water quality assessment of tributaries of batang baleh in...
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Research ArticleWater Quality Assessment of Tributaries of Batang Baleh inSarawak Using Cluster Analysis
Teck-Yee Ling 1 Chen-Lin Soo 1 Teresa-Lee-Eng Heng1 Lee Nyanti 1
Siong-Fong Sim 1 Jongkar Grinang1 Karen-Suan-Ping Lee2 and Tonny Ganyai2
1Faculty of Resource Science and Technology Universiti Malaysia Sarawak 94300 Kota Samarahan Sarawak Malaysia2Research and Development Department Sarawak Energy Berhad 93050 Kuching Sarawak Malaysia
Correspondence should be addressed to Teck-Yee Ling teckyee60gmailcom
Received 21 September 2018 Revised 18 October 2018 Accepted 28 October 2018 Published 2 December 2018
Academic Editor Zhenli He
Copyright copy 2018 Teck-Yee Ling et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited
Assessment of river water quality is essential as it provides the knowledge required to make informed decisions Therefore waterquality was determined at 15 tributary stations located along the Batang Baleh Sarawak Results of the study indicate that alltributaries were well-aerated (asymp 77 mgL) with pH (asymp 73) and conductivity (asymp 373 120583Scm) values falling within acceptable rangesHowever there were tributaries that showed very high turbidity (gt 1000 NTU) and suspended solids (gt 800 mgL) which werecontributed by the soil erosion from logging activities in the watershed Tributary stations associated with logging activities alsoshowed significantly higher total phosphorus and organic nitrogen Cluster analysis demonstrated that water quality at tributarystations along the Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation from upstream to downstream regions particularly dissolvedoxygen five-daybiochemical oxygendemand andnitrite-nitrate nitrogenwhichwere foundhigher in upstreamregion and steadilydecreased towards the downstream region Two stations located at Sg Serani and Sg Melatai were distinct from the other stationswith the highest concentrations of turbidity total suspended solids organic nitrogen and total phosphorusThus there is an urgentneed to reduce the pollutants in the tributaries of Batang Baleh for the health of the sensitive aquatic organisms
1 Introduction
Batang Baleh is one of the main tributaries of the RajangRiver (551 km) which is the longest river in Malaysia Theserivers flow through the Kapit Division which is a forestedmountainous region The area is characterized as dipterocarpforest and has been subjected to logging activities for decadesLogging activities have been known to increase suspendedsolids and nutrients [1ndash6] As annual rainfall measured atKapit is among the highest in Sarawak which exceeds 5000mm in most years the impact of logging activities couldbe more severe in the area due to the surface runoff whichcontains high suspended solids and nutrients from loggingsites [7 8]
Water quality deterioration has a great influence on theaquatic biota and the ecosystem of a river The increase insuspended solids limits the light penetration which has majorimpacts on algae andmacrophytes while nutrient enrichment
can lead to the depletion of oxygen and subsequently fishkill [9ndash11] Exposure to high turbidity and suspended solidsimpacts fish growth and increases the mortality of fish[12ndash16] Hence water quality monitoring is important inorder to evaluate the quality of the river for the health ofsensitive aquatic organisms The baseline data is also usefulin management decision for improving and protecting theenvironment
Although the nutrient content of water draining forestedwatersheds is generally lower than domestic and agriculturalrunoff [17] the potential impacts of the high suspendedsolids and nutrients from the logging activities to the riverscannot be overlooked Deteriorated water quality has beenreported at other tributaries of major rivers in Sarawak[8 18] Water quality monitoring of those tributaries tendsto generate a large set of data Application of multivariatestatistical analysis is useful in analyzing the spatial variationof water quality in the study area Hence this study aimed to
Hindawie Scientific World JournalVolume 2018 Article ID 8682951 9 pageshttpsdoiorg10115520188682951
2 The Scientific World Journal
South China Sea Sabah
SarawakPeninsular Malaysia
Baleh River
Rajang River
St 1
St 6
St 4St 5
St 3
St 2
St 7St 8St 9St 10
St 11
St 12St 13
St 14
St 15
15 KMSampling station
Study area
N
Kapit
Figure 1 The study area and sampling stations in the present study
determine the water quality of the tributaries located alongthe Batang Baleh which is subjected to logging activities andto assess the spatial variation of the tributary water quality bythe integration of cluster analysis
2 Materials and Methods
Field samplings were carried out along the Batang Balehin Sarawak Malaysia as indicated in Figure 1 All samplingstations were located at the tributaries of the Batang Baleh Atotal of 15 tributary stations were selected along the BatangBaleh from upstream to downstream direction (Table 1)More longhouses were located at the downstream area
The methods previously described in Ling et al [19] wereused in the present study to obtain data for in situ parametersof water temperature dissolved oxygen (DO) pH conductiv-ity and turbidity and ex situ parameters of chlorophyll a (chla) total suspended solids (TSS) five-day biochemical oxygendemand (BOD5) total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) organicnitrogen (Org-N) and total phosphorus (TP) For NO2
minus-N + NO3
minus-N (nitrite-nitrate nitrogen) analysis filtration ofthe sample was conducted using a 07 120583m retention glassfibre filter (Sartorius Stedim MGF) and it was subsequentlyacidified to pH lt 2 All the samples for ex situ analyses werecooled with ice in a cooler box while being transported to thelaboratory with the exception of BOD5 [20]
All water analyses were performed according to standardprocedures [20 21] In brief chl a was determined fromadequate sample filtered through a 07 120583m glass fibre filter(Sartorius Stedim MGF) and extracted for 24 h using 90 (vv) acetone TSS was assayed as the difference between theinitial and final weights of the 10 120583m retention glass fibrefilter (Sartorius Stedim MGC) after filtration of an adequatesample volume and drying at 105∘C BOD5 of the undilutedsample was determined as the difference between the initialand final DO contents after five days of incubation NO2
minus-N + NO3
minus-N was determined by the cadmium reductionmethod followed by the diazotization method (low range)whereas TAN was determined by Nesslerrsquos method after the
distillation of samples Org-N was determined by the Macro-Kjeldahl method where ammonia was removed from thewater sample before digestion and distillation Subsequentlyammonia was analyzed by using Nesslerrsquos method TP wasdetermined by the ascorbic acid method after persulfatedigestion of samples A calibration curve was constructed foreach chemical analysis Blank and standard solutions weretreated in the same way as the samples
For each physicochemical parameter significant differ-ence between the stations was conducted using one-wayANOVA If there is a significant difference (119901 value le 005)among the stations pairwise comparisons were conductedusing Tukeyrsquos test Pearsonrsquos correlation analysis was per-formed to determine the relationship among all the param-eters Cluster analysis (CA) was used to identify the groupingof the stations by using the physicochemical parameters 119885-score standardization of the variables and Wardrsquos methodusing Euclidean distances as ameasure of similarity was usedThe cluster was considered statistically significant at a linkagedistance of lt 60 and the number of clusters was decided bythe practicality of the outputs [22] All the statistical analyseswere carried out by using the Statistical Software for SocialSciences (SPSS Version 22 SPSS Inc 1995)
3 Results and Discussion
