LSM1103 BIODIVERSITY : practical

Seahorse surprise last Friday

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:57:00 GMT

Last Friday, most groups were forced off the shore when rain clouds over Ubin and Tekong unleashed lightning repeatedly on those islands.

With the wind blowing towards Changi, I alerted the TAs and we all got off the beach. The dark clouds and strong winds had forewarned us so the transfer to the various shelters in Changi Beach Park was carried out quite quickly. Later two groups went to Changi Village reduce the congestion.

With us gone, the mynas used the peace to continue with their beach feeding.

While the TAs were disappointed about being unable to show their students an exciting array of fauna in various phyla, they made do and soldered on, using Casuarina and anything else they could talk about. I dropped in on a couple of groups and featured items from the strand line to brighten their afternoon with things to see - lots of plastics and mangrove hypocotyls.

Eventually, though, the strong winds blew the clouds away and the groups spread out over the shore to see what they could see and to check out the tanks setup for the fauna the TAs had come earlier to catch. A black and white cat kept us company.

Abigayle's group were lucky to try out the seine and I shared a video of their fortunate discovery of a pair of seahorses with the rest of the students in the lecture today.

We returned the fauna to the sea and left, happy that we managed to make the best of it. For the students, its the last field trip until their third year, provided they take ecology. However a lot of local opportunities exist these days, which is why Abi made several suggestions in a post-field trip email to her group.

Here's hoping Group B when its their time at the beach...

Abigayle Ng on Changi's marine life and links to find out more

N. Sivasothi — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 07:49:50 GMT

------ Message begins ------ From: Abigayle Ng

Hi Students,

Here's a list of the animals we caught (and released) while seining. Aren't you glad we got to go into the water? The photo album from the field trip on Flickr but here are some highlights (all the fish are Phylum Chordata - but what Class?):

Baby solefish - I think it might have been a Peacock sole, not too sure, check this link
Pipefishes - not sure if it's this species)
Crescent Perch
Filefishes - didn't quite get a look at them but could be this one
Baby butterflyfish - also didn't get a good look. either this one or this one
A scorpionfish - identity unknown as yet; we need a taxonomist!!

7. Rabbit fish with his brood ejected from his mouth. Only the males brood. I think it's this species?

8. Spider crab (Phylum Arthropoda: Sub-phylum Crustacea)

9. Seahorses! - see this link]

10. Ctenophores (phylum Ctenophora; there were 2 types)

Bet you didn't know we had all these great animals in Singapore - let alone at Changi Beach! Don't you think our marine life is worth protecting? Here are some ways that you can get close to Singapore's marine life:

1. Go for intertidal walks Many groups in Singapore conduct guided intertidal walks on Singapore's shore. You've probably heard of Chek Jawa walks, but have you heard of other groups such as the Blue Water Volunteers and the Naked Hermit Crabs? The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research conducts intertidal walks at Pulau Semakau. You can also volunteer to be a guide with any of these groups (with a bit of training). If you dive, you can join the Hantu Bloggers for their dives.

2. Join a Coastal Cleanup A very meaningful activity which not only cleans our shores of their litter, but also collects data on the sources of trash for future management. Check out the blog that your lecturer, Mr Sivasothi a.k.a. Otterman, the national coordinator, set up for this year's activities - News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore.

3. Learn more about our shores Visit WildSingapore for chockfuls of information on nature in Singapore, nature-related events and volunteer opportunities. Habitatnews, a blog managed by Otterman, has loads of news nuggets regarding nature and natural history (Singapore and otherwise).

4. Tell people about our shores Just like what I'm doing now, you can also tell other people about the wonderful marine life that Singapore has to offer. Word of mouth and blogs are useful tools in conveying messages to your friends. You can also help publicise of any of the activities mentioned above.

Raffles Museum Toddycats! will be doing just that during NUS Green Carnival next Mon-Wed at the Forum. last year even the 'Milo Uncle' was updated about forest and marine life in Singapore! You can join them this year by sending an email to 3rd year Biology student Hamsa and tell her when you can make it.

Well, I think that's about all I can think of for now. Hope you guys find this information useful and err.. stimulating!

Regards,
Abby

Principal reference for fish: "A Guide to Common Marine Fishes of Singapore," by Kelvin K P Lim & Jeffrey K Y Low. Singapore Science Centre, 1998. [online site]

------ End of Message

Besides being a TA and graduate student at the Department of Biological Sciences, Abby is a Site Buddy at Lim Chu Kang mangroves for the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore, and Vice-president of the Blue Water Volunteers.

Group A tackle the Animal Diversity Practical

N. Sivasothi — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:09:00 GMT

This is the dreaded mother of all practicals that exposes you to animal diversity from sponges to mammals. Its quite a challenge but luckily for you there are enthusiastic Teaching Assistants (our Biodivsersity Graduate students) who do their best to liven up the session.

I was on the prowl, observing the class and envisioning ideas about next year's class. Besides my observations, TAs contribute ideas and eventually new ideas are hatched. And there will be changes next year.

Meanwhile take a look at the photos I took of the class in action on Flickr. The photo I picked out is of TA/Station Demo Abby brandishing her whiteboard marker as she explains the difference between Scyphozoa and Anthozoa at her Porifera-Cnidaria-Ctenophore station. Click on the photo to see the rest.

Photos from the Kent Ridge field trip practicals

N. Sivasothi — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 04:40:00 GMT

Just click the image to see the Flickr albums:

LSM1103 - Kent Ridge Practical, 17 Aug 2007 (Group A)

LSM1103 - Kent Ridge Practical, 31 Aug 2007 (Group B)

The first practical - exploring the flora and fauna of Kent Ridge

N. Sivasothi — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:56:00 GMT

This afternoon, Group A joined a decades-old tradition of NUS biology students heading out to Kent Ridge for a practical. Ironically this heavily plant-based practical was led entirely by zoology TAs; how fun was that? And the ridge plants are easy - I limited the syllabus, threw in some off Hsuan Keng's illustrations and we emphasised ecological interactions once students could spot the plants. So it was fine. Anyway, grad students are no longer mere mortals, and can handle all aspects of biology!

We were lucky that the rain went away, leaving behind some very cool weather with only the threat of a drizzle. The poor light didn't do justice to the many colourful flowers in the photos but really, I'm not complaining! Although we said we might not seee much animal life, the coolness welcomed the denizens and I saw a drongo, orioles, kingfisher, squirrels, green-necked pink piegons, and J.C.'s group saw a woodpecker!

By the time the practical was over, students were familiar with 10 common species of plants and their associated ecological processes. That's enough for them to spin a really good yarn for their non-Biodiversity friends! In most views of the forest, you only commonly see 5-8 species of plants.

But this was just a taste of a good thing. The ridge has plenty of secrets - about 240 species have been reported from Kent Ridge surveys and we will revisit the area in later years for ecology practicals. We are certainly lucky we have this forest at our doorstep.

More photos on Flickr