operating for long periodsof time at that lake. They make about about 16 billions rupiah (which is almost ten thousand ringgit) per month by practising these techniques.

Data are recorded and analyzed every month

USM and ITB team

I strongly think that we should try at our place too, not only because of the profit that we could get, but the plan they make to maintain and conserve the lake from become polluted. The choice to care for the conservation should be proud of, as caring for the lake means caring for the precious; clean air and healthy environment. “You lose sight of things..and when you travel, everything balances out” –Daranna Gidel.

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The First Joint Symposium of Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) was held at Aula Timur, ITB, Bandung, Indonesia from 20-21 December 2010. The theme was " Science for Sustainable development and a better life. Fifty staff including six professors and students from USM attended the Symposium.

The participants from USM

The Symposium was divided into four sessions. The sessions were 1) Ecology, Behaviour & Biosystematic ; 2) Physiology , Developmental Biology & Biomedicine ; 3) Microbiology, Genetics & Molecular Biology ; 4) Plant Science & Biotechnology.

Keynote speakers, Professor Mashhor Mansor

(USM) & Professor Joko Iskandar (ITB)

Keynote lecture 1 entitled 'Conservation Ecology and Biodiversity of Malaysian flora and fauna" by Prof. Mashhor Mansor. Keynote lecture 2 entitled "Biodiversity and Conservation study in the Sundaland".

Professor Mashhor and Dr. Peter C. Boyce at Bali Botanic Garden

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 10:21:00 +0000

by Wetecol Admin
(summary based on report entitled Laporan Kunjungan Peneliti Tamu, written by Bayu Adjie, Agung Kurniawan, Ni Putu Sri Asih)

Professor Mashhor and Dr Peter C. Boyce was invited to visit Bali Botanic Garden from 1-4th December 2010. It was an joint effort between Kebun Raya 'EkaKarya' Bali, LIPI and School of Biological Sciences, USM to promote co-operation in research and education between the two institution. During the visit, a series of discussions, presentation, field trips were arranged for the visiting specialists.

During a presentation session moderated by Dr. Bayu Adjie, Professor Mashhor presented a paper entitled "The massive infestation of Mimosa pigra populations on the Lower Mekong Basin". Dr. Peter C. Boyce then presented a paper "Taxonomy, phylogeny, and phylogeography: perspectives from the Araceae of Borneo and beyond".

The two visiting specialists made field trips to Danau Buyan and Singaraja to survey invasive plants species. Then Dr. Peter C. Boyce with Bayu Adjie, Agung Kurniawan and Putu Sri spent time describing three suspected new species of Areaceae. Another trip was made to Bandara Ngurah Rai, where Professor Mashhor, Dr. Peter C. Boyce and Agung made identification of the collection of Araceae climber species.

The NaGISA Western Pacific Marine Biodiversity Conference : An Overseas Experience

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:24:00 +0000

by Wong Yun Yun

NaGISA (Natural Geography In Shore Areas) is a Census of Marine Life field project with 8 regional offices worldwide which target to produce the first near shore habitat-specific global census. The NaGISA Western Pacific Marine Biodiversity Conference was hosted in Nagoya University of Japan on 23^rd and 24^th October 2010 to gather the near-shore benthic ecologists and taxonomists from Western Pacific regions.

As a mangrove research student of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), I was granted to present my work in the conference under the support of The Nippon Foundation. There was another 11 participants from Malaysia, consisted of a group of 8 researchers from Marine Science Lab, USM (led by Prof. Zulfigar Yasin and Dr. Aileen Tan Shau Hwai), Mr. Sim Yee Kuang from CEMACS (Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies), USM, and Dr. Zaidi Che Cob from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Mrs. Nurul Huda binti Ahmad Ishak from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Researchers from Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and many other countries were also joining the conference.

The first day was the joint conference of ESABII (The East and Southeast Asia Biodiversity Information Initiative) and NaGISA in commemoration of the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) COP-10. The opening remarks were given by Prof. Yoshihisa Shirayama (NaGISA International Senior Advisor), Mr. Tomoo Mizutani (Director of Biodiversity Centre, Ministry of the Environment), Mr. Masazumi Nagamitsu (Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation) and Mr. Jesse Ausubel (Vice President of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation). The subsequent section was highlighted by the scientific presentations of the representatives from various institutes and organizations, included IPBES, Census of Marine Life, Duke University, University of Tokyo, ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Biodiversity Conservation Agency of Vietnam.

During the poster exhibition, I was delighted to meet one mangrove researcher, Ms. Eunice M. Becira from Western Philippines University. She was presenting her research work namely “Bio-impact in the Mangrove Community of Tiniguiban Cove, Puerto Princesa Bay, Palawan, Philippines”. We passionately shared our ideas on the issue of mangrove research and conservation. The first day conference was then closed by a hearty welcoming dinner.

