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Wildlife on the southern islands

Two-year biodiversity survey aims to take stock of terrestrial and marine life in the area

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15 last year. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — NParks staff processing the green algae (Bryopsis sp.) specimens they collected, as part of their training, on St John’s Island last February. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John’s Island on Feb 18 last year. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — NParks staff mounting the green algae (Bryopsis sp.) specimens they collected on St John’s Island in February last year. NParks, which is leading the Southern Islands Biodiversity Survey, is also working with various community stakeholders, including academics and nature interest groups, on the effort. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — The swimming file clam (Limaria sp.) found during an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside in November. The clam is able to swim by “clapping” its shell. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — Male flowers of tape seagrass (Enhalus acoroides) found at low tide at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside. Female flowers unzip and open while floating on the surface. The male flowers detach and float over on the water’s surface to pollinate them. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — The spotted top shell snail (Trochus maculatus) being measured at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside in November. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — A member of the NParks team directing volunteers and team members on where to place the transect line during an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15. Habitats being studied for the Southern Islands Biodiversity Survey include coastal forests, mangroves, intertidal flats, subtidal reefs and shallow seafloor areas. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — Mr Lua Hock Keong (right), 43, deputy director of the National Biodiversity Centre at NParks, and Mr Reuben Lim Chong Jin, 32, senior manager of horticulture and community gardening at NParks, collecting plants with pole-pruners on St John’s Island on Feb 18 last year. With them are NParks staff recording data. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — NParks staff searching for plants to collect on St John’s Island on Feb 18 last year. The two-year Southern Islands Biodiversity Survey started last January and will involve researchers scaling heights and getting their feet wet as they seek out the plants and animals that call the Southern Islands home. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Above: A member of the National Parks Board (NParks) team collecting samples of the Dicranopteris linearis fern on St John's Island on Feb 18 last year. Right: NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffsid — Ms Liew Qi (left), 30, senior manager in the terrestrial branch of NParks’ National Biodiversity Centre, and Ms Li Tianjiao, 32, manager in the same department, securing a camera trap to a tree to monitor any animals that may cross its path, as part of a biodiversity survey of Pulau Tekukor, on March 27 last year. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

A volunteer entering data collected during intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks volunteers doing an intertidal transect survey at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15 last year. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff processing the red algae (Bostrychia sp.) specimens they collected at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. They will be mounted and brought back for research and record purposes. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff and volunteers doing intertidal transect survey, at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff and volunteers doing intertidal transect survey, at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff and volunteers setting up a transect line before doing their intertidal transect survey, at the Tanjong Rimau/Siloso cliffside on Nov 15, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Alga found at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff using a pruner to cut a section of fig plant at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff taking photographs and collecting data as part of plant collection at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

NParks staff and researchers from NUS doing plant collection at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Mr Stuart Lindsay, 55, senior manager at Horticulture and Community Gardening at NParks, doing plant collection at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Mr Lua Hock Keong, 43, deputy director of the National Biodiversity Centre at NParks, and Ms Seah Wei Wei, 29, researcher at Singapore Botanic Gardens at NParks, doing plant collection at St. John's Island on Feb 18, 2020. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Audrey Tan and Lim Yaohui

Updated

Published

Jan 18, 2021, 05:00 AM

Singapore is a maritime nation, and the islands that ring the southern coast are rich in stories of its seafaring past.

The Southern Islands also have a wealth of flora and fauna, although creatures that dwell in the nooks and crannies there may not have been studied much so far. There are efforts now to change this.

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