Biodiversity and Conservation of Marine Ecosystems

Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS) was established in August 1991 as a place for undertake research and postgraduate teaching in Marine Science and Coastal Ecosystem. The main objective of CEMACS is to enhance the capability of conducting integrated and innovative studies and experiments to solve problems related to marine and coastal ecosystems. CEMACS is located at Teluk Aling the northwest coast of Penang Island. Presently, research and teaching conducted at the centre is focused on biodiversity and conservation of marine ecosystems, coastal forest ecosystems and marine mammal ecology .

At CEMACS, their study and researches areas includes, Study on Mangrove Ecosystem, Marine Pollution and Toxicology, Mariculture Research, Coral Reef Ecosystem, Integrated Coastal Zone ,Marine Sciences Research and Biodiversity Conservation.

The most unique features are CEMACS are consist of five major habitat which are the forest ecosystem, river ecosystem, mangrove ecosystem, coastal ecosystem and marine ecosystem, all in one place which is the smallest national park in Malaysia, the Penang National park and it cannot been found in the other major Malaysian nature reserves.

Get quality help now

WriterBelle

Verified writer

Proficient in: Ecology

4.7 (657)

“ Really polite, and a great writer! Task done as described and better, responded to all my questions promptly too! ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The CEMACS building is strategically built in the middle of the forest and the coastal areas , and within a few miles of tracking we can also reach Sungai Tukun which are the area for river and mangrove ecosystem studies. In the forest areas, beside the study of biodiversity and ecology of the forest itself, CEMACS also provide facilities and opportunities for soil and agriculture study.

The main type of forest here, is the secondary forest. A secondary forest or second-growth forest is a forest which has re-grown after a timber harvest.

The species of plants are numerous, including rocky bonsai, timber tree and herbal plants. Trees and plants that can be found here include Chengal, Meranti Seraya, Jelutong, Gaharu, Tongkat Ali, and Bintangor. The coast is dominated by disturbed secondary forest and hardy plants, such as screw pines and coconut tree. The red paper-like bark of the pelawan trees are abundant undergrowth and we can observed ferns spreading between the trees. Other noticeable trees included Casuarina trees, Pandan Tree and Palm Oil Tree. Several mangrove trees are found along the Tukun river, such as Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Rhizophora macrorrhiza and Sonneratia caseolaris. Wild orchids also can be sighted on steep rocky slopes and CEMACS also is a habitat for the endangered orchid which is Penang Slipper Orchid. Fully-grown timber trees are found deep inside the forest beyond the coast covered by the secondary forest. There are also pitcher plants Nepenthes which can be found between the green trees in the forest. The latest record shows that they were approximately 450 species of plants that can be found in the Penang National Park.

Among common animals that can be spotted in and around the park squirrels and monkeys. Dusky leaf monkeys and long-tailed macaques are the common species that can been found here while Giant Black Squirrel and flying squirrel. This National Park also is the habitat to 46 species of birds such as stork-billed kingfishers Pelargopsis capensis , white-breasted waterhens Amaurornis phoenicurus and great egrets Ardea alba. Other noticeable big birds like White -Bellied Sea Eagles, Brahminy Kites, and Kingfisher are occasionally spotted soaring in the sky of Penang National Park. Small and medium sized mammals and reptiles such as wild boars, wild cats, rat, bats, monitor lizards and snakes are common here. The meromictic lake has scarce fauna life, since it is usually deprived of oxygen in the lower layer. The brackish water is inhibits by snails from the species Faunus ater, which shell is unique among the seashells. The sandy stretch of Pantai Kerachut is also a favourite nesting place of Green Turtles from April to August, and the Olive Ridley from September to February. Data recorded shows that around 200 species of animals had been found here and the discovering of new species is quite slow but not stopping

For my I-Naturalist project I have focussed more on marine and coastal ecosystem, because only by the seashore I can discover and spotted abundance of animals from a variety of species. Mostly the animals that I had captured for the I-Naturalist are from the phylum Chordata, Arthropoda, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Echinodermata and Nematoda. There are 9 animals that I had captured here the shore crab, octopus, millipede, long- tailed monkey and some seashells.

