Bickford on amphibian extinctions

“Don’t let these amphibians croak their last,” by Grace Chua. The Straits Times, 20 Aug 2008.
Up to half of all amphibian species could become extinct

THAT croaky chorus you hear coming from drains at dusk could belong to one of Singapore’s most common amphibians - the Asian toad or the banded bullfrog.

The toad has a burpy ‘curr, curr’ call and rough, warty skin, while the bullfrog is rotund, brown and cream, and ’sounds like a dying sheep,’ according to amphibian researcher David Bickford.

Both species number in the tens of thousands here, said the National University of Singapore assistant professor, who helped unearth the only known species of lung-less frog in Kalimantan last year.

Read more…

Chou Loke Ming - envisioning a coral paradise in Singapore by 2018

Prof Chou speaking at IYOR Singapore, 8th August 2008

Professor Chou Loke Ming, a marine biologist with the National University of Singapore (NUS) said a concerted effort made now by the Government, business sector and those in civil society can reverse current trends towards extinction.

Speaking last Saturday at the second International Year of the Reef (IYOR200 event, the pioneer conservationist said that to make this happen, ‘development agencies must treat reef protection as a real exercise and not just for public relations, and draw up improvement plans at the same time as their development plans’.

Before the latest study by NUS, scientists had thought at least 50 species had been lost to development work.

Prof Chou envisions a marine paradise by 2018, with many large young thriving reefs lining Singapore’s shores. He noted that restoration efforts had begun over the last decade.

Read more at - “Hope for coral reefs here,” by Shobana Kesava. The Straits Times, 16 Aug 2008.

Richard Corlett is back in town!

Richard Corlett was part of the Department of Botany up to 1987 when he left for Hong Kong. He’s now back in Singapore as a professor with the Department of Biological Science, his old hunting ground. He’s all set for a big bang with his seminar on seed dispersal this Friday.

It’ll probably be standing room only as he’ll bee sure to attract his former students, botanists and zoologists alike. So come early to grab a seat.

Click the image for details from the pdf of the talk.

Where is David Bickford?

Where has the frogman gone?.

He used to be a friendly face in the corridors of Block S2 when he suddenly vanished. Rumour had it he was banished to the Cold Palace in Block S15 where he is setting up shop.

So yes, it’s true - he has spanking new digs and I accosted Mingko one day for some pictures which she just sent me. I only had to holler at her twice in the corridor so its pretty fast work!

She says,

“S15, the former computing block, is now the Centre for Quantum Mechanics. Our [biodiversity] guys are on the 4th Floor.

David Bickford is at S15 04-08 and Ted Webb is at S15 04-07 and the ELTI folks are in 04-06 (more about him and them later).

The last picture is David pretending to be a Quantum Mechanics Theoretician - that stuff is in the CQT staff lounge in the 3rd floor. On the walls!”

Are we really recycling?

Some NUSSU SAVE undergrads just approached me about showing this video on improving our recycling effort in NUS to our undergrads during our orientation lectures. Click the link to take a look.

They explained the strange noise we hear at the beginning is due to some other activity that was going on nearby and it’d be ?removed in future versions. All this part of the many programmes in NUSSU SAVE’s Green Carnival 2008.

Its a short 2-minute video which evoked a smile and drives a simple point home. I have no problems showing this to undergrads during the introductory lecture of LSM1103 Biodiversity. I think they’ll watch and remember.

Marine Bio Lab super cleanup

In case you still don’t know what was the smell that dominated the S1 & S2 building at 31/07/2008 (Thursday), it was coming from the fridge of the field store!

20+ people joined the Marine Bio Lab’s SUPER cleanup yesterday, and successfully tidied up the lab, the (ultra stinky) field store and the dive store! Kudos to the lab’s members!

A little bit of sidelines:
- Terrapin blood stinks, badly…
- More than 3 types of air refreshers, together with N95 masks, were used to make the cleaners staying alive!
- About 7-truck-trip of rubbish was dumped!

Small store…

Supports BIG diversity (and abundance)!

Frozen Freezer… Please use chisel to open…

Essential materials for cleaning…

How to clean a stinking fridge (without wearing mask!) - Abby

Thank you (the bosses) for the KFC, it’s “licking finger” good!

Field studies honours students present

Friday, 18th July 2008: 3pm - 5pm
Faculty of Science, LT31:

• Subtidal
• Tidal
• Tea break
• Terrestrial 1
• Terrestrial 2

Subtidal: they mimicked the fishes

Inter-tidal: kept us in the dark

Light trap: lost a TA to a bee sting

Dung beetles: a tragic tale of missing bananas

Class photo - such cheery faces!

Away in Tioman, 7-13 Jul 2008

As part of LSM4263 Field Studies in Biodiversity, a bunch of grad students and staff are away in Pulau Tioman, Malaysia, with the department’s honours students and exchange students from University of New South Wales, Australia National University, University College London, University of Toronto and University of British Columbia.

The students are in teams exploring the reefs, inter-tidal habitats and forest and freshwater streams from 7th to 13th July 2008.

Nanthinee’s and Gwynne’s research in The Straits Times

“Discovering ‘insect technology’,” by Shobana Kesava. The Straits Times, 28 Jun 08.

INSECTS could be the inspiration for new tools to aid humans, with help from the latest DNA technology. Some projects here include:

# Dragonfly alert system

The humble dragonfly nymph could soon be the aquatic version of the canary in a coalmine.

Just like how the singing birds were used by miners to warn them of foul air, the dragonfly young, which live in ponds and reservoirs, could alert humans to water pollution.

National University of Singapore (NUS) postgraduate researcher Nanthinee Jeevanandam, 28, hopes to use their genetic fingerprint to help organisations like national water agency PUB determine the level of cleanliness of reservoir water.

Different dragonfly species have varied tolerance to pollutants such as lead and sulphate, and some require cleaner water or more oxygen.

So, looking at which species is thriving in the water would be a quick and chemical-free method of assessing water quality, she explained.

DNA barcoding would be used to tell the nymphs apart as they look virtually identical.

Miss Jeevanandam has already collected DNA sequences for about a quarter of Singapore’s 110 or so dragonfly species.

One day, they could all be on a DNA chip used in a portable kit.

# Military fly spy

A tiny fly that feeds on frog blood could one day help hone sophisticated military spyware.

The 2mm fly, discovered by NUS postgraduate student Gwynne Lim, 24, feeds on the blood of a tree-dwelling frog which lives in local and regional forests.

‘Despite its size, it manages to hear in stereo to locate the frog call in the cacophony of the forest.

‘If we find out how it does this, it could have applications for generating better hearing aids or military surveillance systems,’ she said.

The blood-sucker was among 15 lookalike species related to the sandfly, which Miss Lim identified through DNA barcoding.

Before she did so, only one species had been identified in the region - in 1930.

Such applications could be a decade away.

For now, Miss Lim is planning to study the flexible membranes which are flies’ equivalent of ‘ears’, and how the insects respond to different sounds.”

Nalini et al’s paper featured in Faculty of 1000