Abstract Generally, the tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF) has known to be the headwater for rivers which are the vital source of freshwater for the downstream user. Though one of the important information for freshwater management is the rainfall characteristics, for TMCF catchment it is still less explored in Sabah. This paper investigates the temporal pattern and variability of rainfall in Gunung Alab experimental catchment (GAEC) in the Crocker Range Park (CRP), Sabah, Malaysia. The analyses were based on rainfall observation data obtained in January 2006 to December 2018. As a comparison, similar analyses were also conducted to the rainfall observation data from a meteorological station in the west coast area of Sabah referred in this study as the coastal area of Kota Kinabalu (CAKK). The average annual rainfall for the 13 years data was 3527.1 mm and 2824.8 mm in GAEC and CAKK, respectively. The yearly average rain days in GAEC was 223 days and in CAKK was 157.1 days. Both stations received maximum monthly rainfall during the inter-monsoon season which generally occurred in April - May and September - October. In general, GAEC experienced low intensity of rains in long-duration whereas, CAKK experienced more extreme rainfall (average 2.4 ± 1.9 day yr-1) compared to GAEC (0.3 ± 0.9 days yr-1). Based on the set of rainfall data, total rainfall of 129.4 mm day-1 and 224.6 mm day-1 can be expected to be equal or exceeded once in 26 years at a probability of 3.85%, in GAEC and CAKK, respectively. In GAEC, one, two, five and ten years of recurrence interval, the expected maximum daily rainfall was estimated at 65.2 mm day-1, 80.7 mm day-1, 99.9 mm day-1, and 114.1 mm day-1. Whereas, in CAKK, the one, two, five and ten years of recurrence interval of maximum rainfall can be expected at 77.2 mm day-1, 136 mm day-1, 168.5 mm day-1 and 196.7 mm day-1, respectively. The El Niño episodes reduce 10.5 % - 18 % and 2.7% - 27.9% of annual rainfall from the long-term average in GAEC and CAKK. These findings give insight into the potential capacity of GAEC as headwater catchment and reflect the sensitivity of the local rainfall distribution influenced by natural phenomenon namely, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) within the observation period.

Abstract The persistence of heavy metals on the environment is very harmful because they cannot be degraded and likely to accumulate in the soil. Agricultural activities, industrial waste or even industrial accident often contain appreciable amounts of heavy metals that leads to heavy metals pollution on soil, which may reduce soil fertility as well as health effect of the plant consumer. Therefore, it is important to know the ability and capacity of soil in retaining heavy metals. This study aims to measure and evaluate the adsorption equilibrium data of Cu(II) onto kaolinite clay soil in batch experimental. The equilibrium data was fitted using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm model to represent the liquid-solid equilibrium condition. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cu(II)–clay of 2.015 mg/g was observed. In addition, this work contributes to model the transport of Cu(II) in the porous media of clay soil, using numerical computation. The simulation utilized mathematical model framework of well-known Advection-Dispersion-Diffusion (ADDE) equation model to predict the retention time of Cu(II) in kaolinite clay soil, by taking a small section of 30 cm × 1.6 cm clay soil as a representative elementary volume. The result from numerical computation revealed that kaolinite clay soil have a relatively low capability for Cu(II) uptake, most probably due to its lower cation exchange capacity (CEC), which responsible for holding positively-charged ions.

Abstract The menace of air pollution through vehicular movements in many urban cities across the world has increased tremendously. This study aimed at determining the heavy metal accumulation in soils and plants growing by the roadside in Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Two common plants (Hyptis suaveolens and Urena lobata) by the roadsides together with the soils were sampled using a simple stratified random sampling technique. Sampling was done at three locations (0m, 10m and 20m) away from three most plied highways in Lafia. The concentrations of the heavy metals (Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn)) were determined in all the samples in triplicates using standard methods. The results revealed varying concentrations of the heavy metals in the soils and plants at the three study sites. The concentration of Cu in the soils and plants ranged from 0.08 – 0.4ppm and 0.1 – 0.4ppm respectively while that of Zn in soils and plants ranges from 0.1 – 1.5ppm and 0.1 – 1.3ppm respectively. The pattern of concentrations of the heavy metals in both the soils and plants are in the order of Pb < Cu < Zn across all the sites. Even though there was no significant difference in the heavy metals concentrations between 0m, 10m and 20m away from the road sides, the metals are still more concentrated at the 0m of the sites. Pb was found to be below the detection limit at most of the sites.

Abstract Birds have their own importance in ecosystem such as it can help to maintain the sustainable population levels of their prey and predator, it also important for plant reproduction as pollinators. The preliminary study about bird species composition was conducted in Kawang Forest Reserve, Papar in August 2019. The main objective of this study were to determine bird species according to its conservation status and comparing bird composition with respect to its family by using the mist-net method. This survey was conducted around 5 days started from 27th August to 31st August 2020 and used 2 different areas which were the installment of 4 mist-net on near the river and the rest 4 mist-net on the ridges. The results showed that 39 individuals with 19 different species that belong to 9 different families had been found in the areas. The Emerald Dove (Chalpcaphaps indica) species were high number of individual founded while Bulbul species from Pycnonotidae family were high species founded in KFR.