Diversity and abundance of bats in an oil palm plantation and neighboring forest in Bratak oil palm estate, Bau, Sarawak

• Main Author: John, Ray Timoh
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2006
• Subjects: QL Zoology; SF Animal culture
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18055/4/John%20full.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/18055/

A study on Chiropteran diversity and their relative abundance was examined using mistnets and harp traps in Bratak palm plantation, Bau district, Sarawak. A total of eight species from five families were captured during the eight sampling nights. A total of 188 bats were captured using mist-nets and six bats were captured using harp trap. The most frequently captured species was Penthetor lucasi followed by Cynopterus bracyotis wihich comprise of 56% and 38% of the overall capture respectively and mostly captured in the plantation area. The plantation area recorded the highest number of bats captured compared to edge and forested area with a total number of individuals 87, 25 and 11 , respectively. However the species diversity in the plantation area remains significantly lower than the forested area.