Melizar Duya

Independent Researcher

Ranging behavior is central to primate ecology and conservation, as it reflects species requirements and responses to habitat alterations, informing status assessments and management strategies. Our understanding of ranging patterns in small, nocturnal primates such as tarsiers is limited, especially for Philippine tarsiers (Carlito syrichta; forme...

Sleep and sleep-related behaviors are integral components of primate behavior and ecology that are linked to various habitat-specific factors and often are modified in response to environmental fluctuations and threats. Despite the growing literature on primates, information on sleep-related behaviors of tarsiers remains sparse, especially for Phil...

Tropical forests continue to face deforestation in countries such as the Philippines. To look at the long-term behavior of forests in response to intrinsic and extrinsic factors, continual monitoring of forest dynamics is needed. To do this, we established a 2-ha permanent tropical forest plot in a low-disturbance area in Maluyon, Philippines. We a...

The establishment of Protected Areas is deemed of critical importance in global conservation initiatives, particularly in biodiverse regions and global biodiversity hotspots, such as the Philippines. However, the crucial role played by smaller Protected Areas in biodiversity conservation is frequently overlooked, making this a particular area of re...

Karst forests are important habitat for many karst-associated species such as bats. However, there is paucity of comprehensive studies exploring the long-term responses of bats to fragmentation or conversion of their natural habitat in the karst ecosystems of Southeast Asia. In this study, we assessed the diversity, composition, abundance, and vert...

Echolocation call descriptions of local bat species in the Philippines have been published recently. However, collected reference call data has been biased towards species that can easily be captured using mist nets and harp traps, whereas acoustic data for rare and aerial species that are less frequently recorded by traditional means remain absent...

Main Conclusion Extensive histology of host organs revealed the early events in the vegetative growth of Rafflesia consueloae including initial infection site, endophyte distribution, and other developmental events prior to bud emergence.AbstractThe early events in the vegetative development of the holoparasite Rafflesia have long remained a myster...

The diversification in call features across different echolocating bat species can provide sufficient information for reliable species identification. In the Philippines, bat bioacoustics is still a growing field. There is a need for a well-developed reference library of calls from different species of insectivorous bats, representing different hab...

Little is known on the effects of degradation and disturbance on bird assemblage in lowland karst forests in the Philippines. In this study, we determined diversity patterns and distribution of birds along the vertical strata in two karst forest fragments adjacent to and one reforestation area within an active limestone quarry area in Bulacan provi...

Flower and fruit development of Rafflesia consueloae were studied between February 2014 and April 2016 in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Flower development was divided into five distinct phases: (1) emergence, (2) post-emergence, (3) bract, (4) perigone, and (5) anthesis. Fruit development was monitored from flower senescence until fruiting...

Functional groups or guilds are now becoming popular in biodiversity conservation and monitoring as representative of the condition and status of a habitat as a whole. These can provide a rich source of additional evidence that can supplement evidence from studies based on taxonomic composition. In this study, we assessed differences in bird specie...

In response to extensive deforestation in the Philippines in the last century, reforestation initiatives have been developed, setting area- or seedling count-based success criteria. However, to sufficiently assess reforestation as an approach to conserving biodiversity and protecting habitats, restoration of ecosystem integrity must be evaluated. I...

The Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) is a charismatic species that is threatened by illegal hunting and deforestation. Although they occur in forest and disturbed habitats, ecological information about them is still considerably lacking, which consequently hampers our ability to effectively protect tarsiers from further endangerment. Here, we...

The development of meaningful models of species richness dynamics in island ecosystems requires accurate measurement of existing biodiversity. To test the assumption that mammalian diversity on tropical oceanic islands is well documented, we conducted a 12-year intensive survey of the native mammal fauna on Luzon Island, a large (ca. 103,000 km2),...

Establishment of conservation priorities for primates is a particular concern in the island archipelagos of Southeast Asia, where rates of habitat destruction are among the highest in the world. Conservation programs require knowledge of taxonomic diversity to ensure success. The Philippine tarsier is a flagship species that promotes environmental...

ABStrAct Field surveys of the mammal fauna of Mt. Natib, Bataan Province, conducted in 1996 and 2005 documented a total of 20 species including nine bats, five native non-volant small mammals, two non-native small mammals, and four native large mammals. Several additional species of bats and two additional large mammals that are known to occur else...