The second day was the NaGISA Western Pacific Marine Biodiversity Conference with the theme of “Conservation of Marine Biodiversity”. The researchers from Southeast Asian countries were presenting their scientific studies and the topics covered meiofauna, macrozoobenthos, corals and mangroves. I was orally sharing my research findings with the title “Propagule Dispersal and Early Development of the Mangrove Avicennia marina and Rhizophora apiculata in the Southwest Coast of Penang Island”. Even though mangrove research is not a common subject in NaGISA, I still received a lot of encouragements and good suggestions from other researchers. After the presentations, we were having the farewell dinner together and the conference was officially closed by awarding the best poster presenters (Congratulate to Ms. Teh Chiew Peng from Marine Science Lab, USM for winning this prize).

It was truly a fruitful experience since I was very much inspired by the international expertises and learned valuable knowledge from their professions. I am very grateful to NaGISA, Nippon Foundation, Universiti Sains Malaysia and all the mentors for giving me a chance to have such a good exposure.

*The full article has been submitted to DIWPA newsletter

Professor Mashhor visiting Primate Research Institute Kyoto University

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:11:00 +0000

Go to full link HERE

Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants from Mangrove Forests in North Sumatra, Indonesia

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:54:00 +0000

¹Onrizal, ²Mashhor Mansor

¹Forestry Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara

²School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia

The conservation of ethnomedicinal plants of mangrove forests in North Sumatra is reported. Ethnobotanical data were obtained by using semi-structured interviews and field observations. Four field sites namely (1) Kuala Serapuh-Kuala Gebang, (2) Jaring Halus, (3) Pulau Sembilan and (4) Bandar Khalifah were selected. Traditional medicine practitioners in four field sites were interview. Forty eight plant species of mangrove plants belonging to 23 families was identified in the four sites. The mangrove plants consist of 29 species of true mangroves and 19 species of mangrove associate. Based on our observation there are several local communities that commonly use nine mangrove plants, i.e. Acanthus illicifolius, Avicennia alba, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Excoecaria agallocha, Rhizophora apiculata, Nypa fruticans, Sonneratia alba and Xylocarpus granatum for curing various diseases. Indigenous knowledge of mangrove plants as medicinal material was relative different between field sites where Jaring Halus community was the highest users of mangrove plants (7 species) and followed by Serapuh community (3 species) and Banda Khalifah community (1 species). No mangrove plant is used as a medicinal plant by the Pulau Sembilan community. The decreasing population of mangrove plant community is due to widely destruction of mangrove sites. Apparently with this massive destruction, several species of medicinal plants are destroyed. Therefore this result can be used as a basis for developing management plans for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in the area.

Keywords: mangrove plants, enthnobotany, medicinal plants, North Sumatra

The conservation of inland fish in Endau Rompin State Park, Johor

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

by Mashhor Mansor

(From left) Professor Mashhor Mansor, Karam Singh Walia,
Dato Sri Ghani Othman, Tun Abdullah Badawi

On 30^th July 2010, I was invited by Hj Abu Bakar Mohamed Salleh, Pengarah Taman Negara Johor to give a briefing on the protection of inland fish in Taman Negara Endau Rompin to Tun Abdullah Badawi, and Johor Menteri Besar Dato Sri Ghani Othman.

I was interviewed by Mr.Karam Singh Walia from TV3 on the protection and conservation of our riverine fishes from facing extinction.

Natural regeneration and rehabilitation of Aceh mangrove forests five years after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

