Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi supports an extraordinarily diverse assemblage of pteropodids, with 16 species documented. This diversity may in part reflect the great altitudinal range (from 350 to 2100 m a.s.l.) and diversity of vegetation types that combine to produce 17 habitat types. In a recent issue of Hysterix – Italian Journal of Mammalogy, Ibnu Maryanto and colleagues from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) report on their standardized survey of the park in which they mist-netted for bats from 7 altitudinal zones of 11 vegetation types.
Overall, species richness descreased with altitude, as has been found in previous studies. However, the 16 species clustered into four main groups, associated with particular habitats: upper mountain; lowland and mountain forest; marsh (just one Pteropus); and lowland and lower-mountain.
Ibnu Maryanto, Muhamad Yani, Siti Nuramaliati Prijono, Sigit Wiantoro (2011). Altitudinal distribution of fruit bats (Pteropodidae) in Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Hysterix, Italian Journal of Mammalogy 22: 167-177
Please contact Ibnu Maryanto or Sigit Wiantoro for a copy: ibnu_mar@yahoo.com, wiantoro@gmail.com