Tributary Water Quality Tributary stations were relativelyshallow in the study area ranging from 015 plusmn 009 m to310 plusmn 000 m (Table 2) The depths of those stations weresignificantly different (119901 value le 005) and they demonstratedan increasing trend from upstream to downstream regionsTemperature values of the forest streams in the presentstudy ranged from 242 plusmn 00∘C to 266 plusmn 00∘C and theyexhibited significant difference (119901 value le 005) betweenstations Temperature was found related to the samplingtime as the water was cooler in the morning whereas thetemperature of streams increased significantly (119901 value le005) in the afternoon Similar result was demonstrated byLing et al [8] where the authors attributed the large variation
The Scientific World Journal 3
Table 1 The details of the sampling regime and sampling location in the present study
Station GPS Coordinate Date Time RemarkSt 1 Sg Selentang N01∘34101584005610158401015840 E114∘21101584014010158401015840 21112015 300 pm RainingSt 2 Sg Penganen N01∘34101584002010158401015840 E114∘20101584047210158401015840 21112015 225 pm RainingSt 3 Sg Irak N01∘33101584055210158401015840 E114∘18101584038910158401015840 21112015 135 pm RainingSt 4 Sg Tor N01∘34101584004310158401015840 E114∘16101584045810158401015840 21112015 1109 am RainingSt 5 Sg Kian N01∘34101584001110158401015840 E114∘15101584047210158401015840 21112015 1030 am RainingSt 6 Sg Kupet N01∘33101584054210158401015840 E114∘12101584053010158401015840 542015 1250 pm SunnySt 7 Sg Serani N01∘34101584016510158401015840 E114∘08101584040710158401015840 542015 1133 am Shaded and sunnySt 8 Sg Laie N01∘34101584006310158401015840 E113∘55101584038310158401015840 442015 437 pm Shaded and sunnySt 9 Sg Melatai N01∘35101584021910158401015840 E113∘47101584044710158401015840 442015 131 pm Shaded and sunnySt 10 Sg Entuloh N01∘36101584012210158401015840 E113∘44101584040610158401015840 442015 1152 am Shaded and sunnySt 11 Sg Mengiong N01∘37101584055410158401015840 E113∘38101584005010158401015840 1222015 220 pm SunnySt 12 Sg Putai N01∘48101584045410158401015840 E113∘46101584014210158401015840 1222015 425 pm RainingSt 13 Sg Merirai N01∘51101584036110158401015840 E113∘34101584039110158401015840 1322015 855 am SunnySt 14 Sg Gaat N01∘52101584030510158401015840 E113∘26101584008610158401015840 1322015 1025 am Partially cloudySt 15 Sg Mujong N02∘01101584039510158401015840 E113∘10101584054910158401015840 1322015 100 pm Raining
in temperature of the forest stream on the same day to thecanopy removal in the study area
There was no sign of acidification of the forest streamsas indicated by pH ge 7 and all streams were well-aeratedwith DO ge 68 mgL However DO values were observedto be significantly lower (119901 value le 005) at the downstreamregion of the Batang Baleh particularly at stations 11 13 14and 15 Those lower DO values were attributed to the higherorganic matter as the decomposition process consumed theDO rapidlyThe higher organic matter was due to the organicwaste greywater and partially treated black water dischargedfrom the residents of the logging camps and longhouses andorganic materials associated with logging activities locatedupstream of those sampling stations [2] The DO value wasalso found significantly and positively correlated (119901 valuele 005) with BOD5 and Org-N in the present study Linget al [18] also attributed the positive correlation betweenDO and pollutants to the rapid aeration and high surfacerunoff in a fast flowing river The pH value of tributarystations fluctuated along the Batang Baleh with the lowestand the highest pH values observed at station 5 and station 6respectively Conductivity value of the forest streams rangedfrom 193plusmn 02 120583Scm to 540 plusmn 00 120583Scm where significantlylower (119901 value le 005) conductivity values were found attributary stations that were located in the middle part of theBatang Baleh The pH DO and conductivity values at alltributary stations were classified as Class I according to theNational Water Quality Standard (NWQS) for Malaysia [23]
In the present study the turbidity and TSS values rangedfrom 126 plusmn 00 NTU to 11595 plusmn 00 NTU and 127 plusmn 25 mgLto 8883 plusmn 975 mgL respectively Turbidity was classified asClass II at most of the stations except for the five stations (79 11 13 and 15) where the guideline value of 50 NTU for thehealth of sensitive aquatic organisms was exceeded SimilarlyTSS was classified as Class I or II at most of the stations exceptstations 11 and 12 (Class III) and stations 7 and 9 (ClassV)Thehigh turbidity and TSS values observed at stations 7 9 11 and
12 were due to soil erosion from logging activities upstreamresulting in the sediment influx through surface runoff It hasbeen reported that in Malaysia logging or ground clearanceincreased river sediment yields by two to fifty times [3]Additionally results of a recent study conducted in Sarawakshowed that logging and associated activities induced theformation of soil erosion hotspots which remained for severalyears and that even though the exposed barren land resultingfrom logging activities only covered over 4 of the study areathey contributed more than 28 of the total soil loss [6]The eroded soil ends up in the receiving stream increasingthe turbidity and TSS Similar observations of a significantincrease in suspended solids after clear-cut timber harvestingwere reported [2 4] The extremely high values of turbidityand TSS observed at the tributary stations of the presentstudy were substantially higher than those recorded at thetributaries of the BaramRiver where the highest turbidity andTSS were about 468 NTU and 320 mgL respectively andthey were also attributable to logging activities [18 19]
Chl a concentration ranged from 002 plusmn 000 mgm3to 136 plusmn 021 mgm3 at tributary stations of the BatangBaleh (Table 3) Significantly lower (119901 value le 005) chl aconcentrations were observed at tributary stations that werelocated in upper part of the Batang Baleh than those in lowerpart of the river The highest value of chl a was observedat station 9 followed by station 15 which were significantlyhigher (119901 value le 005) than those at the other stations Thehigh chl a at stations 9 and 15 were due to the availablenutrients from settlements along the rivers as station 9recorded the second highest in TP and both stations exceededClass II limit of 02 mgL in TP Significant and positivecorrelation (Table 4 119901 value le 005) between turbidity TSSand chl a were observed in the present study indicating thatphytoplankton contributed to the turbidity and suspendedsolids readings In contrast to turbidity and TSS chl aconcentrations in the present study were substantially lowerthan those in the tributaries of the Baram River located at
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table2Summaryof
insituparameter
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Depthm
Temperature∘C
pHDOm
gL
Con
ductivity120583
Scm
TurbidityN
TUMean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
St1
024
a005
251d
e00
75g
00
I77
9cd
000
I390
g01
I470
bc00
IISt2
025
a014
250
d00
74f
00
I79
2ef
000
I490
l00
I478
bc03
IISt3
016
a006
252
ef00
72bc
00
I79
1e000
I480
k00
I210
a01
IISt4
015
a009
245
b00
71b
00
I79
5ef
000
I430
i00
I182
a01
IISt5
015
a004
242
a00
70a
00
I804
fg001
I40
0h
00
I155
a01
IISt6
060
b000
248
c00
79i
00
I814
g000
I540
m00
I387
b02
IISt7
127c
006
247
c00
73e
00
I810
g000
I230
c00
I4770
g108
gtII
St8
190d
000
266
i00
74f
00
I76
8c000
I300
d00
I126
a00
IISt9
177d
006
254
g00
72cd
00
I800
efg
000
I220
b00
I115
95h
00gtII
St10
070
b000
253
fg00
75g
00
I79
4de
000
I340
e00
I222
a00
IISt11
250
f000
247
c01
72d
00
I713b
006
I193
a02
I1224e
24gtII
St12
130c
000
250
d01
73e
00
I77
7c006
I339
e01
I488
c00
IISt13
310
h000
250
d01
76h
00
I717b
006
I458
j01
I1065d
27gtII
St14
220
e000
251d
e01
72cd
00
I683
a006
II40
1h01
I495
c36
IISt15
270
g000
257
h01
72cd
00
I690
a010
II385
f01
I1857f
36
gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table3Summaryof
water
quality
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Chlam
gm3
TSSmgL
BOD5m
gL
TANm
gL
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
mgL
Org-N
mgL
TPm
gL
Mean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
St1
002
a000
470
ab56
II328
e050
III010
ab003
II0073e
000
6028
bc003
040
d003gtII
St2
010
ab002