¹Onrizal and ²Mashhor Mansor

¹Forestry Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara

²School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Abstract

The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004 caused catastrophic destruction to coastal communities. Disturbance is an important factor in structuring ecological communities, exerting its influence through changes to the physical environment and to the trajectories of succession processes. We conducted survey in Aceh to look at plant species that are resilient to the onslaught of 30-meter tidal waves which devastated the Aceh coastal zones killing more than 150,000 people in Aceh alone. The surveys was conducted during April to December 2009 or around five years after the 2004 tsunami in order to observe and record the emergence of several existing plant species as well as new ones that were caused by the tsunami. We also studied the survival of the rehabilitated mangrove forests after the tsunami disaster. Our result show that the disturbance habitat of mangrove forest in Northern Sumatra due to earthquake and tsunami disaster caused change in plant community. In our research site, mangrove tree Rhizophora apiculata and mangrove palm Nypa fruticans was found to migrate land-wand via seedling recruitment, naturally. Some mangrove plants species such as Avicennia marina, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Bruguiera sexangula, Ceriops tagal, Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia alba, Sonneratia caseolaris, Nypa fruticans and Acrostichum aureum (mangrove fern) seemed to thrive well in the natural stands. However along the intertidal coastal zone, new species such as Typha latifolia are widely colonizing the zone. Most of the disturbed habitats are occupied with weedy species such as Calotropis gigantea and the noxious weedy species Mimosa pigra. Mangrove fern Acrostichum aureum population occupy the open areas left by mangrove plant communities or unmanaged aquaculture pond. The true mangrove species such as Rhizophora apiculata and Rhizophora mucronata are most popular selected in mangrove rehabilitation after tsunami disaster. The successful degree of mangrove rehabilitation are varied from low to middle survival due to some reason such as mistakes in the selection of planting sites, unsuitable choice of plants, insufficient preparation, inadequate guidance, no tending of the plants, and the low capacity of human resources. It should be noted that before 26^th December 2004, most of the mangrove coastal zones had been destroyed to make way for aquaculture ponds. Since the mangroves provide a natural barrier, more human lives could probably be saved during the tsunami. Unfortunately, due to high demand of aquaculture products such as shrimps, prawns and fish, the widespread destruction of these mangrove forests was unmanaged. Therefore, mangrove forests should be rehabilitated and conserved very well in the future.

Keywords: mangroves, natural regeneration, rehabilitation, resilient, tsunami, Aceh

Paper presented at “An International Workshop for Conservation Genetics of Mangroves will be held on 11-12 Feb. 2009 at the Iriomote Station of the Tropical Biosphere Research Center, the University of Ryukyus”

Carbon reserve at mangrove forests in North Sumatra

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:29:00 +0000

Onrizal & Mashhor Mansor

Abstract

Mangrove deforestation and degradation will be influence on the forest carbon stock and to be one of substantial factor of climate change. The objective of this research was to estimate the carbon stock of mangrove forests under different management type in North Sumatra. A total of 16 sampling plots on the four mangrove management types (4 on each type) were surveyed during July-August 2009. At each sampling site, four plots (30 m x 30 m) were layout, and all trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5 cm were identified and the DBH and height were recorded. The highest of carbon stock was found in village/community forests (78.39 ± 43.31 t C/ha), and followed by conservation forests (22.39 ± 9.54 t C/ha), production forests without cutting for charcoal (10.09 ± 3.29 t C/ha), and the lowest of carbon stock was found in production forests with cutting for charcoal (2.47 ± 2.22 t C/ha). The research result show that the mangrove forests under village/community forests is better than others forest management type within carbon reserve in North Sumatra. Therefore, the traditional wisdoms in mangrove forests management should be promoted to mitigate the climate changes.

Keywords: mangrove, carbon reserve, forest management, North Sumatra

Paper presented at ATBC International Symposium 19-23 July 2010 in Bali, Indonesia

The University Networking for Wetland Research and Trainings in the Lower Mekong Basin

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:08:00 +0000

Mashhor Mansor

School of Biological Sciences

Universiti Sains Malaysia

(mashhor@usm.my)

wetecol@gmail.com

Although there are a number of cooperative programs that are being established by ASEAN countries, however one of the significant projects is the ASEAN universities networking on the training of wetlands. The eighteen consortium universities have been able to run these programs for eight continuous years on a yearly basis. It has produced 180 alumni in the 7 countries including China. Most of the universities are from countries in the lower Mekong Basin namely Lao PDR,

Cambodia

and

Vietnam

On the 4^th July 2010 during the welcoming speech on the 8^th Regional Training Course on Wetland Ecology, Dr. Sansanee Choowaew from Mahidol University,

Thailand

, stated the reason why the 18 universities particularly from the Lower Mekong Basin established a networking. This is because the Mekong River about 4500 km long and the longest river in Southeast Asia, has a strong socio economic, cultural and environmental impact on counties in the Mekong basin. It flows through six countries including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It played a major role in providing the livelihood including food security and natural resources for these countries. Consequently there are several environmental threats to the river ecosystem.

This networking was initiated during university executive meeting in 2002 in Vietnam. The 1^st signing of agreement on the academic cooperation was held at Mahidol University on 22^nd May 2003 with 8 members. The 2^nd signing was held on the 15th February 2008 at Mahidol University where 13 members including Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Datuk Professor Omar Othman represented USM during the signing ceremony. USM team directly involved during the 7^th Wetland Training Course in Lao PDR and the 8^th Wetland Training Course, currently held in

Cambodia

from 4^th to 18^th July 2010.

The participants of the 8^th Regional Training Course on Lower Mekong,

Prof Dr.Ngo Bunthan is seated third from right.

