J. I. Furtado and S. Mori This volume, 'Tasek Bera, the ecology of a tropical freshwater swamp', is a monograph based on research at Tasek Bera, under the auspices of the International Biological Programme (lBP) involving Japanese and Malaysian scientists under the sponsorship of the Malaysian National Committee for the IBP (MNC-IBP) which was initiated by the Malaysian Scientific Association (MSA). This collaboration was initiated by one of us (S. Mori) in 1966 at the Scientific Committee for Freshwater Productivity (PF) of the International Biological Programme (SCIBP) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (lCSU). It involved discussions between the Japanese National Com mittee for the IBP (JIBP) and the Malaysian National Committee for the IBP (MNC-IBP) and their respe

Semelai is a previously undescribed and endangered Aslian (Mon-Khmer) language of the Malay Peninsula. This book - the first in-depth description of an Aslian language - provides a comprehensive reference grammar of Semelai. Semelai intertwines two types of morphological system: a concatenative system of prefixes, suffixes and a circumfix - acquired through extended contact with Malay - and a nonconcatenative system of prefixes and infixes (including infix reduplication), inherited from Mon-Khmer. There are distinctive word classes - Nominals, Verbs and Expressives - the latter iconic utterances which simultaneously provide information about the predicate and its arguments. Semelai has many derivational processes which change word class or affect transitivity, and it combines both head-marking and dependent-marking profiles. It also has a rich phonemic system of 20 vowels and 32 consonants. Nicole Kruspe's discussion is complemented with a generous number of illustrative examples and texts, creating a reference work that will be welcomed by descriptivists and typologists alike.

A multidisciplinary study of Bera Lake in Malaysia is presented here, focusing on natural resources throughout the lake’s catchment area and assessing environmental impact. This applied limnology study examines issues relating to land development including soil erosion and nutrient loss in the catchment area, severe pollution of water, sediment resources in open waters and wetlands, and reduction of aquatic and bird populations. The chapters provide a comprehensive view of problems, risks and possible mitigation measures associated with this great natural habitat. The book highlights the technology and methods used to estimate both soil erosion rate and nutrient loss from the lake catchment, including an explanation of the measurement of the sedimentation rate in Bera Lake using 137Cs and 210Pb radioisotopes. The author examines the current and historic situation of contamination in sediments, presents an ecological risk assessment, and finally describes a master management plan, proposing practices to mitigate the environmental impacts of existing agricultural projects and practices to control future projects. Readers will learn of a decrease in the watershed supply of water to Bera Lake, of shoaling, degradation of water and sediment quality, and the extinction of several kinds of flora and fauna. This volume also offers an approach to sustainable land use with regard to natural resources conservation.