REPORT ON THE ECOLOGY OF FRUIT BATS

摘要

An ecological study on fruit bats by using advanced methods was conducted in Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia), Kalimantan and Thailand from 1996 to 2000. With permissions from various authorities (i.e. Sarawak State Planning Unit, Sarawak Forest Department, Sarawak National Park and Wildlife Office, Sabah Parks, Department of Wildlife and National of Park Peninsular Malaysia, Royal Thai Forest Department and PHP A) in those survey areas, specimens were captured, tagged and released, and some voucher specimens were collected as museum samples as well as for mtDNA analysis. Specimens were also examined at Sarawak Museum, Sabah Museum, Brunei Museum, Sabah Park Museum and DWNP Museum. The laboratory and analyses part of the study was conducted at the University of Queensland with the expert advise of Dr. Les Hall, Professor Craig Moritz and Professor Gordon Grigg. Subsequent work at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (support from UNIMAS grant 217/2000(8)) was to train students in molecular ecology and to establish a working protocol. This study used the latest high biotechnology and multivariate statistical methods in order to look into the broader picture on the ecology, taxonomy, dispersal and evolutionary aspects of fruit bats in the study area. Clustering analysis was used to determine the biogeographical relationships of fruit bats in Borneo (Sabah, Sarawak & Kalimantan) to those found in the Asian mainland (Peninsular Malaysia & Thailand), Sumatra, Java, Palawan and Sulawesi. Multivariate statistics (MANOVA, PCA) was used to determine population differentiation based on their measurable phenotypes. A total of 74 haplotypes of 635bp cyto b gene of the mtDNA were used to determine the genetic divergence of fruit bat populations.