Prof. Dr. Ngo Bunthan, the Acting Rector of Royal University of Agriculture officiated the 8^th Wetland Training Course. In his speech he described the history of the Royal University of Agriculture. The university was founded in 1964. Unfortunately the University was closed from 1975 to 1978 during the dark period. With the help of Soviet Union the Ministry started the education program with a degree. Currently eight faculties are established and most are closely related to agriculture.

The instructors for the 8^th Training Course on the boat in

Mekong River coming back from the field work

Each of the participants was selected based on merit and recommendation from their own universities. Most of them are MSc holders and a few with PhD degrees. They are mostly researchers or new lecturers. The universities involved are Mahidol, Chulalongkorn, Kasertsart and Mahasarakham from

Thailand

. The Vietnamese Universities are Nong Lam, Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang, Professor Tay Nguyen and Can Tho. The Royal University of Agriculture and the Royal University of Phnom Penh are from Cambodia. Lao PDR represented by National University Loa PDR and Champassack University. Yezin Agriculture University from

Myanmar

and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) from

Malaysia

and these countries are represented by one university.

China

is represented by National Plateau Wetlands Research Center.

During the 7^th Training and Workshop that was conducted in Champassak Province Lao PDR., I was one of the trainers and Mr.Amir Shah Ruddin as one of the trainees. It was the first time that Malaysians involvement in the exercise. Among the trainers were Dr.Duong Van Ni from Can Tho University, Dr. Nantana Gajaseni from Chulalongkorn University, Dr. Tran Triet from Ho Chi Minh City University and Dr. Sansanee Choowaea from Mahidol University. The study wetland sites were Ban Chan Nai and Ban Chan Nok in Champassak Province Lao PDR.

Field work along Mekong River

Field preparation was one of the important component during the training program. Field work was relatively tough and rough as we have to brave the swampy habitats where the biggest problems were leeches and hidden venomous snakes. Many of the participants cannot stand the leeches otherwise field exercise was relatively enjoyable.

The field trip at the flooded forest at Stung Treng Province,

Cambodia

Tropical Cyclones/Hurricanes

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:26:00 +0000

When I first arrived in Miami, Florida last August 2008, first thing I was thought during the orientation was HURRICANES. As living in Malaysia, we only experienced monsoon which bring heavy rains but not like the typhoons in Taiwan or China. Hurricane reminded me of Hurricane Katrina that brought massive destructions to New Orleans in 2006. I was given the handbook of safety and emergency preparation for hurricanes and I started to learn about hurricanes.

Tropical cyclones are powerful storms which form over warm tropical oceans. They are one of the most destructive natural phenomena, both in terms of loss of life and economic impact. Cyclone “Nargis” for example killed more than 100,000 people when it hit Myanmar in May 2008.

Tropical cyclones have different names, depending on the region in which they occur. They are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, typhoons in the Western Pacific and cyclonic storms in the Indian Ocean.

Hurricanes plague the western Atlantic from the northern coast of South America up to the southern coast of Canada. In particular, in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and along the southeastern coast of the USA hurricanes is a frequent occurrence. Hurricanes, just as typhoons in the Pacific, can form only over warm oceans with water temperatures of at least 26 degrees C. That’s why they only form during the summer season between June and November.

Usually, a hurricane forms when there is an area of thunderstorm activity that moves over the ocean. These separate thunderstorms form bigger entities (lines and clusters) and become stronger due to the warm water which provides them with energy in the form of heat and water vapor. After 1-2 days, a low pressure system developed related to these thunderstorm clusters. This area of low pressure strengthens and produces strong swirling winds, which draw in more moisture and heat to “feed” the thunderstorms. This “positive feedback loop” makes the low pressure to become a tropical storm, and when the winds are strong enough (> 117 km/h) the storm becomes officially a hurricane and is given a name. Strong hurricanes are very powerful, and can reach wind speeds of 250 km/h and more which will cause massive destruction once the hurricane moves over land.

The two awesome videos below are the example of the formation of thunderstorms which were captured from RSMAS building. It showed how the air was rising up and feed into the center. It can turn into a gigantic hurricane which is 100 times larger than these thunderstorms. It was amazing to obseved the wonder and power of nature can created.

by Falko Judt

After the storm moves over land, it weakens quickly. The hurricane is like an engine that needs very warm and moist air. Over land, there is not much moisture and the storm will run out of fuel. Furthermore, mountains, trees and buildings are producing friction that will slow down the winds. The areas direct on the coast usually suffer the most damage. Here, the winds are strongest and there is also the storm surge. Storm surge is flooding due to ocean water piled up by the strong winds. The storm surge is like a wave, up to 12-13 m high in the strongest storms and can reach inland up to 10 km. Many people die in the surge (see Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in the US), in fact more people are killed in the storm surge than due to the strong winds.

