Diversity of freshwater fish in Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM): A comparison of diversity between man-made and natural forest in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Abstract This present study aimed to investigate the diversity of freshwater fish in a planted forest within three tributaries, namely Sungai Kroh, Sungai Chemubong, and Sungai Cahaya, in the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) campus. In this study, freshwater fish were sampled using a backpack electro-fisher and scoop nets along 100m transect lines for each sampling site (at upper, middle, and lower part) of the respective river. All individuals collected were examined and measured to identify at their species level. However, we found no fish presence in Sg. Cahaya across all sub-section of the tributary. Hence, the result of fish was based on two tributaries of Sg. Kroh and Sg. Chemubong. A total of 235 individual freshwater fish recorded in FRIM belong to 10 species comprising six families. The highest recorded family belongs to Cyprinidae (30%), followed by Channidae and Danionidae families with 20% respectively, whereas the other three family only represent 10% respectively. Shannon-Wiener indices showed that the highest diversity was recorded for Sg. Chemubong, H = 1.283, while the lowest was recorded for Sg. Kroh, H = 1.097. The highest Evenness index of fish species was detected for Sg. Chemubong, E = 0.5098 and the lowest for Sg. Kroh, E = 0.2994. We carried out a similarity analysis by comparing freshwater fish from adjacent natural forest reserves, namely Sungai Kanching Forest Reserve. Based on the presence-absence data, the species composition of the freshwater fish between the man-made forest (FRIM campus) and natural forest (Sungai Kanching Forest Reserve) was almost 82% similar based on the Sørensen similarity index. The discussion was made based on the available findings in this study to illustrate the freshwater ecosystem stability in a man-made tropical forest, for instance, in FRIM Campus.