In 1890, the Maldivian judge and poet Sheikh Muhammad Jamaluddin connected poetry with linguistic description in two ways. First, when he described features of the Dhivehi language with the aid of Arabic linguistic theory, he used Dhivehi poetry as linguistic evidence for correct usage. Second, he authored Dhivehi-language poetry about Arabic linguistic theory. Cosmopolis scholarship relates a narrative of how the wide circulation of Sanskrit, Arabic, and/or Persian fostered a vast network of writers who authored texts in major vernacular languages like Bengali, Burmese, Javanese, Kannada, Khmer, Malay, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, and Urdu. This scholarship suggests that authors living within a particular cosmopolis wrote in divergent vernacular languages yet were, in some sense, connected because they translated and responded creatively to the same widely circulated source texts written in Sanskrit, Arabic, and/or Persian. Yet in cosmopolis scholarship's effort to reveal understudied connections, various degrees of disconnection among writers of vernacular languages within a cosmopolis tend to be missed. One problem of overlooking disconnection among writers of vernacular languages is that readers could mistakenly conflate superculture-subculture interaction with intercultural interaction. In this article, I argue that Dhivehi-language poetry and linguistic description was inside the Arabic cosmopolis but simultaneously outside, because in circa 1890 non-Maldivians in the Arabic cosmopolis of South and Southeast Asia could not even read the Thaana script of the Dhivehi language.

Animals which migrate by flying should be subject to selection for optimal wing characteristics that maximize energy efficiency during migration. We investigated wing shape and wing area variation in the Globe Skimmer Dragonfly Pantala flavescens, which has the longest known migration of any insect. Wing shape and wing area differences between individuals in southern Peninsular India, and migrating individuals at a stop-over site on the Maldives, were compared. Results suggest that individuals which successfully reached the Maldives, on their way from India to Africa, had a broader wing base and an overall more slender wing shape than individuals in southern India. Contrary to our expectations, wing area did not differ significantly in most of our comparisons between southern India and the Maldives, suggesting that wing shape is more important than wing area for successful migration in P. flavescens. The results provide indirect evidence of natural selection on wing shape in a migrating dragonfly.

The Maldives Heritage Survey was established to document cultural heritage vulnerable to human and environmental threats in the Maldives. An open-access online database is being produced to inform academic studies, support heritage-management plans and create a permanent archive of digital heritage resources.

A new species from the subfamily Comesomatinae is described from the back-reef platforms of the central part of the Maldivian archipelago. Paracomesoma susannae sp. nov. is characterized by a large-sized body, very long cephalic sensilla (72–91 µm long), lateral differentiation of punctuations, and, in the males, 19–22 minute precloacal supplements, relatively short spicules (2.3–2.9 anal body diameter) and a hook-like structure in the distal end of the gubernaculum. Paracomesoma susannae sp. nov. is the only species so far described of the genus which appears to have such a low ratio of the outer labial and cephalic sensilla (about 0.02). An emended diagnosis of P. paralongispiculum is proposed, along with an updated and modified key to all the valid species of the genus Paracomesoma.

Huvadhoo Atoll is a little-known and generally uncontaminated atoll of the southern Maldives, although the human pressure is increasing. This study represents the first attempt to characterize the meiofaunal and nematode assemblages of its lagoon both from a taxonomic and functional point of view. The nematode assemblage was made up of a total of 131 genera in 33 families. Desmodoridae, Chromadoridae and Xyalidae represented the richest and most abundant families, followed in terms of abundance by Selachinematidae and Comesomatidae. The nematode richness was overall higher than that reported in the previous studies carried out in the Central part of the archipelago. The diversity patterns revealed higher values than those reported for the back-reefs platforms, so confirming the positive influence of the water depth on the biodiversity of the nematode assemblage. The statistical analysis highlighted a significant taxonomic difference of the assemblages between the stations characterized by fine and medium-coarse sands, respectively, in line with the auto-ecological preferences of the taxa detected. The use of some nematode descriptors for assessing the ecological quality status (EQS) of the lagoon has revealed a slight disturbance in the station close to Viligili, one of the most urbanized islands. However, the summarization of all the descriptors used allows the highlighting of the good EQS of the Huvadhoo lagoon. Thus, the results of this study may be taken as the starting point for the future monitoring of the potential and real impact of the anthropogenic activity on the area over time.