423
ab50
II302
e026
III008
a002
I0050d
0010
026
bc000
008
ab000
ISt3
011a
bc001
173a
15I
326
e044
III007
a001
I0027c
000
6037
cde
003
034
cd001gtII
St4
023
abcd
001
173a
29
I255
de011
II007
a001
I0080e
0020
036
cde
006
028
c003gtII
St5
011a
b001
177a
21
I231
de004
II021
e004
II006
0de
0010
044
ef000
014
b001
ISt6
035
d007
330
ab20
II19
8cd
037
II014
bcd
001
II0003a
b000
6030
bcd
002
003
a001
ISt7
039
d004
4867c
87
V298
de008
II014
bcd
001
II0013a
bc000
6053
f004
085
f006gtII
St8
026
bcd
004
143
a15
I080
ab014
I016
bcd
002
II0010a
bc000
0043
def
011
003
b000
ISt9
136f
021
8883d
975
V081
ab050
I017
cde
001
II0010a
bc000
0045
ef003
050
e001gtII
St10
032
cd002
200
a17
I091
ab042
I014
bcd
001
II0020a
bc000
0037
cde
006
032
cd010gtII
St11
023
abcd
005
1042b
38
III12
0abc
027
II015
bcd
003
II000
0a000
0012
a001
005
ab000
ISt12
019
abcd
001
577
ab40
III12
4bc
040
II018
de001
II0023b
c000
6020
ab004
002
a000
ISt13
028
bcd
004
267
a29
II022
a019
I013
abcd
000
II000
0a000
0010
a001
003
a000
ISt14
024
bcd
004
127
a25
I074
ab027
I012
abc
001
II0010a
bc000
0021
ab001
002
a000
ISt15
071
e012
396
ab17
II095
ab047
I037
f003
III0017a
bc000
6039
cde
007
025
c001gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
6 The Scientific World Journal
Table4Correlatio
nmatrix
ofph
ysicochemicalparametersc
ollected
from
thetrib
utarysta
tions
alon
gtheB
atangBa
leh
Temperature
pHDO
Con
ductivity
Turbidity
Chla
TSS
BOD5
TAN
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
Org-N
TPTemperature
1000
pH0174
1000
DO
-0244
0156
1000
Con
ductivity
-0174
0386
0090
1000
Turbidity
0093
-017
50166
-0556lowast
1000
Chla
0280
-010
5-0018
-0430
0893lowast
1000
TSS
0030
-016
80279
-0599lowast
0982lowast
0814lowast
1000
BOD5
-0410
-0090
0579lowast
0292
-017
5-0428
-0071
1000
TAN
0262
-019
1-039
1-0237
0168
0434
0070
-0433
1000
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
-0364
-032
50382
0302
-0274
-0389
-0241
0658lowast
-0277
1000
Org-N
0175
-0276
0551lowast
-0224
0386
0360
0435
0322
0210
0193
1000
TP-010
2-019
20416
-0402
0563lowast
0351
0638lowast
0436
-0040
0146
0678lowast
1000
lowastindicatessignificantcorrelatio
nat119901valuele
005
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
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Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
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The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
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ate
ria
ls
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Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
2 The Scientific World Journal
South China Sea Sabah
SarawakPeninsular Malaysia
Baleh River
Rajang River
St 1
St 6
St 4St 5
St 3
St 2
St 7St 8St 9St 10
St 11
St 12St 13
St 14
St 15
15 KMSampling station
Study area
N
Kapit
Figure 1 The study area and sampling stations in the present study
determine the water quality of the tributaries located alongthe Batang Baleh which is subjected to logging activities andto assess the spatial variation of the tributary water quality bythe integration of cluster analysis
2 Materials and Methods
Field samplings were carried out along the Batang Balehin Sarawak Malaysia as indicated in Figure 1 All samplingstations were located at the tributaries of the Batang Baleh Atotal of 15 tributary stations were selected along the BatangBaleh from upstream to downstream direction (Table 1)More longhouses were located at the downstream area
The methods previously described in Ling et al [19] wereused in the present study to obtain data for in situ parametersof water temperature dissolved oxygen (DO) pH conductiv-ity and turbidity and ex situ parameters of chlorophyll a (chla) total suspended solids (TSS) five-day biochemical oxygendemand (BOD5) total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) organicnitrogen (Org-N) and total phosphorus (TP) For NO2
minus-N + NO3
minus-N (nitrite-nitrate nitrogen) analysis filtration ofthe sample was conducted using a 07 120583m retention glassfibre filter (Sartorius Stedim MGF) and it was subsequentlyacidified to pH lt 2 All the samples for ex situ analyses werecooled with ice in a cooler box while being transported to thelaboratory with the exception of BOD5 [20]
All water analyses were performed according to standardprocedures [20 21] In brief chl a was determined fromadequate sample filtered through a 07 120583m glass fibre filter(Sartorius Stedim MGF) and extracted for 24 h using 90 (vv) acetone TSS was assayed as the difference between theinitial and final weights of the 10 120583m retention glass fibrefilter (Sartorius Stedim MGC) after filtration of an adequatesample volume and drying at 105∘C BOD5 of the undilutedsample was determined as the difference between the initialand final DO contents after five days of incubation NO2
minus-N + NO3
minus-N was determined by the cadmium reductionmethod followed by the diazotization method (low range)whereas TAN was determined by Nesslerrsquos method after the
distillation of samples Org-N was determined by the Macro-Kjeldahl method where ammonia was removed from thewater sample before digestion and distillation Subsequentlyammonia was analyzed by using Nesslerrsquos method TP wasdetermined by the ascorbic acid method after persulfatedigestion of samples A calibration curve was constructed foreach chemical analysis Blank and standard solutions weretreated in the same way as the samples
For each physicochemical parameter significant differ-ence between the stations was conducted using one-wayANOVA If there is a significant difference (119901 value le 005)among the stations pairwise comparisons were conductedusing Tukeyrsquos test Pearsonrsquos correlation analysis was per-formed to determine the relationship among all the param-eters Cluster analysis (CA) was used to identify the groupingof the stations by using the physicochemical parameters 119885-score standardization of the variables and Wardrsquos methodusing Euclidean distances as ameasure of similarity was usedThe cluster was considered statistically significant at a linkagedistance of lt 60 and the number of clusters was decided bythe practicality of the outputs [22] All the statistical analyseswere carried out by using the Statistical Software for SocialSciences (SPSS Version 22 SPSS Inc 1995)
3 Results and Discussion
Tributary Water Quality Tributary stations were relativelyshallow in the study area ranging from 015 plusmn 009 m to310 plusmn 000 m (Table 2) The depths of those stations weresignificantly different (119901 value le 005) and they demonstratedan increasing trend from upstream to downstream regionsTemperature values of the forest streams in the presentstudy ranged from 242 plusmn 00∘C to 266 plusmn 00∘C and theyexhibited significant difference (119901 value le 005) betweenstations Temperature was found related to the samplingtime as the water was cooler in the morning whereas thetemperature of streams increased significantly (119901 value le005) in the afternoon Similar result was demonstrated byLing et al [8] where the authors attributed the large variation
The Scientific World Journal 3
Table 1 The details of the sampling regime and sampling location in the present study
Station GPS Coordinate Date Time RemarkSt 1 Sg Selentang N01∘34101584005610158401015840 E114∘21101584014010158401015840 21112015 300 pm RainingSt 2 Sg Penganen N01∘34101584002010158401015840 E114∘20101584047210158401015840 21112015 225 pm RainingSt 3 Sg Irak N01∘33101584055210158401015840 E114∘18101584038910158401015840 21112015 135 pm RainingSt 4 Sg Tor N01∘34101584004310158401015840 E114∘16101584045810158401015840 21112015 1109 am RainingSt 5 Sg Kian N01∘34101584001110158401015840 E114∘15101584047210158401015840 21112015 1030 am RainingSt 6 Sg Kupet N01∘33101584054210158401015840 E114∘12101584053010158401015840 542015 1250 pm SunnySt 7 Sg Serani N01∘34101584016510158401015840 E114∘08101584040710158401015840 542015 1133 am Shaded and sunnySt 8 Sg Laie N01∘34101584006310158401015840 E113∘55101584038310158401015840 442015 437 pm Shaded and sunnySt 9 Sg Melatai N01∘35101584021910158401015840 E113∘47101584044710158401015840 442015 131 pm Shaded and sunnySt 10 Sg Entuloh N01∘36101584012210158401015840 E113∘44101584040610158401015840 442015 1152 am Shaded and sunnySt 11 Sg Mengiong N01∘37101584055410158401015840 E113∘38101584005010158401015840 1222015 220 pm SunnySt 12 Sg Putai N01∘48101584045410158401015840 E113∘46101584014210158401015840 1222015 425 pm RainingSt 13 Sg Merirai N01∘51101584036110158401015840 E113∘34101584039110158401015840 1322015 855 am SunnySt 14 Sg Gaat N01∘52101584030510158401015840 E113∘26101584008610158401015840 1322015 1025 am Partially cloudySt 15 Sg Mujong N02∘01101584039510158401015840 E113∘10101584054910158401015840 1322015 100 pm Raining
