It's almost the end of 2010... It has also been a special year with several events that occurred in Singapore, and internationally. So here's the top stuff that I found meaningful, and concerns for 2010. In no ranking order:
1)
International Year of Biodiversity 2010The United Nations declared 2010 to be the year of Biodiversity. In view of the increasing urbanization and other anthropogenic impacts, we are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. To alleviate this rate of loss, this year aims to increase awareness and spread the message of protecting our natural heritage and reducing our own impacts on the environment. Through this FaceBook page, people around the world share their concerns, likes and views in celebrating IYB in their home country. Check out this link for more details:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/iyb2010
Just recently, on the
18 Dec 2010, there was a closing ceremony held in Kanazawa, Japan. However, this does not mean that we should only be more mindful of biodiversity in the year of 2010. In the coming 2011 and years to come, 2010 should serve as a reminder of what we have done to achieve a step closer to reducing biodiversity losses. Our journey to protecting this natural heritage begins from here. :)
2)
BiodiverCity Competition held by NParksAs part of celebrating IYB 2010, NParks organized this BiodiverCity Photo Competition held in Singapore. Singapore is a small country with almost 4 million people. As a result of the increasing importance of quality of life and lifestyles, much of our forests and coral reefs have been reclaimed to make way for urbanization. Even though we have lost a large proportion of our natural habitats, the resilience of flora and fauna persist on, even within our urban areas. To encourage the members of the public to venture out of their box, this photo competition also served as a platform to show them that we do not lack of biodiversity.
Congratulations to the winners of the various categories. Your relentless efforts to photograph our local biodiversity will go a long way. :)
3)
Mega Marine Survey2010 also marks the launch of the first and comprehensive marine realm survey in Singapore. MMS will be conducted over a period of three years, with the first two years comprising of collection surveys, and the last year with workshops and seminars held by taxonomist experts.
This is definitely something wonderful to celebrate as we have lost almost 60% of our local coral reefs, and yet surveys from the Marine Lab, NUS has shown that species diversity is still higher than some places in the region. Furthermore, coral reefs are known to be highly connected (that includes the entry of ships and ballast waters). By performing a thorough survey, we can also incorporate short-term studies on the impacts of species on local species and the environment.
The first part of the surveys will concentrate on the mudflats (with 33 sites to complete!). The team went out on their first survey on
2 Dec 2010 at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserves and the volunteers sure looked enthusiastic! To find out more about this survey and if you would like to chip in your effort, check out the FaceBook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mega-Marine-Survey-of-Singapore/1368926296815494) Mass Coral Spawning (April 2010)
Almost an annual event for the lab, this year a
SECORE workshop was conducted on Tropical Marine Science Institute with regards to coral spawning and reproduction. Several scientists came to Singapore to witness this event, and also to impart their skills on larval rearing and cryo-preservation methods. Check out
my post on what I did to help in collecting these egg-sperm bundles!
5) Coral Bleaching
Another major event that occurred throughout the region from Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia to Indonesia, and several Pacific islands such as Maldives, experienced coral bleaching. Coral bleaching is the whitening of corals, due to the 'forced' expulsion of their symbiont zooxanthellae due to elevated temperatures or other induced stressors. Water temperatures were recorded to reach almost 34 degrees compared to the normal 28-30 degrees. Reports stated that this is one of the worse coral bleaching event, as almost 80% of the corals died and recovery took much longer than previous events.
In Singapore, we also witnessed a period of bleaching from mid-June till late August. Fortunately, corals have recovered with little mortality in our local reefs when surveyed in the recent two months. Also, the Bubble tip anemone (below) is beginning to show recovery! It is a rather sad sight to see that the poor anemonefish living in its white castle.
It is also fortunate, that unlike the giant clams in Phuket and Malaysia, our local residents were not observed to bleach or stress out during this period of elevated temperatures. Ria has also started a
Bleach Watch Singapore to keep us updated about bleaching reports. Do join the group to find out more about bleaching.
6)
Oil Spill off Changi East (25 May 2010)Just off Changi East, a collision between two oil tankers occurred. The oil spread towards the areas of East Coast, Tanah Merah and Changi. In the midst of clean ups using dispersant, oil booms, and digging, and
when news of Chek Jawa was hit by the spill, some of us decided to check up on the health of the animals. I also provided
an article about how some people responded to the entire event.
Unfortunately, the
effects of the oil indeed harm
several species of animals such as the mantis shrimps, moon snails, peanut worms, and several crabs. Currently, a group of students from the lab are carrying out experiments to find out what are the possible short-term and long-term impacts of oil on various animal species. If you haven't already know,
do join the FaceBook group to read about it.7)
International Youth Conference on Biodiversity, Aichi, NagoyaIn mid-August, I signed up to attend this international conference to find out how youths around the world are contributing back their home. I must say, it is really great to see so many youths taking interest and ownership in protecting biodiversity (though we have our fair share of different opinions), we ultimately share the same sentiments towards biodiversity losses.
In this conference, discussions and statement writing comprised a huge portion of our time. We also had time to visit Satoyama, a town that prides its eco-friendly methods of preserving and protecting biodiversity. It sure is interesting to see how these Japanese take pride in their work and imparting these skills to the youths! In the recently concluded COP10, the
Nagoya Protocol was adopted. Though I provided my views and reservations on the clarity of statements, with time, I hope we will get there somehow!
I found two of my fellow participants who contributed their thoughts and overview of the conference. Check out what
Vanesa from Bulgaria (only 17!) and
Tareq currently studying in KL about their thoughts on the IYC.
8) Giant Clam Census Survey
I suppose that amidst all these happenings, my project is probably the most exciting bit. That's because alot more memorable things happened during this period of one year. I made alot of new friends and new contacts. Also, I made quite good findings on my project and the opportunities to explore the unknowns in Singapore!
I'm happy to conclude my survey that in an area of 87515 sq metres, we have 57 individuals of giant clams (and this number may be higher due to crypsis and difficulty in finding these individuals). Out of this 57, two species of giant clams -
Tridacna crocea (burrowing clam) and
Tridacna squamosa (fluted clam) could be found. Unfortunately, the
Hippopus hippopus and
Tridacna maxima were not found, and probably locally extirpated.
To top it all off, I really look forward to 2011 with more fruitful trips and surveys. :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
"I believe the ovulid is Phenacovolva nectarea (Iredale, 1930). Some authors consider this to be synonymous with Phenacovolva rosea (Adams), but in my report (currently submitted for review), I followed Lorenz & Fehse (2009) and consider them to be different species. They are very variable in colours, and yours is peculiarly pale. However, you will notice that it has the usual yellow papillae and dark spotting, and the foot at the rear is colourfully stripped, just like the red shells."
Don't belittle this snail as it is a highly efficient predator that feeds on bottom dwelling bivalves and gastropods. Unfortunately, Hoong Wei also added that this snail often gets trapped in fishing nets.
Debby has also blogged and described this little fishy on the Hantu Blog - check it out to see what is known about this fish in our local reefs. There seem to have been a taxonomic disparity as the name Dactylopus kuiteri is the old name, and I couldn't find much about it off the net besides the relationship it shares with the infamous colourful Mandarin Fishes.
