In
my opinion, mosquitoes, sand flies and leeches were the most disfavor
invertebrate in Borneo Island. In fact, these animals can causes
unpleasant skin
rashes for certain people who is allergic to their bites. However, the
existence of these invertebrate which made tropical forest differ from
temperate forest. For those who have been in real forest of Borneo, it
is an obligation to experience leech bites. I remembered when I first
joined SFC, one of the question asked was, “Have you been baptized
before?”. I was blur that time, because I thought it was about
Christianity. Actually, what he meant by “baptize” was leech bites. If
you have not been “baptize” (bitten by leeches), then you are not
qualified as a real forester. So, for those who have gone through this
course, I don’t think leeches were a big problem, and yet we should be
glad that we all have been “baptized” by the jungle of Borneo, the
richest forest in the world. I’m sure it was a very meaningful
experience.
Mount
Kinabalu is the highest mountain between Himalayas and New
Guinea, located at Northern Borneo, Sabah, Malaysia. The area covered
is approximately 1250 km2 and the center of
this circular
area lies near 6° 5′ N, 116°35′ E, with a radius of
about 20
km. The elevation ranges from about 200 m to 4094 m on the Low’s Peak,
the highest point. As a compliment, all hikers who managed to reach the
highest point on the Low’s Peak, a certificate will be given.
Fortunately, all the students (BB08) managed to reach the tip, though
some student almost give up. This mountain is one of the
youngest major mountains in the world and may still be rising at a rate
of about 0.3 cm/year. The glaciation occurred during Pleistocene
produced the present ice-carved topography of the summit area. During
the Pleistocene, the summit supported an ice cap of 5 km2
in
extent. Deglaciation of the summit occurred about 9200 years ago and
today, we can still see the remains of the glaciation and deglaciation
processes, which constituted the unique and aesthetic view of Mt.
Kinabalu.
On
the basis of species per unit area, Mt. Kinabalu may have one of the
most diverse floras on the earth. The
high diversity of Mt. Kinabalu
may be results from a combination of factors, such as great altitudinal
and climatic range from tropical rain forests near sea level to
freezing alpine montane forest near the summit; precipitous topography
causing effective geographic and reproductive isolation of species over
short distances; geological history of Malay Archipelago involving
movement of several tectonic plates; a diverse geology with many
localized edaphic conditions; frequent climatic oscillations influenced
by El-Nino events; and environmental instability resulting from
landslides, droughts, river flooding and glaciation. A substantial part
of the high species diversity may have resulted from natural selections
and adaptation of new genotypes to new environment owing to alterations
of gene pool within a community.
For insects and other invertebrates, diversity decreased rapidly, when
the altitude increases. For instance, no ants and mosquitoes can be
found at elevation 3000 m and above. On our stayed at Raban Rata, only
insects such as bees, beetles, moths, Lycaenids, stick insects, some
dipteras, and water skater (near Paka Cave); mollusc such as snails;
arachnid such as
spiders; nemathod such as Giant Earthworm; and
Annelid
such as Giant
Red Leech.
We are very lucky to spot the giant leech and also the giant earthworm
which are thought to be endemic to Mount Kinabalu. This Giant Red Leech
which
can reach 30 cm (one feet) of its length, only preys on the Giant
Earthworms. It is very fortunate for us, as if this leech feeds on
blood, I can’t imagine how much blood it can suck for one serving. The
giant grey-blue earthworm can reach 70 cm long when stretched out, and
lives in burrows in the soft and thick soils that build lush forest
around Paka Cave shelter, at some 3,000 m above sea level. Similarly,
this giant leech can be found at 2,500-3,000 m altitude, whereby the
trail runs over a rocky outcrop
near to the Mempening and Paka Cave shelter, and it is only during or
after a heavy pouring rain. Apparently, very little to no study were
done on this giant leech and giant worm occurrence at Kinabalu. Some
possible reasons of their occurrence may be the giant earthworm will
come out to the
surface to breathe or mate after heavy rainfall, and at the same time,
this giant leech will come out during and after heavy rain pour to prey
on the giant eartworm.
According to Santiago (one of our TFs), there are less butterflies can
be found on such high elevation near the summit of Mt. Kinabalu. In
fact, more moths can survive near the summit, and this moth is active
at night. In order to adapt to the harsh environment (high UV rays and
freezing weather) of Mt. Kinabalu, there are some modifications on its
wings, such as thick hairs and very colorful wings. The hairs on its
wings will trap the heat and the colorful wings will reflect
the
UV rays. This modifications allows the moth to survive in such harsh
environment and the moth sometimes can be mistaken as butterfly by
its colorful appearance. As we know, Lycaenids and ants were in
mutualism relationship, but on Mt. Kinabalu, Lycaenids did not
associate with ants as no ants can survive on freezing weather and high
UV rays. This Lycaenids can survive without association with ants,
owing to lesser parasites and predators found on the mountain. Every
single alterations of climate and environment will change the species
composition and diversity. Mt. Kinabalu is so unique that many isolated
speciation have occurred and more species which is endemic to the
mountain were found each year. There are more species waiting to be
discovered or described in Mt. Kinabalu.
Some
pictures of inverterbrate (name and contributor) found during our
stayed at Laban Rata;