in temperature of the forest stream on the same day to thecanopy removal in the study area
There was no sign of acidification of the forest streamsas indicated by pH ge 7 and all streams were well-aeratedwith DO ge 68 mgL However DO values were observedto be significantly lower (119901 value le 005) at the downstreamregion of the Batang Baleh particularly at stations 11 13 14and 15 Those lower DO values were attributed to the higherorganic matter as the decomposition process consumed theDO rapidlyThe higher organic matter was due to the organicwaste greywater and partially treated black water dischargedfrom the residents of the logging camps and longhouses andorganic materials associated with logging activities locatedupstream of those sampling stations [2] The DO value wasalso found significantly and positively correlated (119901 valuele 005) with BOD5 and Org-N in the present study Linget al [18] also attributed the positive correlation betweenDO and pollutants to the rapid aeration and high surfacerunoff in a fast flowing river The pH value of tributarystations fluctuated along the Batang Baleh with the lowestand the highest pH values observed at station 5 and station 6respectively Conductivity value of the forest streams rangedfrom 193plusmn 02 120583Scm to 540 plusmn 00 120583Scm where significantlylower (119901 value le 005) conductivity values were found attributary stations that were located in the middle part of theBatang Baleh The pH DO and conductivity values at alltributary stations were classified as Class I according to theNational Water Quality Standard (NWQS) for Malaysia [23]
In the present study the turbidity and TSS values rangedfrom 126 plusmn 00 NTU to 11595 plusmn 00 NTU and 127 plusmn 25 mgLto 8883 plusmn 975 mgL respectively Turbidity was classified asClass II at most of the stations except for the five stations (79 11 13 and 15) where the guideline value of 50 NTU for thehealth of sensitive aquatic organisms was exceeded SimilarlyTSS was classified as Class I or II at most of the stations exceptstations 11 and 12 (Class III) and stations 7 and 9 (ClassV)Thehigh turbidity and TSS values observed at stations 7 9 11 and
12 were due to soil erosion from logging activities upstreamresulting in the sediment influx through surface runoff It hasbeen reported that in Malaysia logging or ground clearanceincreased river sediment yields by two to fifty times [3]Additionally results of a recent study conducted in Sarawakshowed that logging and associated activities induced theformation of soil erosion hotspots which remained for severalyears and that even though the exposed barren land resultingfrom logging activities only covered over 4 of the study areathey contributed more than 28 of the total soil loss [6]The eroded soil ends up in the receiving stream increasingthe turbidity and TSS Similar observations of a significantincrease in suspended solids after clear-cut timber harvestingwere reported [2 4] The extremely high values of turbidityand TSS observed at the tributary stations of the presentstudy were substantially higher than those recorded at thetributaries of the BaramRiver where the highest turbidity andTSS were about 468 NTU and 320 mgL respectively andthey were also attributable to logging activities [18 19]
Chl a concentration ranged from 002 plusmn 000 mgm3to 136 plusmn 021 mgm3 at tributary stations of the BatangBaleh (Table 3) Significantly lower (119901 value le 005) chl aconcentrations were observed at tributary stations that werelocated in upper part of the Batang Baleh than those in lowerpart of the river The highest value of chl a was observedat station 9 followed by station 15 which were significantlyhigher (119901 value le 005) than those at the other stations Thehigh chl a at stations 9 and 15 were due to the availablenutrients from settlements along the rivers as station 9recorded the second highest in TP and both stations exceededClass II limit of 02 mgL in TP Significant and positivecorrelation (Table 4 119901 value le 005) between turbidity TSSand chl a were observed in the present study indicating thatphytoplankton contributed to the turbidity and suspendedsolids readings In contrast to turbidity and TSS chl aconcentrations in the present study were substantially lowerthan those in the tributaries of the Baram River located at
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table2Summaryof
insituparameter
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Depthm
Temperature∘C
pHDOm
gL
Con
ductivity120583
Scm
TurbidityN
TUMean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
St1
024
a005
251d
e00
75g
00
I77
9cd
000
I390
g01
I470
bc00
IISt2
025
a014
250
d00
74f
00
I79
2ef
000
I490
l00
I478
bc03
IISt3
016
a006
252
ef00
72bc
00
I79
1e000
I480
k00
I210
a01
IISt4
015
a009
245
b00
71b
00
I79
5ef
000
I430
i00
I182
a01
IISt5
015
a004
242
a00
70a
00
I804
fg001
I40
0h
00
I155
a01
IISt6
060
b000
248
c00
79i
00
I814
g000
I540
m00
I387
b02
IISt7
127c
006
247
c00
73e
00
I810
g000
I230
c00
I4770
g108
gtII
St8
190d
000
266
i00
74f
00
I76
8c000
I300
d00
I126
a00
IISt9
177d
006
254
g00
72cd
00
I800
efg
000
I220
b00
I115
95h
00gtII
St10
070
b000
253
fg00
75g
00
I79
4de
000
I340
e00
I222
a00
IISt11
250
f000
247
c01
72d
00
I713b
006
I193
a02
I1224e
24gtII
St12
130c
000
250
d01
73e
00
I77
7c006
I339
e01
I488
c00
IISt13
310
h000
250
d01
76h
00
I717b
006
I458
j01
I1065d
27gtII
St14
220
e000
251d
e01
72cd
00
I683
a006
II40
1h01
I495
c36
IISt15
270
g000
257
h01
72cd
00
I690
a010
II385
f01
I1857f
36
gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table3Summaryof
water
quality
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Chlam
gm3
TSSmgL
BOD5m
gL
TANm
gL
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
mgL
Org-N
mgL
TPm
gL
Mean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
St1
002
a000
470
ab56
II328
e050
III010
ab003
II0073e
000
6028
bc003
040
d003gtII
St2
010
ab002
423
ab50
II302
e026
III008
a002
I0050d
0010
026
bc000
008
ab000
ISt3
011a
bc001
173a
15I
326
e044
III007
a001
I0027c
000
6037
cde
003
034
cd001gtII
St4
023
abcd
001
173a
29
I255
de011
II007
a001
I0080e
0020
036
cde
006
028
c003gtII
St5
011a
b001
177a
21
I231
de004
II021
e004
II006
0de
0010
044
ef000
014
b001
ISt6
035
d007
330
ab20
II19
8cd
037
II014
bcd
001
II0003a
b000
6030
bcd
002
003
a001
ISt7
039
d004
4867c
87
V298
de008
II014
bcd
001
II0013a
bc000
6053
f004
085
f006gtII
St8
026
bcd
004
143
a15
I080
ab014
I016
bcd
002
II0010a
bc000
0043
def
011
003
b000
ISt9
136f
021
8883d
975
V081
ab050
I017
cde
001
II0010a
bc000
0045
ef003
050
e001gtII
St10
032
cd002
200
a17
I091
ab042
I014
bcd
001
II0020a
bc000
0037
cde
006
032
cd010gtII
St11
023
abcd
005
1042b
38
III12
0abc
027
II015
bcd
003
II000
0a000
0012
a001
005
ab000
ISt12
019
abcd
001
577
ab40
III12
4bc
040
II018
de001
II0023b
c000
6020
ab004
002
a000
ISt13
028
bcd
004
267
a29
II022
a019
I013
abcd
000
II000
0a000
0010
a001
003
a000
ISt14
024
bcd
004
127
a25
I074
ab027
I012
abc
001
II0010a
bc000
0021
ab001
002
a000
ISt15
071
e012
396
ab17
II095
ab047
I037
f003
III0017a
bc000
6039
cde
007
025
c001gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
6 The Scientific World Journal
Table4Correlatio
nmatrix
ofph
ysicochemicalparametersc
ollected
from
thetrib
utarysta
tions
alon
gtheB
atangBa
leh
Temperature
pHDO
Con
ductivity
Turbidity
Chla
TSS
BOD5
TAN
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
Org-N
TPTemperature
1000
pH0174
1000
DO
-0244
0156
1000
Con
ductivity
-0174
0386
0090
1000
Turbidity
0093
-017
50166
-0556lowast
1000
Chla
0280
-010
5-0018
-0430
0893lowast
1000
TSS
0030
