Training:
Borneo courses & information
TBA courses in Danum Valley, Borneo
Danum Valley Field Centre
The Danum Valley Field Centre is located at 117° 48.75' E and 5° 01' N on the east coast of the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo Island. The station lies on the edge of the 438 km2 Danum Valley Conservation Area (an area of Class I protected rain forest) which itself lies within the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve, as part of the ca. 10,000 km2 Yayasan Sabah Forestry Concession. Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA) is a Class I (Protection) Forest Reserve located on the western side of the upper reaches of the Segama River in Southeast Sabah, and is the largest remaining area of undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah. The nearest major town is Lahad Datu on Sabah’s southeast coast; approximately 2-hour drive (81 km) away.
Dipterocarp trees dominate the forest around Danum Valley Field Centre with the canopy in places reaching a height of over 70 metres. 90% of the Conservation Area is classified as lowland dipterocarp forest with the remaining 10% being low canopy, sub-montane forest mainly at Mt. Danum in the heart of the Conservation Area.
The family Dipterocarpaceae comprises over 500 species from 17 genera and have a pantropical distribution; Borneo is a ‘hotspot’ for dipterocarp diversity. The family name derives from the characteristic two-winged fruits and the trees are exploited for timber and other products.
Dipterocarp forests are restricted to the lowlands (<1000m) where seedlings establish readily in flat microhabitats that lack the thick peat surface layer found at higher altitudes. Considerable research has been carried out on the dynamics of tree recruitment at Danum Valley. Findings include differences in colonisation according to forest gap size, and a disparity in seedling survival between ‘shade tolerant’ species (e.g. Hopea spp.) and ‘light demanding’ species (e.g. Parashorea, Shorea). Further work considered the impact of insect herbivory on these patterns.
Research efforts in Danum have revealed a tremendous variety of plants and a full range of Sabah’s lowland fauna, including rare (and unlikely to be seen!) and endangered species such as the Sumatran rhino, banteng (tembadau), Bornean pygmy elephant, clouded leopard, orang utan and proboscis monkey. More than 120 mammals including 10 species of primates, 40 species of fishes, over 300 species of birds, reptiles, amphibians and a profusion of butterflies are found here.
Climate
Records have been kept at Danum Valley Field Centre since the mid-1980s. The climate at Danum is equatorial with a mean annual temperature of 26.8ºC. Temperatures in excess of 34ºC are rare, occurring only during prolonged dry periods. Minimum temperatures rarely fall below 19ºC.
Mean relative humidity at 14.00 hours averages 78% and 95% at 08.00 hours. Mean annual rainfall (1985-2006) is 2,825 mm; the lowest annual rainfall of 1,918 mm occurred in 1997, which was an ENSO year, and the highest annual total of 3,539 mm occurred in 2003. Mean monthly rainfall ranges from 153 mm in April to 309 mm in January and tends to be highest in the transition months following the equinoxes (May-June and October-November) and also during the northerly monsoon months of December-January.
Rainfall is generally lowest during March and April, which are the most drought-prone months during ENSO events, and also in August and September when the south-westerly monsoon is at its height. The climate of Danum Valley is aseasonal but subject, as in 1997-98, to occasional severe droughts and is intermediate between the less drought-prone north-western Borneo and the more drought-prone east coast.
Course structure
The first week of the course introduces the flora and fauna of the forest during identification workshops and field exercises. Evening lectures and seminars cover selected topics in tropical ecology, focusing on the expertise of the teaching staff present. Field exercises in the second week will address relevant topics and methodologies in ecology. The remainder of the course is devoted to independent research projects carried out in pairs. Projects are written up in full and presented to the class as short research papers. Evening lectures and research talks continue throughout. We expect you will find the course intensive but since you may not get an opportunity to learn about tropical ecology in such a unique setting again, we think we should make the most of the time you have available.
Project reports
Abstracts of all students projects that were carried out in Borneo on TBA courses will be made available here after the course has finished.
back to topDraft timetable
Below is the draft course timetable for Borneo. The structure and contents of each course are different and dependent on the area of expertise of the core teachers and visiting lecturers present. Please use this as an overall guide not as the definite programme.
Borneo course timetable (pdf)
Useful information for the site
Useful information on the fauna and flora at the Danum Valley site will be added in due course.
Course guides
Here is the general course guide for ASEAN participants, here is the general course guide for participants from European and other countries and here is the specific course guide for Borneo.