Chapter One: Background
1. (p. 3) The Sunds of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Palawan, Java, Bali and their neighbouring islands.
2. (p. 18) A 'species' is a group of actually or potentially interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from all other types of organisms. Within a species, populations can sometimes be recognized as being distinct on the basis of colour, shape or behaviour; these are called 'subspecies'. Similiar species are grouped within a 'genus' and every know organism is named using its genus and species, and these are correctly written either in italics or underlined. The genus begins with a capital letter, the species (and subspecies if necessary) with a small letter. Thus most cats are in the genus Felis, which has various species such as the domestic cat Felis domesticus, the jungle cat Felis bengalensis, and the flatheaded cat Felis planiceps. The tiger Panthera tigris and the clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa belong to different genera (plural of genus) but are in the same 'family', Felidae, as the Felis cats. Family names are written in normal script, starting with a capital, and usually ending in '-dae' for animals and '-aceae' for plants; Felidae is just one family in the 'order' Carnivora which includes dogs, civets and bears. Order names are written in normal script starting with a capital letter and generally end in '-a'. Thus, to summarize, the levels of classification used in this book are:
Order -> Family -> Genus -> Species -> Subspecies
The use of these names may seem complicated, but it is a very elegant system conforming to many rules and is recognized and used by scientists throughout the world.
3. (p. 39) Bearded pigs Sus barbatus are also know to migrate, probably in response to changes in food availability, but records of this seem to be confined to Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia.
Chapter Two: Mangrove Forests
1. (p. 69) In this chapter the term 'mangrove forests' includes not only the vegetated area but also the exposed land or silt area between it and the sea.
2. (p. 86) The measurement of dry weight biomass of a forest requires access to drying ovens, time and patience. If one or more of these is not available it is possible to use the allometric relationships determined by Ong et al. (1980). In these the above-ground dry weight (wa.g.)for Bruguiera trees is:
Wa.g. = 0.003371 (diameter at chest height)2167
and for Rhizophora trees is:
Wa.g.=0.0277π (diameter at chest height)2167
Relationships for other species can be determined from first principles using a number of samples.
3. (p. 110) The binding of tannins onto protein is what is felt when one bites through unripe banana or banana skin. Bitter tastes, such as coffee and papaya leaves, are caused by compounds called alkaloids.
Chapter Four: Rivers and Lakes
1. (p. 134) The entire Wolffia plant is less than 0.5 x 1 mm.
2. (p. 146) Saprophytes are organisms that derive their energy from dead organic matter and are the chief agents in the process of decay.
3. (p. 158) The goldfish Carassius auratus is the popular aquarium fish; the 'goldfish' of fishponds and lakes is in fact the golden carp Cyprinus carpio flavipennis.
Chapter Five: Peatswamp Forests
1. (p. 167) Soil which contains 35%-65% organic material is called 'muck.' (Anderson 1964).
2. (p. 171) Secondary compounds are compounds which do not play a role in metabolism.
3. (p. 173) Anderson (1976) used the term 'padang' for peatswamp forest which contained many low trees (about 800/ha). 'Padang vegetation' (p. 265) is poor in species, dwarfed and relatively open, so in this chapter Anderson's padang forest is referred to as 'pole forest'. Anderson (1959) had used this term earlier in descriptions of Sarawak and Brunei peatswamp forests.
4. (p. 175) 'Basal area' is a forestry term for the cross-sectional area of a trunk at breast height. The total basal area of trees in a plot is a rough measure of the amount of forest present.
5. (p. 176) The term 'predator' is used because the seed represents a new individual which can be killed outright. A herbivore grazing on leaves or eating fruit is clearly not a predator.
Chapter Seven: Lowland Forests
1. (p. 189) The Simpson Index of Diversity is given by: D = 1 - ∑(pi)2 where p. is the proportion of species 'i' in a community. Zero is the lowest possible index (when only one species is present) and the highest index is
2. (p. 234) Pheromones are volatile chemicals produced by animals. The ingestion or smell of a pheromone produced by one individual of a particular species can determine or influence the behaviour of another individual of the same species.
3. (p. 238) The remarkable nesting behaviour of hornbills has been described by various authors (Bartels 1956; Bartels and Bartels 1937; Johns 1982).
4. (p. 240) There are persistent reports of a ninth species, 'orang pendek' or 'short man', in the Kerinci area. Since 1995 small teams have been trying to collect solid support for its existence. A very impressive cast of a large foot print has been obtained which baffles mammal specialists, and the field workers, even those who started as sceptics, have reported positive sightings. Photo traps have been set in the forest, but despite a fascinating range of exceptional large animal photographs, the orang pendek has remained elusive.
5. (p. 240) The distribution of tarsiers and orangutan used to overlap in southern Sumatra before the orangutan became extinct there. It is doubtful whether the range of the eastern leaf monkey has ever overlapped with that of the orangutan.
Chapter Eight: Uncommon Lowland Forests
1. (p. 264) Maps (1:50, 000) redrawn in 1945 from older Dutch maps were made available to the CRES team by the Head, Bureau of Ecology and Land Affairs, Bangka Tin Mining Unit.
2. (p. 266) 'Kulim' is the local name for Scorodocarpus borneensis (Afriastini 1982). This also grows naturally in species-poor stands but because of its value, there are only a few damaged skeletons of it left north of Muara Tembesi.
Chapter Eleven: Effects of Disturbance
1. (p. 361) On Siberut Island, the shifting agriculture traditionally practised does not include a burn; instead, fruit trees are planted amongst the fallen vegetation which remains to protect the soil until it rots down, slowly releasing nutrients to the soil. This 'wise' land practice is probably a result of the very high rainfall which makes a large burn difficult, and of the fact that the people do not traditionally grow hill rice (Anon. 1980a; Whitten 1982b).
2. (p. 374) A 1997 decree has stopped orangutan rehabilitation in Indonesia.
Chapter Thirteen: Urban Ecology
1. (p. 402) Corner (1952) and van Steenis (1981) can be used to identify virtually all the trees planted in towns and villages.
2. (p. 402) Acacia 'leaves' are in fact modified petioles or leaf stems and are correctly called phyllodes.
3. (p. 409) Tea dried gently in an oven is an effective and cheap desiccant.
4. (p. 418) A study of urban swiftlets has been published by Langham (1980).