-016
80279
-0599lowast
0982lowast
0814lowast
1000
BOD5
-0410
-0090
0579lowast
0292
-017
5-0428
-0071
1000
TAN
0262
-019
1-039
1-0237
0168
0434
0070
-0433
1000
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
-0364
-032
50382
0302
-0274
-0389
-0241
0658lowast
-0277
1000
Org-N
0175
-0276
0551lowast
-0224
0386
0360
0435
0322
0210
0193
1000
TP-010
2-019
20416
-0402
0563lowast
0351
0638lowast
0436
-0040
0146
0678lowast
1000
lowastindicatessignificantcorrelatio
nat119901valuele
005
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
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ls
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Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal 3
Table 1 The details of the sampling regime and sampling location in the present study
Station GPS Coordinate Date Time RemarkSt 1 Sg Selentang N01∘34101584005610158401015840 E114∘21101584014010158401015840 21112015 300 pm RainingSt 2 Sg Penganen N01∘34101584002010158401015840 E114∘20101584047210158401015840 21112015 225 pm RainingSt 3 Sg Irak N01∘33101584055210158401015840 E114∘18101584038910158401015840 21112015 135 pm RainingSt 4 Sg Tor N01∘34101584004310158401015840 E114∘16101584045810158401015840 21112015 1109 am RainingSt 5 Sg Kian N01∘34101584001110158401015840 E114∘15101584047210158401015840 21112015 1030 am RainingSt 6 Sg Kupet N01∘33101584054210158401015840 E114∘12101584053010158401015840 542015 1250 pm SunnySt 7 Sg Serani N01∘34101584016510158401015840 E114∘08101584040710158401015840 542015 1133 am Shaded and sunnySt 8 Sg Laie N01∘34101584006310158401015840 E113∘55101584038310158401015840 442015 437 pm Shaded and sunnySt 9 Sg Melatai N01∘35101584021910158401015840 E113∘47101584044710158401015840 442015 131 pm Shaded and sunnySt 10 Sg Entuloh N01∘36101584012210158401015840 E113∘44101584040610158401015840 442015 1152 am Shaded and sunnySt 11 Sg Mengiong N01∘37101584055410158401015840 E113∘38101584005010158401015840 1222015 220 pm SunnySt 12 Sg Putai N01∘48101584045410158401015840 E113∘46101584014210158401015840 1222015 425 pm RainingSt 13 Sg Merirai N01∘51101584036110158401015840 E113∘34101584039110158401015840 1322015 855 am SunnySt 14 Sg Gaat N01∘52101584030510158401015840 E113∘26101584008610158401015840 1322015 1025 am Partially cloudySt 15 Sg Mujong N02∘01101584039510158401015840 E113∘10101584054910158401015840 1322015 100 pm Raining
in temperature of the forest stream on the same day to thecanopy removal in the study area
There was no sign of acidification of the forest streamsas indicated by pH ge 7 and all streams were well-aeratedwith DO ge 68 mgL However DO values were observedto be significantly lower (119901 value le 005) at the downstreamregion of the Batang Baleh particularly at stations 11 13 14and 15 Those lower DO values were attributed to the higherorganic matter as the decomposition process consumed theDO rapidlyThe higher organic matter was due to the organicwaste greywater and partially treated black water dischargedfrom the residents of the logging camps and longhouses andorganic materials associated with logging activities locatedupstream of those sampling stations [2] The DO value wasalso found significantly and positively correlated (119901 valuele 005) with BOD5 and Org-N in the present study Linget al [18] also attributed the positive correlation betweenDO and pollutants to the rapid aeration and high surfacerunoff in a fast flowing river The pH value of tributarystations fluctuated along the Batang Baleh with the lowestand the highest pH values observed at station 5 and station 6respectively Conductivity value of the forest streams rangedfrom 193plusmn 02 120583Scm to 540 plusmn 00 120583Scm where significantlylower (119901 value le 005) conductivity values were found attributary stations that were located in the middle part of theBatang Baleh The pH DO and conductivity values at alltributary stations were classified as Class I according to theNational Water Quality Standard (NWQS) for Malaysia [23]
In the present study the turbidity and TSS values rangedfrom 126 plusmn 00 NTU to 11595 plusmn 00 NTU and 127 plusmn 25 mgLto 8883 plusmn 975 mgL respectively Turbidity was classified asClass II at most of the stations except for the five stations (79 11 13 and 15) where the guideline value of 50 NTU for thehealth of sensitive aquatic organisms was exceeded SimilarlyTSS was classified as Class I or II at most of the stations exceptstations 11 and 12 (Class III) and stations 7 and 9 (ClassV)Thehigh turbidity and TSS values observed at stations 7 9 11 and
12 were due to soil erosion from logging activities upstreamresulting in the sediment influx through surface runoff It hasbeen reported that in Malaysia logging or ground clearanceincreased river sediment yields by two to fifty times [3]Additionally results of a recent study conducted in Sarawakshowed that logging and associated activities induced theformation of soil erosion hotspots which remained for severalyears and that even though the exposed barren land resultingfrom logging activities only covered over 4 of the study areathey contributed more than 28 of the total soil loss [6]The eroded soil ends up in the receiving stream increasingthe turbidity and TSS Similar observations of a significantincrease in suspended solids after clear-cut timber harvestingwere reported [2 4] The extremely high values of turbidityand TSS observed at the tributary stations of the presentstudy were substantially higher than those recorded at thetributaries of the BaramRiver where the highest turbidity andTSS were about 468 NTU and 320 mgL respectively andthey were also attributable to logging activities [18 19]
Chl a concentration ranged from 002 plusmn 000 mgm3to 136 plusmn 021 mgm3 at tributary stations of the BatangBaleh (Table 3) Significantly lower (119901 value le 005) chl aconcentrations were observed at tributary stations that werelocated in upper part of the Batang Baleh than those in lowerpart of the river The highest value of chl a was observedat station 9 followed by station 15 which were significantlyhigher (119901 value le 005) than those at the other stations Thehigh chl a at stations 9 and 15 were due to the availablenutrients from settlements along the rivers as station 9recorded the second highest in TP and both stations exceededClass II limit of 02 mgL in TP Significant and positivecorrelation (Table 4 119901 value le 005) between turbidity TSSand chl a were observed in the present study indicating thatphytoplankton contributed to the turbidity and suspendedsolids readings In contrast to turbidity and TSS chl aconcentrations in the present study were substantially lowerthan those in the tributaries of the Baram River located at
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table2Summaryof
insituparameter
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Depthm
Temperature∘C
pHDOm
gL
Con
ductivity120583
Scm
TurbidityN
TUMean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
St1
024
a005
251d
e00
75g
00
I77
9cd
000
I390
g01
I470
bc00
IISt2
025
a014
250
d00
74f
00
I79
2ef
000
I490
l00
I478
bc03
IISt3
016
a006
252
ef00
72bc
00
I79
1e000
I480
k00
I210
a01
IISt4
015
a009
245
b00
71b
00
I79
5ef
000
I430
i00
I182
a01
IISt5
015
a004
242
a00
70a
00
I804
fg001
I40
0h
00
I155
a01
IISt6
060
b000
248
c00
79i
00
I814
g000
I540
m00
I387
b02
IISt7
127c
006
247
c00
73e
00
I810
g000
I230
c00
I4770
g108
gtII
St8
190d
000
266
i00
74f
00
I76
8c000
I300
d00
I126
a00
IISt9
177d
006
254
g00
72cd
00
I800
efg
000
I220
b00
I115
95h
00gtII
St10
070
b000
253
fg00
75g
00
I79
4de
000
I340
e00
I222
a00
IISt11
250
f000
247
c01
72d
00
I713b
006
I193
a02
I1224e
24gtII
St12
130c
000
250
d01
73e
00
I77
7c006
I339
e01
I488
c00
IISt13
310
h000
250
d01
76h
00
I717b
006
I458
j01
I1065d
27gtII
St14
220
e000
251d
e01
72cd
00
I683
a006
II40
1h01
I495
c36
IISt15
270
g000
257
h01
72cd
00
I690
a010
II385
f01
I1857f
36
gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table3Summaryof
water
quality
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Chlam
gm3
TSSmgL
BOD5m
gL
TANm
gL
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
mgL
Org-N
mgL
TPm
gL
Mean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