All the animals have their own role in the ecosystem to maintain the balanced and flow of the energy in ecosystem. Crabs plays important role that help keep the sea clean. They are scavengers that eat the dead stuff that settles on the bottom of the ocean and also eat moss, bacteria that barely visible to the human naked eye, but very visible to them. They reclaim nutrients from the carcasses of larger animal that have died and they themselves also are the prey for other animals like monkey and birds. Next are the squid, this animals plays the important role in the food web of the ecosystem, squid contribute to the ecosystem by providing food for other creatures. Humans are probably the squid’s greatest natural enemy but dolphins and seabirds also eats this creature for their diet. Squid also help maintain the ecosystem by eating enormous quantities of food. Their specific diet differs depending on the region they live in, but the majority of their diet is krill, fish, crustaceans like shrimp and small crab and other squid. Lastly is the umbonium, Umbonium plays an important role in the marine ecosystem, which is the widely used food source for fish and shell borer gastropod, and are considered to affect the distribution of near organism in the marine ecosystem.

Some threats that The CEMACS and Penang National Park are facing is the Loss of Flora and Fauna. In addition to that, the park is also facing serious environmental threats in terms of flora and fauna. There has been reported loss of species such as the clouded leopard due to illegal poachers. In addition to that, turtle eggs are also reportedly being stolen from the coastal area which will decrease the chance of turtle visiting in the future. Unaware visitors have also plucked flowers or stealing ornamental plants from the National Park. Besides stealing and plucking of plants, the arrival of farmers around the vicinity of the Penang National Park has caused destruction of trees resulted from forest clearing for agriculture purposes. We can see that some places have also been illegally planted with fruit trees, spices and flowers as well as vegetables. This might disturb or affect the ecosystem flow and balance of the forest. Besides that, with the frequent visit from the tourist more pollution had occurred at the Tukun river and the coastal. This is due to low level of awareness of environmental sustainability between the tourism. This solid waste pollutions especially plastics material used by the visitors for recreational purposes as well as pollutions by illegal small scale food sellers in the park. We know that how plastic pollution can harm our marine and coastal ecosystem right.

The efforts to conserve the ecosystem and biodiversity of Penang National Park can be seen by the building of CEMACS itself, CEMACS run some researches and experiments to help maintain the diversity as well as balanced the ecosystem. As an example is the Oyster culture, it is considered “green” mariculture as these organisms are filter feeders which means they feed on naturally available plankton and the culture setup does not require any extra artificial feed which may pollute the waters. Success Oyster culture had led to further researches on the culture of other organisms such as mud crabs, mantis shrimps and sea cucumbers. Other CEMACS project are Management of Dugong and Seagrass resource in Malaysia, The campaign main objectives is to educate the public on best practices associated with dugong and seagrass management, including proper boating activity and the correct and the controlled safe boat speeds. First actions are for the rescue of live stranded and incidentally caught dugongs, the seagrass habitat protection and safe and proper waste management. Besides that they also had a Turtle Conservation centre near the Keranchut beach. This rehab centre is built to protect the eggs of the turtles from illegal poachers. In addition, to maintain Penang National Park as one of the favourable are to lay eggs among the sea turtles. This conservation centre, will protect the mom and its hatchlings from the laying eggs process. Then the eggs is taken to incubate and the small grown baby turtle is nurture until it is strong enough to be released back to the sea and to its mom. This effort has saved thousands of turtle lives and maybe safe the species from the edge of extinction. The common turtle that are conserved are the leatherback turtle, the hawksbill turtle and the olive ridley.

As conclusion, what I can said is Penang is one of the most diverse states in Malaysia, the richness of animals and plants species are overwhelmed and quite fascinating. Besides that, I also felt sad because most of the epidemic species in Penang are in the edge of extinction. This all because of us, the illegal poaching, the farming and the illegal deforestation. All of this had cause a big negative impact on our ecosystem and the rich biodiversity.