Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia

This study measures beetle diversity and distribution pattern along elevations at Fraser’s Hill, a pristine tropical forest in Malaysia. Sites were sampled at 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 1800 m a.s.l. using two light traps, two Malaise traps and 25 pitfall traps at each elevation. Sampling was carried...

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Main Authors: Muneeb M. Musthafa, Fauziah Abdullah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2019
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/1/08%20Muneeb%20M.%20Musthafa.pdf
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author Muneeb M. Musthafa,
Fauziah Abdullah,
author_facet Muneeb M. Musthafa,
Fauziah Abdullah,
author_sort Muneeb M. Musthafa,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This study measures beetle diversity and distribution pattern along elevations at Fraser’s Hill, a pristine tropical forest in Malaysia. Sites were sampled at 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 1800 m a.s.l. using two light traps, two Malaise traps and 25 pitfall traps at each elevation. Sampling was carried out at three months’ intervals in 2015. Altogether, 1981 beetles representing 32 families and 116 species were collected, with proportion of obtained species above 70% at all elevations. Species richness was not significant among elevations, thus forming no discernible pattern of species distribution. Higher Shannon diversity increased steadily with elevation and dominance was lowest at the two highest elevations, while beetle abundance decreases significantly with elevation. There was no significant difference between the diversity values at 500 m and 1000 m, and 1500 m and 1800 m, whereas there was significant difference between 500 m and 1500 m, and 1000 m and 1800 m. The results highlight the importance of different microhabitats for different beetle species and their own responses to environmental parameters that differ with altitudinal clines. These findings also highlight the importance of Fraser’s Hill as a key location for biological conservation and as protected area.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:137332019-11-29T09:16:27Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/ Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia Muneeb M. Musthafa, Fauziah Abdullah, This study measures beetle diversity and distribution pattern along elevations at Fraser’s Hill, a pristine tropical forest in Malaysia. Sites were sampled at 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and 1800 m a.s.l. using two light traps, two Malaise traps and 25 pitfall traps at each elevation. Sampling was carried out at three months’ intervals in 2015. Altogether, 1981 beetles representing 32 families and 116 species were collected, with proportion of obtained species above 70% at all elevations. Species richness was not significant among elevations, thus forming no discernible pattern of species distribution. Higher Shannon diversity increased steadily with elevation and dominance was lowest at the two highest elevations, while beetle abundance decreases significantly with elevation. There was no significant difference between the diversity values at 500 m and 1000 m, and 1500 m and 1800 m, whereas there was significant difference between 500 m and 1500 m, and 1000 m and 1800 m. The results highlight the importance of different microhabitats for different beetle species and their own responses to environmental parameters that differ with altitudinal clines. These findings also highlight the importance of Fraser’s Hill as a key location for biological conservation and as protected area. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2019-07 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/1/08%20Muneeb%20M.%20Musthafa.pdf Muneeb M. Musthafa, and Fauziah Abdullah, (2019) Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia. Sains Malaysiana, 48 (7). pp. 1395-1407. ISSN 0126-6039 http://www.ukm.my/jsm/malay_journals/jilid48bil7_2019/KandunganJilid48Bil7_2019.html
spellingShingle Muneeb M. Musthafa,
Fauziah Abdullah,
Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
title Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
title_full Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
title_fullStr Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
title_short Beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia
title_sort beetles species richness along environmental gradients at montane ecosystem in fraser’s hill, peninsular malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/13733/1/08%20Muneeb%20M.%20Musthafa.pdf