Mount Merbabu National Park

Mount Merbabu National Park is a conservation area of 57.25 square kilometers covering a forest area on Mount Merbabu (3,145 m) in Boyolali Regency, Magelang Regency, and Semarang Regency in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The national park was declared on May 4, 2004 which was previously a protected forest and a natural tourism park.

Mount Merbabu National Park is very important as a source of water in the three Regencies and the flora and fauna habitat is protected and preserved. The area consists of mountain forest zones as stated by van Steenis. Lower mountain forest zone at 1,000 - 1,500 m has changed and overgrown by Tusam (Pinus merkusii), Puspa (Schima wallichii ssp. Noronhae) and Bintuni.

The upper mountain forest zone at 1,500 - 2,400 m is overgrown with acacia (Acacia decurrens and Acacia virgata), Puspa, Sengon gunung (Albizia lophanta), Sowo (Engelhardtia serrata), mountain cypress (Casuarina junghuhniana), Pasang (Quercus sp), and Tanganan. The sub-alpine forest zone at 2,400 - 3,142 m is overgrown with grass and Javanese edelweiss (Anaphalis javanica).

Some animal species in this region include Javan Hawk (Nisaetus bartelsi), Black eagle (Ictinaetus malayensis), Spotted kestrel (Falco moluccensis), Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela), Green junglefowl (Gallus varius), Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis).

Wren stones, deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Javan hedgehogs (Hystrix javanica), Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), Crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Leopards (Panthera pardus melas), and others.

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Broad sword fern (Nephrolepis biserrata)

Broad sword fern ( Nephrolepis biserrata ) is a species of fern in the Nephrolepidaceae, epiphytic and terrestrial, with grayish-brown stems, brown hairs, and 10–130 cm long. The leaf blades are green, 7 cm long, 1.5 cm wide, and hairy brown on the underside. The sori are attached to the underside of the leaf blade, with about 60 sori along the edge and are brown in color. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Class: Polypodiopsida Subclass: Polypodiidae Order: Polypodiales Suborder: Polypodiineae Family: Nephrolepidaceae Genus: Nephrolepis Schott in Gen. Fil. (Vindob.): t. 3 (1834) Species: Nephrolepis biserrata (Sw.) Schott in Gen. Fil. (Vindob.): t. 3 (1834) Homotypic Synonyms Aspidium biserratum Sw. in J. Bot. (Schrader) 1800(2): 32 (1801) Hypopeltis biserrata (Sw.) Bory in C.P.Bélanger, Voy. Indes Or., Bot. 2(1): 65 (1833) Lepidoneuron biserratum (Sw.) Fée in Mém. Foug., 5. Gen. Filic.: 301 (1852) Nephrodium biserratum (Sw.) C.Presl in Reliq. Haenk. 1: 31 (1825) Nephrolepis bise...

Red cotton tree (Bombax ceiba)

Randu alas or kapok alas or red silk-cotton or red cotton tree ( Bombax ceiba ) is a species in Malvaceae like other trees commonly known as cotton trees. This tropical tree has perpendicular stems and deciduous leaves in winter. Red flowers with 5 petals appear in the spring before the leaves grow new. B. ceiba produces capsules containing white fibers such as cotton. Old trees up to 60 meters in the wet tropics, but wood is too soft to use. Young stems and branches are equipped with cone spines, but eroded with age. The palate leaves have 6 leaflets radiating from the center point or the tip of the petiole, 7-10 cm wide, 13-15 cm long. Flexible leaf stalks up to 20 cm long. Solitary or clustered cup-shaped flowers, axilla or sub-terminal, follicular near the tip of the branch, on average 7-11 cm wide, 14 cm long, petel up to 12 cm long. Short staminal tube, more than 60 in 5 bundles. The stigma is bright red, 9 cm long, the ovary is pink to 1.5-2 cm long with skin covered in ...

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