The following may sound boring, but I just wanna keep it in my blog... It's my final assignment for Prof Lum. He's a really interesting lecturer...

Name: Marliyana Binte Mohamad Noor
Module: AAB101 Biodiversity in Natural Ecosystems
Title: 3 Places I Would Like to Visit

Local - Singapore:

The first place that I would like to visit would be the coral reefs in Singapore. I travelled all the way to Terengganu last year (not that I regret it, though it is kind of far for someone like me who do not travel much) to take a look at the coral reefs at Pulau Redang, only to find out this year that Singapore has its own coral reefs! We have visited Sungei Buloh to take a look at the mangrove (partly land, partly water)habitat and Macritchie reservoir (land)to take a look at the forest habitat in Singapore as part of our Biodiversity module and it feels incomplete if I do not visit the coral reefs (water) as well. Coral reefs are afterall rainforests of the sea, as deemed by some.

Coral reefs are very sensitive to changes in its surroundings and around the world, many are being damaged by the rising temperature of the ocean caused by global warming. The rising water temperature has damaged the zooxanthellae that used to live symbiotically with the corals, causing an effect called bleaching on the corals. Zooxanthellae are important to the corals as they supply nutrients, produced during photosynthesis, to them. If the water temperature keeps on rising, and no new symbionts live with the corals to supply the food for them, before long coral reefs would be a thing of the past. Therefore, I must catch it before it’s too late.
In Singapore, hard corals reefs are commonly seen on many of our Southern shores and some are also found on our Northern shores. Eventhough our reefs are small in size, about 0.01% the size of the Great Barrier Reef only, there are actually about half as many coral species, right here in this island, which majority of the world cannot locate its location on the world map!

Most of the reefs are hidden from view in the sediment-laden waters, due to on-going coastal development, but it is said that during low tide, the water would clear up and some of the reefs would be revealed. I wouldn’t have to snorkel, much less to swim or dive. To think that they are just are just half an hour away from the city centre!


Regional – Philippines:

If I were to visit a rainforest in the region, it would definitely be the tropical rainforest on the Philippine islands of Bohol, Mindanao, Mindoro, Negros and Palawan. The rainforests here are still in their pristine state. The description of the biodiversity of the rainforest by Angel C. Alcala is simply too captivating.
The crowns of the lower tree strata that formed a continuous forest canopy, effectively preventing light rays from penetrating to the forest floor, except in areas where the canopy was broken by fallen trees is something that one cannot experience in Singapore ‘forests’. The abundant climbing bamboos, rattan, tree ferns, palms, and lianas, ferns, aerial mosses, and orchids grew on tree trunks, decaying vegetation and leaf litter covering the forest floor, diverse small animals and lower plants are some of Angel’s description of the rainforest. According to her, inside the rainforest itself, there are many microhabitats that one may chance upon. Where else would I get to observe so much in one place?

Apart from seeing the plants and animals, here I get to feel the wetness and humidity of the surroundings, smell the decaying matter and hear the different animal calls and sounds of animal movements and the occasional breaking of twigs and branches in the day and the sounds of birds, frogs and insects at night. It seems that the rainforests in Philippines awakens all my senses.

There are an estimated 13,500 plant species, of which about 8,000 are flowering plants and variety of land vertebrate species, of which approximately 80 are amphibians, some 240 reptiles, 556 birds (resident and migratory), and 174 mammals. Of all these, 75 percent of the amphibians, 70 percent of reptiles, 44 percent of birds, and 64 percent of mammals are unique to Philippines only. In addition, there is a possibility of finding new species as well!

At the same time, sad to say, there is also a high probability of species extinctions here. Already some 52 native vertebrate species are in the critical or endangered categories, and a great many more are listed as threatened. So, once again, before many of these species go extinct, I would certainly want to take a look at them “live” before it’s too late. It was quite a saddening experience to walk into the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity to see the life-size animals on display and to know that they will never walk on the face of the earth again.


International – Australia

Australia is certainly another place not to be missed. Since it has been an island on its own for millions of years, its wildlife has been able to evolve independently to give interesting distinct flora and fauna. Australia is said to have the highest species richness of a country in the world. It is estimated that Australia has up to 900 different species, and out of this 900, 300 are unique to Australia only, as some of the earlier species interbreed with other species and then produce new hybrids.. Australia is a great place to study how time and isolation impacts biodiversity in a certain place. There are groups of animals whose relatives have long since disappeared from other parts of the world.

Australia has about 300 species of mammals in total and it is the only continent to have all three types of mammals; the monotremes, the marsupials, and the placentals. The monotremes are the only mammals to lay eggs. The only three monotremes, the Platypus and two species of Echidna, and can all be found only in Australia, apart from New Guinea.

The marsupials are mammals whose young are born in an immature state and so, the females usually carry and nurse their young in pouches or pouch-like area on their abdomens. About half of the Australia’s native mammals are marsupials and most of the 140 species of marsupials there are found nowhere else in the world; except New Guinea. Of course, Australia is widely known for its koala bears and kangaroos, which are marsupials. In fact, Australia has over 60 species of different types of kangaroos. There are big red kangaroos, gray kangaroos, wallabies, rock wallabies, wallaroos, pademelons and quokkas; the most familiar kangaroo probably being the Eastern Gray Kangaroos'. Some unique kangaroos are the tiny bunny rabbit sized ones called a 'musky rat kangaroo', and those that live in the canopy, called 'tree kangaroos'.

It is in Australia and the surrounding islands where the marsupials have really evolved to such a spectacular effect, whereby they have exploded into a diverse array of forms, to fill in the niches that are filled elsewhere by other mammals. Thus the monkeys and squirrels are replaced by possums, the carnivores are replaced by tiger cats or quolls and others, and the deer and antelope are replaced with kangaroos and wallabies.

Australia's biodiversity lies in those species that are found nowhere else. There are over 750 birds recorded living in or visiting it's shores, but there are more endemic species than any other country in the world. That is, about 300 species are found nowhere else on Earth. Most of the Australian birds are not at all closely related to those overseas, eventhough they may superficially resemble them. For example, there are robins that are not robins, flycatchers that are not flycatchers, magpies that are not magpies, magpie larks that are not magpies nor larks, and cuckoo-shrikes that are neither cuckoos nor shrikes. Probably the most important of these endemic birds are the `Honeyeaters'. This is the biggest family of birds in Australia and they can account for more than half the birds living in any given area.
The plants in Australia are also interesting to observe. The Eucalyptus plant symbolises Australia's vegetation and ecology and national identity in so many ways. There are hundreds and hundreds of species. They represent biodiversity in every sense of the world, for they also exhibit broad genetic diversity within the species, with some of the wider ranging species, like the 'Coolibah' and is found along dry river beds in the drier parts of the country and looks very different. Hybrids are also produced in different areas. They range in size from the bush like multi-stemmed mallees, to the giant Mountain Ash, which is the tallest flowering plant in the world.

And this was his reply to me when I submitted my assignment, via e-mail...

Dear Marliyana,

How are you?

Thank you for sending me your assignment.

What a fascinating choice of places? I hope you get to visit them soon, especially the Philippines, as there is very little left of its natural places and they are going fast. Palawan is still relatively green, and Mindanao in places, but safety might be an issue in parts of this beautiful island.

Maybe you can start with your next holiday?

Speaking of holidays, I hope you are enjoying a safe and happy one. See you in the New Year!

Best wishes,
Shawn

Such a sweet lecturer huh? He'a a unique lecturer and individual, Even his name is unique.... :D Prof LUM Shawn Kaihekulani Yamauchi (NSSE). Woah!