St1
002
a000
470
ab56
II328
e050
III010
ab003
II0073e
000
6028
bc003
040
d003gtII
St2
010
ab002
423
ab50
II302
e026
III008
a002
I0050d
0010
026
bc000
008
ab000
ISt3
011a
bc001
173a
15I
326
e044
III007
a001
I0027c
000
6037
cde
003
034
cd001gtII
St4
023
abcd
001
173a
29
I255
de011
II007
a001
I0080e
0020
036
cde
006
028
c003gtII
St5
011a
b001
177a
21
I231
de004
II021
e004
II006
0de
0010
044
ef000
014
b001
ISt6
035
d007
330
ab20
II19
8cd
037
II014
bcd
001
II0003a
b000
6030
bcd
002
003
a001
ISt7
039
d004
4867c
87
V298
de008
II014
bcd
001
II0013a
bc000
6053
f004
085
f006gtII
St8
026
bcd
004
143
a15
I080
ab014
I016
bcd
002
II0010a
bc000
0043
def
011
003
b000
ISt9
136f
021
8883d
975
V081
ab050
I017
cde
001
II0010a
bc000
0045
ef003
050
e001gtII
St10
032
cd002
200
a17
I091
ab042
I014
bcd
001
II0020a
bc000
0037
cde
006
032
cd010gtII
St11
023
abcd
005
1042b
38
III12
0abc
027
II015
bcd
003
II000
0a000
0012
a001
005
ab000
ISt12
019
abcd
001
577
ab40
III12
4bc
040
II018
de001
II0023b
c000
6020
ab004
002
a000
ISt13
028
bcd
004
267
a29
II022
a019
I013
abcd
000
II000
0a000
0010
a001
003
a000
ISt14
024
bcd
004
127
a25
I074
ab027
I012
abc
001
II0010a
bc000
0021
ab001
002
a000
ISt15
071
e012
396
ab17
II095
ab047
I037
f003
III0017a
bc000
6039
cde
007
025
c001gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
6 The Scientific World Journal
Table4Correlatio
nmatrix
ofph
ysicochemicalparametersc
ollected
from
thetrib
utarysta
tions
alon
gtheB
atangBa
leh
Temperature
pHDO
Con
ductivity
Turbidity
Chla
TSS
BOD5
TAN
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
Org-N
TPTemperature
1000
pH0174
1000
DO
-0244
0156
1000
Con
ductivity
-0174
0386
0090
1000
Turbidity
0093
-017
50166
-0556lowast
1000
Chla
0280
-010
5-0018
-0430
0893lowast
1000
TSS
0030
-016
80279
-0599lowast
0982lowast
0814lowast
1000
BOD5
-0410
-0090
0579lowast
0292
-017
5-0428
-0071
1000
TAN
0262
-019
1-039
1-0237
0168
0434
0070
-0433
1000
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
-0364
-032
50382
0302
-0274
-0389
-0241
0658lowast
-0277
1000
Org-N
0175
-0276
0551lowast
-0224
0386
0360
0435
0322
0210
0193
1000
TP-010
2-019
20416
-0402
0563lowast
0351
0638lowast
0436
-0040
0146
0678lowast
1000
lowastindicatessignificantcorrelatio
nat119901valuele
005
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
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Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
4 The Scientific World Journal
Table2Summaryof
insituparameter
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Depthm
Temperature∘C
pHDOm
gL
Con
ductivity120583
Scm
TurbidityN
TUMean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
St1
024
a005
251d
e00
75g
00
I77
9cd
000
I390
g01
I470
bc00
IISt2
025
a014
250
d00
74f
00
I79
2ef
000
I490
l00
I478
bc03
IISt3
016
a006
252
ef00
72bc
00
I79
1e000
I480
k00
I210
a01
IISt4
015
a009
245
b00
71b
00
I79
5ef
000
I430
i00
I182
a01
IISt5
015
a004
242
a00
70a
00
I804
fg001
I40
0h
00
I155
a01
IISt6
060
b000
248
c00
79i
00
I814
g000
I540
m00
I387
b02
IISt7
127c
006
247
c00
73e
00
I810
g000
I230
c00
I4770
g108
gtII
St8
190d
000
266
i00
74f
00
I76
8c000
I300
d00
I126
a00
IISt9
177d
006
254
g00
72cd
00
I800
efg
000
I220
b00
I115
95h
00gtII
St10
070
b000
253
fg00
75g
00
I79
4de
000
I340
e00
I222
a00
IISt11
250
f000
247
c01
72d
00
I713b
006
I193
a02
I1224e
24gtII
St12
130c
000
250
d01
73e
00
I77
7c006
I339
e01
I488
c00
IISt13
310
h000
250
d01
76h
00
I717b
006
I458
j01
I1065d
27gtII
St14
220
e000
251d
e01
72cd
00
I683
a006
II40
1h01
I495
c36
IISt15
270
g000
257
h01
72cd
00
I690
a010
II385
f01
I1857f
36
gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table3Summaryof
water
quality
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Chlam
gm3
TSSmgL
BOD5m
gL
TANm
gL
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
mgL
Org-N
mgL
TPm
gL
Mean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
St1
002
a000
470
ab56
II328
e050
III010
ab003
II0073e
000
6028
bc003
040
d003gtII
St2
010
ab002
423
ab50
II302
e026
III008
a002
I0050d
0010
026
bc000
008
ab000
ISt3
011a
bc001
173a
15I
326
e044
III007
a001
I0027c
000
6037
cde
003
034
cd001gtII
St4
023
abcd
001
173a
29
I255
de011
II007
a001
I0080e
0020
036
cde
006
028
c003gtII
St5
011a
b001
177a
21
I231
de004
II021
e004
II006
0de
0010
044
ef000
014
b001
ISt6
035
d007
330
ab20
II19
8cd
037
II014
bcd
001
II0003a
b000
6030
bcd
002
003
a001
ISt7
039
d004
4867c
87
V298
de008
II014
bcd
001
II0013a
bc000
6053
f004
085
f006gtII
St8
026
bcd
004
143
a15
I080
ab014
I016
bcd
002
II0010a
bc000
0043
def
011
003
b000
ISt9
136f
021
8883d
975
V081
ab050
I017
cde
001
II0010a
bc000
0045
ef003
050
e001gtII
St10
032
cd002
200
a17
I091
ab042
I014
bcd
001
II0020a
bc000
0037
cde
006
032
cd010gtII
St11
023
abcd
005
1042b
38
III12
0abc
027
II015
bcd
003
II000
0a000
0012
a001
005
ab000
ISt12
019
abcd
001
577
ab40
III12
4bc
040
II018
de001
II0023b
c000
6020
ab004
002
a000
ISt13
028
bcd
004
267
a29
II022
a019
I013
abcd
000
II000
0a000
0010
a001
003
a000
ISt14
024
bcd
004
127
a25
I074
ab027
I012
abc
001
II0010a
bc000
0021
ab001
002
a000
ISt15
071
e012
396
ab17
II095
ab047
I037
f003
III0017a
bc000
6039
cde
007
025
c001gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
6 The Scientific World Journal
Table4Correlatio
nmatrix
ofph
ysicochemicalparametersc
ollected
from
thetrib
utarysta
tions
alon
gtheB
atangBa
leh
Temperature
pHDO
Con
ductivity
Turbidity
Chla
TSS
BOD5
TAN
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
Org-N
TPTemperature
1000
pH0174
1000
DO
-0244
0156
1000
Con
ductivity
-0174
0386
0090
1000
Turbidity
0093
-017
50166
-0556lowast
1000
Chla
0280
-010
5-0018
-0430
0893lowast
1000
TSS
0030
-016
80279
-0599lowast
0982lowast
0814lowast
1000
BOD5
-0410
-0090
0579lowast
0292
-017
5-0428
-0071
1000
TAN
0262
-019
1-039
1-0237
0168
0434
0070
-0433
1000
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
-0364
-032
50382
0302
-0274
-0389
-0241
0658lowast
-0277
1000
Org-N
0175
-0276
0551lowast
-0224
0386
0360
0435
0322
0210
0193
1000
TP-010
2-019
20416
-0402
0563lowast
0351
0638lowast
0436
-0040
0146
0678lowast
1000
lowastindicatessignificantcorrelatio
nat119901valuele
005
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal 5
Table3Summaryof
water
quality
atthetrib
utarysta
tionof
theB
atangBa
leh
Station
Chlam
gm3
TSSmgL
BOD5m
gL
TANm
gL
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
mgL
Org-N
mgL
TPm
gL
Mean
SDMean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDClass
Mean
SDMean
SDMean
SDClass
St1
002
a000
470
ab56
II328
e050
III010
ab003
II0073e
000
6028
bc003
040
d003gtII
St2
010
ab002
423
ab50
II302
e026
III008
a002
I0050d
0010
026
bc000
008
ab000
ISt3
011a
bc001
173a
15I
326
e044
III007
a001
I0027c
000
6037
cde
003
034
cd001gtII
St4
023
abcd
001
173a
29
I255
de011
II007
a001
I0080e
0020
036
cde
006
028
c003gtII
St5
011a
b001
177a
21
I231
de004
II021
e004
II006
0de
0010
044
ef000
014
b001
ISt6
035
d007
330
ab20
II19
8cd
037
II014
bcd
001
II0003a
b000
6030
bcd
002
003
a001
ISt7
039
d004
4867c
87
V298
de008
II014
bcd
001
II0013a
bc000
6053
f004
085
f006gtII
St8
026
bcd
004
143
a15
I080
ab014
I016
bcd
002
II0010a
bc000
0043
def
011
003
b000
ISt9
136f
021
8883d
975
V081
ab050
I017
cde
001
II0010a
bc000
0045
ef003
050
e001gtII
St10
032
cd002
200
a17
I091
ab042
I014
bcd
001
II0020a
bc000
0037
cde
006
032
cd010gtII
St11
023
abcd
005
1042b
38
III12
0abc
027
II015
bcd
003
II000
0a000
0012
a001
005
ab000
ISt12
019
abcd
001
577
ab40
III12
4bc
040
II018
de001
II0023b
c000
6020
ab004
002
a000
ISt13
028
bcd
004
267
a29
II022
a019
I013
abcd
000
II000
0a000
0010
a001
003
a000
ISt14
024
bcd
004
127
a25
I074
ab027
I012
abc
001
II0010a
bc000
0021
ab001
002
a000
ISt15
071
e012
396
ab17
II095
ab047
I037
f003
III0017a
bc000
6039
cde
007
025
c001gtII
Samelette
rsindicateno
significantd
ifference
at119901valuegt
005
6 The Scientific World Journal
Table4Correlatio
nmatrix
ofph
ysicochemicalparametersc
ollected
from
thetrib
utarysta
tions
alon
gtheB
atangBa
leh
Temperature
pHDO
Con
ductivity
Turbidity
Chla
TSS
BOD5
TAN
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
Org-N
TPTemperature
1000
pH0174
1000
DO
-0244
0156
1000
Con
ductivity
-0174
0386
0090
1000
Turbidity
0093
-017
50166
-0556lowast
1000
Chla
0280
-010
5-0018