From space, one can see how a hurricane actually looks like. In the center, there is the eye. It is very calm in the eye and sometimes there are not even clouds, so the sun is shining for someone standing in the middle of a powerful storm. Surrounding the eye, strong convective clouds form the eyewall and rainbands. This is where the wind speed is strongest. It is raining very hard and the wind and clouds make it hard to see more than 100m. A hurricane usually has a diameter of a couple of hundred kilometers.

The University of Miami/RSMAS has one of the biggest hurricane research programs in the world. It is still very difficult for meteorologists to predict how strong a storm will get and where it will go. The main aim of hurricane research is to make those predictions better, so we can warn people in its path before the storm hits. Computer models are used to forecast storms and scientist try to improve these models. For example, ocean models are coupled to atmospheric models so that the transfer of heat and moisture can be accurately predicted. Furthermore, NOAA has research planes that fly into hurricanes and take measurements (wind speed, pressure, temperature and humidity). These data are very useful for understanding meteorological processes that determine the intensity of a hurricane.

For those who are interest in studying the motion and composition of ocean and atmospheric, can visit the RSMAS web for more information.

Cheryl Chan K.Y

Graduate Student

Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science

University of Miami

USM-UNSYIAH Research Cooperation: A First Joint Research Exploration to Aceh

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 16:34:00 +0000

A team of 14 researchers from School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) School of Distance Education and Housing, Building and Planning Universiti Sains Malaysia conducted a scientific visit to the Universitas Syiah Kuala (UNSYIAH), Banda Aceh Indonesia. This was at the invitation of the Director of Research, Dr Musri Musman who made an earlier visit to USM in January 2010. The main objectives of the visit were:

To observe the current status of research activities which have been carried out by local scientists before and after the Tsunami in 2004.
To establish collaborative research with UNSYIAH research team
To discuss on the possibility of joint publication by researchers from both institutions in ISI journals.
To promote USM as a leading- institution for postgraduate studies.

Lead by Deputy Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies) of the School of Biological Sciences, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, the team was taken to Pulau Sabang, an island lying at the northern tip of Aceh ( in fact, Indonesia) upon arrival on the 13th of February 2010. Pulau Sabang, is inactive volcanic island located where the Andaman Sea meets with the Indian Ocean, therefore it would provide a potentially interesting marine ecosystem to investigate. This island was not adversely affected by the Tsunami event in 2004. The island is known for its rich ecosystem; with 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi) of inland and sea around the island gazetted a wildlife protection area supporting several rare and endemic species Coral reef areas around the island are known for their large variety of fish species. In addition to the rich marine life, the uniqueness of its freshwater lake and terrestrial biodiversity of this volcanic island has rarely been exposed to the world. Although not part of the initial programme we were greatly honoured by the invitations from the Deputy Mayor of the island and the Director of the military hospital. Both expressed their willingness to work with us and open their ‘door’ to any collaborative activity on the island. A joint expedition with UNSYIAH is in the pipeline and we believe will lead to exciting discoveries- uncovering new species of flora and fauna as well as establishing mechanisms underpinning the island biogeography theory.

Summary on the joint research discussion:

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Azizah presented research activities, postgraduate matters and facilities available at the School of Biological Sciences, whilst Dr. Khairun Yahya on the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) and Assoc Prof Dr. Malek on the School of Housing Building and Planning to the UNSYIAH research team and faculty members.
The UNSYIAH team presented a total of 33 research proposals. The presentation was divided into two related major disciplines , i) Social Sciences and Biological Sciences, and ii) Engineering and Architecture. The proposals will be sent to the respective Schools in USM for consideration.
The discussion on future research collaboration was continued with a few smaller group meetings at the end of the presentation.

Future activity:

The first expedition to Pulau Sabang is being proposed to be headed by Prof. Mashhor Mansor from 20th April to 27th April 2010. The main objective of this expedition is to establish a permanent sampling station for forest ecology and species inventory research activities. The flora research team from USM will conduct joint research activity with UNSYIAH. We expect to generate a detailed checklist of flora of virgin jungle forest in Pulau Sabang.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Azizah Mohd Nor, Dr Asyraf Mansor and Mr Amir Shah Ruddin Md Shah

School of Biological Sciences

Universiti Sains Malaysia

11800 Penang

The top 20 countries with most endangered species

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:45:00 +0000

Recently, IUCN has reported about 900 species of plants and animals have gone extinct in the last 5 centuries. Ecuador is one of the most diversified country with a total of 2,211 species have been recorded. However, the increased of population and rapid development had put it in the top list of species extinction by IUCN.

source: click here

Among the developing countries, Malaysia and Indonesia have the most recorded total species. Both mammals and fish are the top category in Malaysia that facing extinction according to the IUCN list. However, Indonesia is the most vulnerable country to species extinction in Asia. It was surprisingly that Malaysia was the second top countries that have the most number of endangered plant species after Ecuador in the list.

