o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

OVERVIEW OF INSECT BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
In view of the rapid decline of forested areas in the world, world leaders agreed to promote the
sustainable use and conservation of natural resources, at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Biodiversity Treaty, an
important document stemming from the conference in Rio, emphasised the importance of
countries accepting the responsibility for conserving biological diversity and promoting their
use in a sustainable manner. Malaysia ratified the treaty in 1994, a year after the Treaty came
into force. At the international conference, “Biodiversity: Science and Governance,” held in
Paris in 2005, the Malaysian premier, Dato Seri’ Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, highlighted the
government’s efforts to protect and conserve the environment through the actions and
coordination of the National Council on Biodiversity and Technology and the Natural Resources
and Environment Ministry. A current project, initiated by the Prime Minister, aims to document
Malaysia’s biodiversity with the objective of producing a national ‘red data book’ on endangered
animal and plant species in the country, their distributions and the levels of threat they face
(Koh 2005; Cyranoski 2005).
In view of this plan to document Malaysia’s biodiversity, there is a need to assess the current
status of insect diversity research and the level of information available on major insect groups
in Peninsular Malaysia. In this paper, we examine current trends in entomological research by
analysing the undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation topics of students over the last
decade in a few universities in and around the Klang Valley of Peninsular Malaysia, namely,
University of Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia. In
addition, we examined both entomological dissertations and articles stemming from research
by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) in the Pasoh Field Station from 1964 to
1999. FRIM was included in the survey because it is the primary research institution that
conducts research on diversity and conservation in Peninsular Malaysia. Although there are
limitations to the data obtained – for example, not all Malaysian universities or all years were
included in the census – the results of this survey are still expected to give a good indication
of the pattern of entomological research in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition to conducting this
survey, we also examined the availability of taxonomic information on several well-known
insect orders in Peninsular Malaysia.
TRENDS IN RELATION TO FIELDS OF RESEARCH
The number of entomological dissertations and articles from each of the institutions surveyed,
and the number on insect diversity, is shown in Table 1. A total of 387 entomology dissertations
and articles were examined. About 25% of these were on the subject of insect diversity; with
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia contributing 75% of all studies on insect diversity.
Figure 1 shows the frequency of dissertations and articles on different topics of entomological
research for the combined dataset of the survey, some of which covered more than one research
area. Insect control was the most heavily researched area, and accounted for 31% of all
entomological research. Insect diversity was the next most studied subject and accounted for
close to 26% of all reported entomological work. Biological and ecological research, which
was a popular area of research among undergraduates, contributed 37% of all documented
work. Insect taxonomy, accounted for a mere 4% of all entomological studies. Although the
survey did not cover taxonomic work published in local and international journals by staff of
the various universities surveyed, this low figure is probably still reflective of the shortage of
taxonomic research on insects in Malaysia.
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