-0430
0893lowast
1000
TSS
0030
-016
80279
-0599lowast
0982lowast
0814lowast
1000
BOD5
-0410
-0090
0579lowast
0292
-017
5-0428
-0071
1000
TAN
0262
-019
1-039
1-0237
0168
0434
0070
-0433
1000
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
-0364
-032
50382
0302
-0274
-0389
-0241
0658lowast
-0277
1000
Org-N
0175
-0276
0551lowast
-0224
0386
0360
0435
0322
0210
0193
1000
TP-010
2-019
20416
-0402
0563lowast
0351
0638lowast
0436
-0040
0146
0678lowast
1000
lowastindicatessignificantcorrelatio
nat119901valuele
005
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
6 The Scientific World Journal
Table4Correlatio
nmatrix
ofph
ysicochemicalparametersc
ollected
from
thetrib
utarysta
tions
alon
gtheB
atangBa
leh
Temperature
pHDO
Con
ductivity
Turbidity
Chla
TSS
BOD5
TAN
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
Org-N
TPTemperature
1000
pH0174
1000
DO
-0244
0156
1000
Con
ductivity
-0174
0386
0090
1000
Turbidity
0093
-017
50166
-0556lowast
1000
Chla
0280
-010
5-0018
-0430
0893lowast
1000
TSS
0030
-016
80279
-0599lowast
0982lowast
0814lowast
1000
BOD5
-0410
-0090
0579lowast
0292
-017
5-0428
-0071
1000
TAN
0262
-019
1-039
1-0237
0168
0434
0070
-0433
1000
NO2minus-N
+NO3minus-N
-0364
-032
50382
0302
-0274
-0389
-0241
0658lowast
-0277
1000
Org-N
0175
-0276
0551lowast
-0224
0386
0360
0435
0322
0210
0193
1000
TP-010
2-019
20416
-0402
0563lowast
0351
0638lowast
0436
-0040
0146
0678lowast
1000
lowastindicatessignificantcorrelatio
nat119901valuele
005
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal 7
the same region [18 19] The highest chl a concentration atthe tributary station of the Baram River was approximately26 mgm3 which is extremely high compared to the presentstudy (lt 2 mgm3)
The BOD5 concentrations steadily decreased from up-stream to downstream regions ranging from 022plusmn 019mgLto 328 plusmn 050 mgL Significantly higher (119901 value le 005)BOD5 concentrations were observed at tributary stations thatwere located at the upper part of the Batang Baleh thanthose at the lower part of the river BOD5 concentrations atstations 1-3 were the highest among the stations because ofthe high organic matter from plant debris of past loggingactivities which accumulated in those streams BOD loadsdue to logging debris were also cited as a factor for thesignificant decrease in DO after clear-cut timber harvesting[2] DOC (dissolved organic carbon) was also reported toincrease strongly in concentration after forest operations inboreal first-order streams [5] The high BOD5 also explainsthe significantly depressed DO observed in those streamseven though the streams were fast flowing and well-aeratedmountain streams Similar observation of higher BOD5 con-centrations at the tributaries located at the upper part of theBaram River was also reported [18] Tributary stations at theupper part of the Batang Baleh were mostly classified as ClassII andor III whereas tributary stations at downstream regionwere classified as Class I andor II BOD5 was positivelycorrelated with DO and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N (Table 4 119901
value le 005) revealing the active decomposition process ofthe organic matter where oxygen is being consumed by thebacteria to decompose the organic matter The chl a TSSand BOD5 concentrations at station 11 (Sg Mengiong) andstation 14 (Sg Gaat) in the present study were relatively lowerthan those at the upper part of the streams [8] This revealsthat the sources of pollutant are most probably located atthe upstream of the watershed and dilution occurs along thestreams
The NO2minus-N + NO3
minus-N concentration was relatively lowin the study area ranging from below detection limit to 0080plusmn 0020 mgL Similar to BOD5 the NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
concentration was also significantly higher (119901 value le 005)at tributary stations that were located at upper part of theBatang Baleh than those at the lower part of the river Thehigher NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N is most likely due to increased
leaching from the soil after precipitation as mineralizationof organic matter was enhanced after timber harvesting andreduced uptake of nutrients by plants [1] and also the con-version of TAN to NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N as the concentrations
corresponded to lower TAN in particular stations 1-4 asthe streams were fast flowing well-aerated mountain afterrainfall events The TAN concentration at most stations wereclassified as Class II except stations 2 3 and 4 (asymp 007 mgL)which were classified as Class I and station 15 (037 plusmn 003mgL) which was classified as Class III TAN concentration atstation 15 was also significantly (119901 value le 005) higher thanthat at the other stations due to the organic waste includingdomestic animals from the households in the longhousesupstream of the station Org-N concentration was found highat tributary stations that were located in the middle part ofthe Batang Baleh The lowest and the highest concentrations
of Org-N were observed at station 13 (010 plusmn 001 mgL) andstation 7 (053 plusmn 004 mgL) respectively TP concentrationfluctuated at the tributary stations along the Batang Balehwhere around a half of the sampling stations complied withthe guideline value of 02 mgL but the other half exceededthe guideline value The highest concentration of TP wasobserved at station 7 (085 plusmn 006 mgL) followed by station9 (050 plusmn 001 mgL) which were significantly higher (119901 valuele 005) than the other stations Similar to turbidity and TSSnutrients such as Org-N and TP were also the highest amongthe stations at stations 7 and 9 due to the decaying plantsdebris from logging activities the wash down of particulateorganic matter following the disturbance of the forest floorduring timber harvesting activities and a reduction in theplant uptake of nutrients in the watershed [2] A study on theimpact of clear-cut logging also reported the observation ofan increase in the concentration of TN and TP at the outletof the catchments [4] TP was significantly and positivelycorrelated with turbidity TSS and Org-N (Table 4 119901 value le005) in the present study indicating that phosphorus mightbe attached with suspended solids and brought together intoforest streams [10] Despite the high turbidity and suspendedsolids the nutrients content of the tributary stations of theBaleh River was relatively lower than the Baram River withmean values of 033 mgL of TP 054 mgL of TAN and 099mgL of Org-N [18] The lower nutrients content in tributarystations of the Baleh River in the present study also explainsthe lower chl a concentration than the Baram River
Cluster analysis (CA) was applied to detect similari-ties among the tributary stations of the Batang Baleh Itdemonstrated that water quality at tributary stations alongthe Batang Baleh exhibited a longitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream areas The dendrogram shows thatthe 15 tributary stations can be grouped into four clustersaccording to the proximity of those stations (Figure 2) Gen-erally tributary stations along the Batang Baleh are groupedaccording to upstream middle and downstream regionsCluster 1 consists of stations located in upstream regionclusters 2 and 3 are mostly stations that were located in themiddle stream region and cluster 4 consists of stations thatwere located in downstream region Tributary stations thatwere located in upstream region (cluster 1) are mostly higherin BOD5 and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N than tributary stations in
downstream region (cluster 4) Stations 7 and 9 are groupedtogether in cluster 2 where these two stations were the mostpolluted stations with the highest concentrations of turbidityTSS and TP Both of the stations also contained high Org-N but were low in conductivity and NO2
minus-N + NO3minus-N
Similarly Merit River which is one of the tributaries of theBatang Rajang was also identified as more polluted than theother tributaries using cluster analysis [24]
4 Conclusions
