Diversity of bats in three selected forest types in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Bats, occupying a variety of habitats, play important roles in the tropical forest. Through this study, comparisons on bat species richness and evenness in primary forest, secondary forest, and urban forest were made. Sampling was conducted between 18:30 PM and 06:30 AM using 10 mist-nets and four harp traps for three consecutive nights at the primary and secondary forest of Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve and urban forest in the Universiti Malaya Botanical Garden. This study progressed from February 2012 until April 2014. A total number of 1226 individuals representing 46 species were managed to be captured throughout the period of this study. From this, a total of 396 individuals of bats from 33 species were recorded in primary forest, 608 individuals of bats from 31 species were recorded in secondary forest and 222 individuals of bats from 11 species were recorded in the urban forest. The primary forest (Shannon-Wiener, H' = 2.516) has a higher diversity of bats compared to the secondary forest (Shannon-Wiener, H' = 2.476) and the urban forest (Shannon-Wiener, H' = 1.527). However, the urban forest has a higher evenness index calculated (E = 0.4184) compared to the primary forest (E = 0.3994) and the secondary forest (E = 0.3718). Species richness in the secondary forest is the highest (Dmn = 1.616) followed by the primary forest (Dmn = 1.257) and the urban forest (Dmn = 0.7383). This study showed that the primary forest is more diversified compared to other habitats although more individuals were recorded in the secondary forest.