In 1998, in coincidence with high sea surface temperatures, Maldivian reef corals were severely affected by mass mortality following bleaching. Tabular Acropora corals, formerly abundant in shallow water, were nearly exterminated. Recovery started soon, and in 2004 Maldivian reefs appeared rich in tabular Acropora colonies again, especially at some sites. This study aimed at determining the degree of spatial variability of tabular Acropora abundance and size among reef typologies (ocean versus lagoon reefs) and depth zones (4–6, 10–12 and 16–18 m) 6 years after the mass mortality event. A total of 192 tabular Acropora colonies (Ø > 16 cm) were counted and measured in six sites. Their abundance differed between reef typologies and according to depth zones, with the highest values in deep lagoon reefs. Colony mean size differed only among depth zones, the largest colonies (up to 105 cm) being found in shallow reefs. Assuming a radial extension rate of 10 cm · yr−1, colonies larger than 65 cm can be interpreted as the survivors of the mass mortality of 1998; conversely, they may represent the result of enhanced growth rates in uncrowded situations as those characterizing the coral reefs of the Maldives in 2004.

In the tropical Indian Ocean, the Maldive Islands lack surface freshwater, so are unsuitable for dragonfly reproduction. Nevertheless, millions of dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata; mostly globe skimmer, Pantala flavescens) appear suddenly every year starting in October. Arrival dates in the Maldives and India demonstrate that the dragonflies travel from southern India, a distance of some 500–1000 km. Dates of arrival and occurrence coincide with the southward passage of the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Circumstantial evidence suggests that the dragonflies fly with north-easterly tail winds, within and behind the ITCZ, at altitudes over 1000 m. It is proposed that this massive movement of dragonflies is part of an annual migration across the western Indian Ocean from India to East Africa. Arrival dates in the Seychelles support this hypothesis. Dragonflies also appear (in smaller numbers) in the Maldives in May, with the onset of the southwest monsoon, suggesting a possible return migration from Africa. These proposed migrations of dragonflies, regularly crossing 3500 km or more of open ocean, were previously unknown. It is known that these dragonflies exploit ephemeral rain pools for reproduction; the monsoons and ITCZ bring not only alternating, seasonal rains to India and Africa, but also appropriate winds for dragonflies to follow those rains. Several bird species migrate from India across the western Indian Ocean to wintering grounds in Africa. They do so at the same time as the dragonflies, presumably taking advantage of the same seasonal tail winds. Many of these birds also eat dragonflies; the possible significance of this was not previously appreciated.

An unidentified species of hermit crab from the Maldives was photographed using a plastic box as shelter instead of a natural shell. This could be a result of increased pollution and shell collection disrupting the natural processes in coral reefs.

This Panel Session consisted of five country reports (India, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand, andNepal) and the common issues identified during the Panel discussions relative to seismic events in the Southeast Asia Region. Important issues identified included the needs for: (1) a legal framework upon which to base preparedness and response; (2) coordination between the many organizations involved; (3) early warning systems within and between countries; (4) command and control; (5) access to resources including logistics; (6) strengthening the health infrastructure; (7) professionalizing the field of disaster medicine and management; (8) management of communications and information; (9) management of dead bodies; and (10) mental health of the survivors and health workers.

This is a summary of the presentations and discussion of Session 1.4, Health Services Delivery: A CriticalReview of Experience, of the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04–06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to health services delivery as pertaining to the responses to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following major sections: (1) needs assessment; (2) coordination; (3) filling of gaps; (4) capacity building; and (5) lessons learned.