Shrew mice of the genus Archboldomys are poorly known members of an endemic clade of vermivorous/insectivorous murid rodents confined to Luzon Island, Philippines. Three species of these small, ground-living, diurnal mice were previously known, all from a handful of specimens from a few localities. The pattern of morphological and genetic different...

A process for identifying Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) for the Philippines was undertaken in two phases. The 128 terrestrial and freshwater KBAs were identified in 2006 and the 123 marine KBAs were identified in 2009. A total of 228 KBAs resulted from the integration of the terrestrial, freshwater and marine KBAs. These KBAs represent the known ha...

Like many other parts of the tropics, the Philippines are facing a biodiversity crisis, with extensive deforestation driving species extinctions. In many cases, these extinctions can be averted by site level strategies – protecting the key biodiversity areas where threatened species occur. However, some threatened species require large areas of lan...

Like many other parts of the tropics, the Philippines are facing a biodiversity crisis, with extensive deforestation driving species extinctions. In many cases, these extinctions can be averted by site level strategies – protecting the key biodiversity areas where threatened species occur. However, some threatened species require large areas of lan...

The new genus Halegrapha is introduced, with six species (five new species and one new combination) from Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Kenya, Mexico, and the United States: H. chimaera Rivas Plata & Lücking (type species; Philippines), H. floridana Common & Lücking (United States: Florida), H. intergrapha Hale ex Lücking (Malaysia), H. keny...

Surveys of small mammals on carefully selected mountains and mountain ranges on Luzon Island, Philippines, since 2000 have led to the discovery of seven previously unknown species of forest mice, Apomys, a remarkable radiation on just a portion of one island. On the basis of morphological and cytochrome (cyt) b DNA sequence data presented here, we...

We conducted an elevational transect survey of mammals on the highest peak in the Mingan Mountains of Aurora and Nueva Ecija provinces in the central Sierra Madre Range of Luzon from May to August 2006 and documented 35 species of mammals. These included one shrew (Soricidae), six fruit bats (Pteropodidae), one ghost bat (Megadermatidae), three hor...

We surveyed non-volant mammals in montane (1300 and 1400 m) and mossy forest (1500 and 1550 m) on Mount Cetaceo in the northern Sierra Madre of northeast Luzon in 2004 and 2005. We recorded a total of 12 species of mammals, including one shrew (Soricidae), seven murid rodents (Muridae), one deer (Cervidae), one wild pig (Suidae), one macaque (Cerco...

In 2005 and 2007, we conducted surveys of mammals along an elevational transect on Mount Palali (peak 1707 m) in the Caraballo Mountains, a poorly known mountain range on Luzon Island, Philippines. The surveys covered eight localities representing habitats from lowland agroforest and regenerating disturbed lowland rainforest at 780 m to mossy fores...

We describe a distinctively patterned new species of cascade stream frog from the mountains of Nueva Vizcaya and Aurora provinces, Luzon Island. The new species belongs to the genus Sanguirana, the definition of which we expand to include all Philippine species previously referred to the Rana (Hylarana) everetti complex. The new species is distingu...

The number of undescribed species of lichenized fungi has been estimated at roughly 10,000. Describing and cataloging these would take the existing number of taxonomists several decades; however, the support for taxonomy is in decline worldwide. In this paper we emphasize the dire need for taxonomic expertise in lichenology. We bring together 103 c...

The number of undescribed species of lichenized fungi has been estimated at roughly 10,000. Describing and cataloging these would take the existing number of taxonomists several decades; however, the support for taxonomy is in decline worldwide. In this paper we emphasize the dire need for taxonomic expertise in lichenology. We bring together 103 c...

We describe a new species of Luperosaurus from Mt. Mantalingajan, southern Palawan Island, Philippines. The new species is distinguished from all other species of Luperosaurus by the combination of its large body size (81.3 mm for the single male specimen), near complete absence of interdigital webbing, absence of cutaneous expansions on limbs exce...

Introduction Biodiversity faces a crisis, with extinction rates approximately three orders of magnitude higher than those typical of the Earth's history (Pimm et al. 1995). This crisis has numerous negative consequences for humanity, including to economies, health, environmental services, and moral and spiritual well-being (Wilson 2002). The biodiv...

We describe a new species of Luperosaurus from the Sierra Madre Mountain Range of northern Luzon Island, Philippines. Luperosaurus kubli, new species, is distinguished from all Philippine Luperosaurus by the combination of its large body size (105.4 mm for the holotype), reduced interdigital webbing, cutaneous expansions on limbs limited to only th...