Abstract. Ismail N, Rahman A A A, Mohamed M, Abu Bakar M F, Tokiman L. 2020. Butterfly as bioindicator for development of conservation areas in Bukit Reban Kambing, Bukit Belading and Bukit Tukau, Johor, Malaysia. Biodiversitas 21: 334-344. Butterflies are often used as indicator surrogates to evaluate the quality of ecosystems. This is made possible due to their sensitive responses toward environmental fluctuations and habitat changes. Butterflies were collected opportunistically using aerial nets at three hill dipterocarp forests; Bukit Reban Kambing (BRK), Bukit Belading (BB) and Bukit Tukau (BT) of Johor, Malaysia from 8th to 11th March 2016. The objectives of this study are to provide a checklist of butterflies of the hills and evaluate habitat suitability in an effort to support the proposal to gazette the hills as part of the Gunung Ledang protected area. A total of 60 individuals belonging to 23 species, 21 genera, and five families were recorded. Comparing the three hills, BRK recorded the greatest individual and species numbers, followed by BT and BB. BRK recorded the highest Shannon diversity index, H’ (2.272) value, whereas BB presented the highest value of species evenness index, E’ (0.945). MaxEnt modeling of the butterflies in BRK, BB, and BT showed a network of high habitat suitability areas connecting Gunung Ledang and our sampling locations. Despite limited sampling effort, this baseline data could possibly strengthen the effort for gazettement and prevent further pressure from mining activity and land conversion.

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This research is about the ethnobotanical studies of the natural color used by Temuan community in three different villages around Taman Negara Johor Gunung Ledang which are Kampung Sungai Air Tawas, Kampung Tanah Gembur, and Kampung Sungai Mersing. This study aims to document the information about plants used by the aboriginal community which act as natural colorants for future references. Semi-structured questionnaires were given to the community during the interview. The plants used by them as natural colorants were recorded. The plant sample was taken during the interview with Temuan community for the preparation of herbarium specimen. It was found that Curcuma longa is the most used plant for natural yellow color by the community. Besides that, Pandanus amaryllifolius and Lawsonia inermis have high citation frequency for the most used plant for natural green and orange color. This concludes that our environment is equipped with natural resources that are beneficial to human respectively and this traditional knowledge of natural colors must be preserved but also should be disseminated to other people for greater appreciation.

This survey was done to provide a checklist of butterflies in Gunung Pulai Forest Reserve, Johor Darul Takzim. Sampling were done between October 2017 to March 2018 for nine sampling days. Butterflies were caught using aerial net and baited traps. The traps were baited with a mixture of rotten bananas and pineapples. A total of 101 individuals comprising 61 species were obtained from this survey. Family Nymphalidae recorded the highest number of species with 30 species, followed by Lycaenidae with 16 species. The most dominant species was Ypthima horsfieldii humei (Nymphalidae) with eight individuals followed by Lexias pardalis dirteana (Nymphalidae) with six individuals. Out of the 61 species, 45 were singletons which accounts for 73.8% of the sample. The Shannon Diversity Index for the butterflies in this area is 3.884 with an Evenness value of 0.941. Three species are considered as new records for the state of Johor. Based on the high value of Shannon Diversity Index and the abundance of singletons, it can be concluded that Gunung Pulai Forest Reserve holds a high diversity of butterflies in the region.

Forty-three species of butterflies from 36 genera and six families are reported for Kangkawat Research Station, Imbak Canyon Conservation Area (ICCA).  This accounts for 4.6 percent of the 944 species reported in Borneo. Compared to studies from other localities in ICCA, the butterfly fauna in Kangkawat Research Station is diverse and evenly distributed with a Shannon’s index of Diversity (H’) value of 3.636 and Simpson’s index of Species Evenness (E1/D) value of 0.776.The most dominant family is Nymphalidae with 27 species recorded followed by Lycaenidae with 11 species. Seven species are new records for ICCA: Eurema blanda, Mycalesis dohertyi, Nacaduba berenice, Arhopala aedias agnis, Arhopala agesias, Drupadia cineas and Taractrocera ardonia. Three species: Mycalesis kina, Acytolepis ripte and Drupadia cineas, which are endemic to Borneo are also recorded here. The presence of the butterfly species of high conservation value highlights Kangkawat Research Station as an important area for conservation of these species.