The species extinction crisis is not only the problems to developing country but also the problems faced by developing country such as United States and Australia. This had showed that the species extinction is a worldwide problem. More effort from the scientists, governments, as well as public supports is indeed needed to save these endangered species.

For more information about the IUCN Red List, please click here.

K.Y. Chan

Graduate Student

The First National & Regional Conference on Ecology of the Caspian Sea

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:39:00 +0000

The 1st National & Regional Conference on Ecology of the Caspian Sea will be held on 1-2 June 2010 in Sari-Iran. The deadline to join the conference has been extended to 20th April 2010. We invite your participation and paper submission to the conference, and have a good experience visiting the Caspian Sea and other beautiful places in Iran.

You can get more information at the website HERE. To register or submit a paper, follow the link HERE.

Afraei Bandpei M.A

The Seal from Caspian Sea

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Afraei Bandpei M.A and Mashhor M.

Pusa caspica is an endangered seal that can only found in the Caspian Sea. This top predator plays a significant role in ecological food web of Caspian Sea. The seal populations migrate in summer to southern part of the Caspian Sea for feeding. The main food items are sardines (especially Clupeonella engrauliformis) (Anchovy), Alosa spp, and Gobiidae. The second migration occurs in autumn from southern Caspian Sea to the northern part for breeding. The breeding occurs on the ice during winter.

The populations are extremely low due to the decreased food items particularly Cl. engrauliformes. Populations decrease due to large emergency of an invasive species Mnemiopsis leidyi since 2000, although there are poaching activities on the P. caspica. Unfortunately M. leidyi consume large amount zooplankton particularly Acartia sp., which is also the main food for Cl. engrauliformis. Due to this indirect competition the population of Cl. engrauliformis is low and in turn it will affect the population of P. caspica. This natural phenomenon should be controlled. Otherwise the fish catch in Caspian Sea will be decreased and most of the endangered species such as P. caspica will face extinction. The number of P. caspica is accidently caught by the fishermen during the fishing season in the southern Caspian Sea, however the captured seals are promptly release into the sea by the concerned fishermen.

The maximum body length and weight 150-60 cm and 100 kg with mean 130-140 cm and 50-60 kg, respectively. The body length and weight of baby reported 65-79 cm and 5 kg, respectively. Some of biometrical aspects obtained P. caspica in the southern Caspian Sea are following: Mean number of wishbone: 10.6, vertebrate: 25.2, hand fingers: 5, leg fingers: 5, molar (tooth): 20, posterior tooth: 4, anterior tooth: 10, tail length: 11.3 cm, leg length: 22.5 cm, hand length: 15.5 cm, head length: 19.6 cm and total length 125.3 cm (sample size, n=20).

Agriculture pesticides such as DDT, industrial and human wastes, poaching or illegal catch particularly during the breeding season for their skin and oil are also causing the reduction in seal population in the Caspian Sea. For scientists, the unfortunate event will result in fishery industry catastrophe in Caspian Sea especially on the Caspian Kutum.

Egypt Journal

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Confidential report Indonesia: alarming emissions from peatland loss

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:28:00 +0000

Wetlands International

Monday, 21 September 2009 - The Indonesian government has come forward with figures that confirm that the country is the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses; for 80% due to deforestation and peatland loss. Wetlands International, the NGO that has been advocating the need to address peatland degradation strongly welcomes the acknowledgement by the Indonesian government of the issue.

The governmental report of the ‘National Council on Climate Change’ shows emissions of a magnitude of 2,3 Gton carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) per year; nearly all in the form of CO2. This is 8% of all global emissions. Even more alarming is the prediction of growth towards 3,6 Gton in 2030. Of all these emissions, 45% is coming from drained, degraded peatsoils and 35% from deforestation. The report of the Council also illustrates how cost-effective it is to prevent or end peatland emissions; just a few euro per tonne CO2 .

So far national reporting of Indonesia to UNFCCC overlooked these emissions, similar to the reports of many other countries with major peatlands.

Peatland degradation in Southeast Asia

The ancient soil carbon stocks of peatswamps are rapidly lost in Southeast Asia due to drainage for logging, agriculture, palm oil and pulp plantations. Once drained, microbiological processes turn the organic carbon into the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2).