The tributary water quality of the Batang Baleh was deter-mined and the results show that pH DO and conductivitywere classified as Class I andor II according to the NWQSfor Malaysia Turbidity value was high where all stationsare classified as Class II andor exceeded Class II Two
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
8 The Scientific World Journal
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Upstream region
Middle stream region
Downstream region
Station 2
Station 3
Station 1
Station 4
Station 5
Station 7
Station 9
Station 10
Station 12
Station 8
Station 6
Station 13
Station 14
Station 11
Station 15
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine0 20 2515105
Figure 2 Dendrogram of the cluster analysis
tributaries showed extremely high TSS thus classified asClass V High turbidity and TSS values at those stations areattributable to erosion as a result of logging activities Otherthan that the TSS BOD5 and TAN values fluctuated amongthe tributaries ranging from Class I to Class III Half ofthe tributary stations along the Batang Baleh contained highTP value that exceeded the guideline value Water qualityat tributary stations along the Batang Baleh exhibited alongitudinal variation fromupstream to downstream regionsin particular those in the upstream regionweremostly higherinDO BOD5 andNO2
minus-N+NO3minus-N than tributary stations
in downstream region Low DO and high TAN value indownstream region particularly station 15 could be attributedto the domestic wastewater discharged from residential areassuch as longhouses
Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study areavailable from the corresponding author upon request
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the expedition orga-nizers FDS and IBEC UNIMAS and the expedition andresearch funder SEB through Grant no GL(F07)SEB1C2013(14)
References
[1] R A Dahlgren ldquoEffects of Forest Harvest on Stream-waterQuality and Nitrogen Cycling in the Caspar Creek WatershedrdquoUSDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW-GTR-168 1998
[2] S H Ensign and M A Mallin ldquoStream water quality changesfollowing timber harvest in a coastal plain swamp forestrdquoWaterResearch vol 35 no 14 pp 3381ndash3390 2001
[3] I Douglas T Greer K Bidin and M Spilsbury ldquoImpactsof rainforest logging on river systems and communities inMalaysia and Kalimantanrdquo Global Ecology amp BiogeographyLetters vol 3 no 4-6 pp 245ndash252 1993
[4] S Lofgren E Ring C von Bromssen R Soslashrensen and LHogbom ldquoShort-term effects of clear-cutting on the waterchemistry of two boreal streams in northern Sweden a pairedcatchment studyrdquo AMBIO vol 38 no 7 pp 347ndash356 2009
[5] J Schelker K Eklof K Bishop and H Laudon ldquoEffects offorestry operations on dissolved organic carbon concentrationsand export in boreal first-order streamsrdquo Journal of GeophysicalResearch Biogeosciences vol 117 no 1 Article ID G01011 12pages 2012
[6] H Vijith A Hurmain and D Dodge-Wan ldquoImpacts of landuse changes and land cover alteration on soil erosion rates andvulnerability of tropical mountain ranges in Borneordquo RemoteSensing Applications Society and Environment vol 12 pp 57ndash69 2018
[7] T Y Ling L Nyanti and A S John Masion ldquoWater qualityof rivers that flow into Bakun hydroelectric dam reservoirSarawak Malaysiardquo ESTEEM Academic Journal vol 11 no 1pp 9ndash16 2015
[8] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-R Sivalingam L Nyanti S-F Simand J Grinang ldquoAssessment of the water and sediment qualityof tropical forest streams in upper reaches of the Baleh River
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal 9
Sarawak Malaysia subjected to logging activitiesrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2016 Article ID 8503931 13 pages 2016
[9] V H Smith G D Tilman and J C Nekola ldquoEutrophicationimpacts of excess nutrient inputs on freshwater marine andterrestrial ecosystemsrdquo Environmental Pollution vol 100 no1ndash3 pp 179ndash196 1998
[10] G S Bilotta and R E Brazier ldquoUnderstanding the influenceof suspended solids on water quality and aquatic biotardquo WaterResearch vol 42 no 12 pp 2849ndash2861 2008
[11] S C Schneider M Cara T E Eriksen et al ldquoEutrophicationimpacts littoral biota in Lake Ohrid while water phosphorusconcentrations are lowrdquo Limnologica vol 44 pp 90ndash97 2014
[12] J A Camargo and A Alonso ldquoEcological and toxicologicaleffects of inorganic nitrogen pollution in aquatic ecosystems Aglobal assessmentrdquoEnvironment International vol 32 no 6 pp831ndash849 2006
[13] J A Camargo A Alonso and A Salamanca ldquoNitrate toxicityto aquatic animals A review with new data for freshwaterinvertebratesrdquoChemosphere vol 58 no 9 pp 1255ndash1267 2005
[14] L Bergstedt and E Bergersen ldquoHealth and movements of fishin response to sediment sluicing in the Wind River WyomingrdquoCanadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences vol 54 no2 pp 312ndash319
[15] D K Rowe and T L Dean ldquoEffects of turbidity on thefeeding ability of the juvenile migrant stage of six New Zealandfreshwater fish speciesrdquo New Zealand Journal of Marine andFreshwater Research vol 32 no 1 pp 21ndash29 1998
[16] R G Lake and S G Hinch ldquoAcute effects of suspendedsediment angularity on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchuskisutch)rdquo Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciencesvol 56 no 5 pp 862ndash867 1999
[17] G Kim S Chung and C Lee ldquoWater quality of runofffrom agricultural-forestry watersheds in the GeumRiver BasinKoreardquo Environmental Modeling amp Assessment vol 134 no 1-3pp 441ndash452 2007
[18] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and J Gri-nang ldquoApplication of multivariate statistical analysis in evalua-tion of surface river water quality of a tropical riverrdquo Journal ofChemistry vol 2017 Article ID 5737452 13 pages 2017
[19] T-Y Ling C-L Soo J-J Liew L Nyanti S-F Sim and JGrinang ldquoInfluence of rainfall on the physicochemical charac-teristics of a tropical river in Sarawak Malaysiardquo Polish Journalof Environmental Studies vol 26 no 5 pp 2053ndash2065 2017
[20] APHA Standard Methods for the Examination of Water andWastewater American Public Health Association AmericanWater Works Association amp Water Environment FederationWashington USA 22nd edition 2012
[21] Hach Hach Water Analysis Handbook Hach Company USA2015
[22] S Muangthong and S Shrestha ldquoAssessment of surface waterquality using multivariate statistical techniques case study ofthe Nampong River and Songkhram River Thailandrdquo Environ-mental Modeling amp Assessment vol 187 no 9 article 548 2015
[23] Department of Environment Malaysia Environmental QualityReport 2014 Department of Environment Kuala Lumpur 2015
[24] T-Y Ling C-L Soo T-P Phan L Nyanti S-F Sim andJ Grinang ldquoAssessment of water quality of Batang Rajang atPelagus area Sarawak Malaysiardquo Sains Malaysiana vol 46 no3 pp 401ndash411 2017
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom
TribologyAdvances in
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
International Journal ofInternational Journal ofPhotoenergy
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Advances inPhysical Chemistry
Hindawiwwwhindawicom
Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Journal of
Volume 2018
Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
SpectroscopyInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2013Hindawiwwwhindawicom
The Scientific World Journal
Volume 2018
Medicinal ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
NanotechnologyHindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
Applied ChemistryJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Biochemistry Research International
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Enzyme Research
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal of
SpectroscopyAnalytical ChemistryInternational Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
MaterialsJournal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
BioMed Research International Electrochemistry
International Journal of
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Na
nom
ate
ria
ls
Hindawiwwwhindawicom Volume 2018
Journal ofNanomaterials
Submit your manuscripts atwwwhindawicom