Book review: Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist and Bibliography. Sheldon, F.H., R.G. Moyle & J. Kennard, 2001. Ornithological Monographs 52, American Ornithologistsí Union, Washington, D.C. vi + 285 pp

1 Pages·2002·0.09 MB·English

by  Sodhi, N S

THE RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY 200250(2): 511-515
@ National University of Singapore
BOOK REVIEW
Ornithology of Sabah: guides that I was mentioning earlier. As mentioned, all these
History, Gazetteer, chapters are critically written. In addition to succinctly
Annotated Checklist summarizing the current state of knowledge, they point the
and Bibliography. readers towards the areas that potential researchersc an home
Sheldon, F. H., R. G. in. Probably because of lack of information, ecology and
Moyle & J. Kennard, behaviour section dwell on Bornean birds than specifically
2001. Ornithological on Sabahan birds.
Monographs 52,
American The authors point out the biological benefits of strategically
Ornithologists' Union, placing agricultural plantations. Such examples show that
Washington,D .C. vi +
both conservation and exploitation can be and should be
285 pp. USD 25.00.
effectively balanced. All survey sites in Sabah are mapped
Without ISBN number.
with geographic coordinates given for most of them. This
I admit is a mammoth task in its own particularly because
Occupyingt he northp art
the sites have Malay names and would have been difficult
of the island of Borneo
to map. In my mind, the most valuable part of this book is
is Malaysian state of
the speciesd escriptions. When available, data on the species'
Sabah. Due to its unique geographic location, Borneo is
biology are presented. Such information will be particularly
one of the nerve centres of biodiversity. However, sadly,
useful for future studies such as those comparing guild
biodiversityo f Sabaha, s of SoutheasAt sia,i s poorly studied.
compositions among sites.
This sad reality remains despite the fact that habitat
destruction in SoutheastA sia has been unprecedentedi n
Anybody interested in SoutheastA sian birds should own this
recentt imes. Sound biological knowledge,i n my mind, is
monograph. With this work, the stage is set for more
neededf or effective conservation. Any monographo n the
quantitative ornithological research in Sabah. I have a
birds of Sabahs hould thereforeb e good news. However,
number of wishes. First, I hope that similar monographs are
when I received a copy of this monographst,w o thoughts
published for other regions such as Sarawak and Java.
came to my mind. First, I thought -not anotherb ook on
Second, I hope that ornithological research in SoutheastA sia
birds of SoutheasAt sia! There are numerousb ooks (field
takes a leap from traditional survey work. Last, governments
guides) on the birds of SoutheasAt sia -most of them are
in the region provide conducive environment for scientific
scientificallyu selessa s they often lack adequatein formation
research -unknown biodiversity c~nnot be protected
on the bird biology. Second,I thought that anybodyc ould
compile the available information. As I show below, both adequately.
of my thoughts were wrong.
This monograph is divided into five parts: introduction, Navjot S. Sodhi
history, gazetteer,a nnotated checklist and bibliography. Departmento f Biological Sciences
Included in introduction are physical, geographical and National University of Singapore
habitatf eatureso f Sabah.A lso includeda rec ritical analyses Blk S2. 14 ScienceD rive 4
on evolution, ecology, behavioura nd conservation. These Singapore1 17543
four parts make this monographa part from traditional field Republic of Singapore
511