Recently, the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture issued a new decree to allow further development of palm oil plantations in peatlands, which will even worsen the already severe emissions. Furthermore, the Minister of Forests also continues to issue permits to convert natural forests and peatlands to pulp wood plantations.

Marcel Silvius, Programme Manager Wetlands International: “Wetlands International welcomes the recognition by the Indonesian government of the impact of peatland degradation on greenhouse gas emissions. Now it is time to act and we therefore call on the Indonesian government to end policies that allow further deforestation and reclamation of peatlands.”

New climate treaty

Currently, peatland emissions are not addressed through the policies of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). There is a high risk that current proposals for a UNFCCC mechanism to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD) may still exclude the emissions from the carbon rich peatsoils. This will cause a situation where countries may even receive support for forest plantations on drained peatlands that would actually emit huge amounts of carbon.

Alex Kaat, Wetlands International: “This Indonesian report illustrates how enormous the contribution of peatland loss to climate change is, but also how cheap it is to avoid these emissions. This illustrates the need to address peatland loss in a new climate treaty.”

This release of Wetlands International is supported by

RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK, Humane Society International, The Wilderness Society

More information:

www.wetlands.org/peatclimate

Alex Kaat

Communications Manager

Wetlands International

Alex.Kaat@wetlands.org

Tel +31 (0)6 5060 1917 (mobile)

Tel +31 (0)318 660912 (Direct)

The Effect of Tsunami in 2004 on Mangrove Forests, Nias Island, Indonesia

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:47:00 +0000

Wetland Science Vol. 7 No. 2 Page 130-134 (June 2009)

The Effect of Tsunami in 2004 on Mangrove Forests, Nias Island, Indonesia

Onrizal(1,2), Cecep Kusmana(3), Mashhor Mansor(2)

(1) Department of Forestry Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Univesitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155, Indonesia;
(2) Wetland Ecology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia;
(3) Forest Ecology Laboratory, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor 16001, Indonesia)

Abstract: The earthquake and tsunami that devastated coastal area in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province and North Sumatra Province, especially Nias Island on December 26, 2004, caused damage to most mangrove and coastal forests in the areas. Before the 2004 tsunami, there is no report or publication about mangrove and coastal vegetation in Nias Island. The aims of this research were to describe the mangrove forests and coastal vegetation after tsunami disaster and to learn the ecological functions of mangrove forests and coastal vegetation on shore protection. Field surveys, in eastern, northern and western coast of Nias Island within 10 days of the middle weeks in March 2005 and in southern coast of Nias Island within 6 days of the first weeks in November 2006, were conducted. Our research results showed that dense mangrove forests and coastal vegetation had been proven to be effective on protecting coastal area from the tsunami, while heavy damage occurred in the areas that have degraded mangrove and coastal forests. Therefore, mangrove forests play an important role on shore protection, and this protection depends on the quality of mangrove habitats. It should be noted that degraded habitats with mangrove associate species instead of true mangrove species do not provide adequate protection.

Keywords: coastal vegetation; tsunami; shore protection; Nias Island

Received date: 2008-12-15; Revised date: 2009-05-26

Environmental Impact of Timber Harvesting Systems on Peatswamp Forest in Sarawak

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:22:00 +0000

A research team from Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus Sarawak embarked to Batang Igan peatswamp forest in Sibu Sarawak from 11-12th July 2009. The team comprising of lecturers, undergraduate and postgraduate students will conduct various research projects at the peatswamp forest such as peat soil physical and chemical properties, carbon storage and water quality characteristics. These projects are under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) entitled Environmental Impact of Timber Harvesting Systems on Peatswamp Forest in Sarawak.

Researchers

Dr. Seca Gandeca

Dr. Osumanu Haruna Ahmed

Professor Dato’ Dr. Nik Muhamad Ab. Majid

Johan Ismail

Ahmad Sukri Mat Nuri @ Md Din

Mohd. Ismawi Salimin

Mohd. Suffian Firdaus

Muhamad Iqbal Jailan

Ahmad Taufiq Safian

Mohd. Hasbollah Suparyono

Petition against conversion of rainforest in Aceh into oil palm plantation

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:46:00 +0000

by Sander.Carpaij@wetlands.org

Wetlands International and a coalition of NGOs have joined forces to demand palm oil company AAL to immediately halt the conversion of the Tripa peat forest in Aceh province, Indonesia into a palm oil plantation. A joint letter is addressed to Sir Henry Keswick, chairman of Jardine Matheson, owner of AAL, which is unlawfully draining and burning the Tripa rainforest, home to the critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan.

The campaign is supported by a group of 15 NGOs, varying from Greenpeace UK to the Orangutan Foundation. Everyone can join this campaign NOW by personally signing the petition that can be downloaded and sent to Jardine.

Threat to Orangutan, safety and climate

The draining and burning of the Tripa peat swamp forest puts pressure on the last remaining significant populations of the endangered Orangutan that live in this area (priority site of the Great Apes Survival Partnership - GRASP of UNEP/UNESCO). Furthermore, this area of forest is considered an essential green buffer to protect communities from the effects of future storms or a future Tsunami.

Moreover, AAL’s practices also contribute greatly to climate change due to drainage of its vulnerable peat domes. The organic carbon stored in peat is turned into huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) when drained or burned. Read more on peatlands and climate change.

Report shows destruction

The overflight report on the Tripa area released in June 2009 by Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari (YEL) shows shocking images of drainage canals and heavy clouds of smoke from burning in the area of the concession of AAL.

Violated legislation

Burning on Tripa by AAL has already been documented by Indonesian newspapers in November 2008. AAL’s practices also ignore the Indonesian Presidential Decree and Government Regulation certifying that Peat of greater than three meters depth is automatically afforded legally protected status (kawasan lindung). AAL has planted oil palms on deep peat, not only in Tripa but also in Borneo.

Moreover, the moratorium on forest logging enacted by the Governor of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam in July 2007 is also being violated. Finally, the legally required Environmental Impact Assessment was never shared nor approved by local institutions or community representatives.

More information:
Please contact Wetlands International on:
Tel. +31 (0)318 660912 & +31 (6) 50 60 1917 (mobile)
Alex.kaat@wetlands.org

All About Jellyfish

noreply@blogger.com (WETECOL) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:33:00 +0000

We received an email from Nathan about his interesting website called Jellyfish Facts, and would like to recommend it to our readers who are interested in jellyfish and those who wants to know more about them.

picture from http://www.jellyfishfacts.net

Jellyfish Facts website is the source for Jellyfish information on the Internet. Jellyfish facts aims to provide information about jellyfish, helping people to understand these beautiful and interesting creatures. Jellyfish Facts currently have 6 sections:Jellyfish Info, Jellyfish Species List, Pet Jellyfish, Jellyfish Safety, Jellyfish Pictures, Jellyfish Cooking and Cuisine. For more information contact nathan@patternmedia.com or visit (http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/)

About Jellyfish

The Jellyfish is amongst the most fascinating and intimidating creatures of the marine world. Jellyfish are found across all oceans in the world. Jellyfish exist at a wide range of depths and water conditions, from the ocean surface to floor. They look like shapeless blobs when they wash up on the shore, but look extremely graceful and dangerous when they are afloat in water. There are over 2000 species of jellyfish known in the world, with many more species being discovered as man searches the depths of the ocean.

Jellyfish are a member the phylum Cnidaria, to which the coral, sea whip and sea anemones also belong. They are simple invertebrates and are mobile unlike all other member species of the phylum Cnidaria. The movements of jellyfish are usually subject to winds and currents of the ocean, although they are capable of vertical movement.

The body parts of a jellyfish radiate from the central axis and are perfectly symmetrical. The perfectly symmetrical body of the jellyfish allows it to respond to danger from all sides. It also helps it in being able to detect food from every direction. The body of a jellyfish contains only a nervous system and the nerve receptors themselves formulate appropriate reaction to detection of light, odor, pressure and other external stimuli. The jellyfish does not have a brain or any specialized functional system;. Jellyfish has an outer layer called the epidermis, and an inner layer which is gastrodermis which lines the gut. In between is the thick, elastic-like jelly known as mesoglea. In a simple digestive cavity lies the gullet, stomach and the intestine. On one end of the cavity is the mouth; on the other is the anus. There are four to eight oral arms near the mouth that help in bring the food near the mouth, along with the tentacles. In fact, only 5% of the body of a jellyfish is solid matter.

Jellyfish have different shapes, sizes and colors. They can be smaller than an inch or larger than 7 feet in diameter, with tentacles spanning more than a 100 feet! Irrespective of their size, jellyfish can only have control over their vertical movement. Horizontally, their movement is completely controlled by the wind and the current. Their bell shape allows them contract and force outer outwards to get a push upwards.

Jellyfish have the ability to sting with their tentacles. Their tentacles have a number of capsule like apparatus that are filled with paralysis causing toxins and are fired when the tentacles comes in contact with something. Jellyfish use this facility mainly for hunting; However, jellyfish also use this facility to defend themselves. The toxins in the tentacles are powerful enough to paralyze their victim and buy enough time to escape, if not to kill it. However, in the case of humans, most jellyfish stings will only result in minor discomfort. The severity of stings is high in jellyfish found in warm and temperate oceans and these can be dangerous to humans.

Visit the site HERE