Page 84 - JWP 120122

76 76 Mohammad Naufal Mohammad Shah, Khairul Bariah Mohd Johan, Azuan Roslan, Hasrul Zaman
Mohammad Naufal Mohammad Shah, Khairul Bariah Mohd Johan, Azuan Roslan, Hasrul
Zaman Hassan Basri, Elizabeth Pesiu, Muhammad Aidil Zahidin, Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah &
Hassan Basri, Elizabeth Pesiu, Muhammad Aidil Zahidin, Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah & Mohamed Nor
Mohamed Nor Zalipah
Zalipah

important pollinator. As pollen and seeds are the two ways by which plants
transfer their genes to the next generation, thus these small pteropodid bats play
an important role in the maintenance and regeneration of the lowland forests in
Terengganu.

Keywords: Ingested seed, pollen load, Tasik Kenyir, tropical rain forest, Setiu.

Received (29-December-2020); Accepted (28-July-2021); Available online (25-
September-2021).

Citation: Mohammad-Shah, M.N., Mohd-Johan, K.B., Roslan, A., Hassan- Basri,
H.Z., Pesiu, E., Zahidin, M.A., Abdullah, M.T. & Nor-Zalipah, M. (2021). Seed
and pollen dispersal by small pteropodid bats in lowland forests of Terengganu,
Peninsular Malaysia. Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 36: 75-93.

INTRODUCTION

Plant-animal interactions such as in pollination and seed dispersal are substantial
elements of the reproductive mechanism of hundreds of plant species,
particularly in tropical areas (Howe & Smallwood, 1982; Bawa, 1990). From this
mutualism, both parties benefit in which the animals obtain food (such as nectar
and fruits) from the plants they visited, while the plants in return obtain the
services of these animals in dispersing their pollen grains and seeds. By moving
pollen and seeds away from the parental trees, not only do these animals assist
with gene flow among isolated populations (Dick et al., 2008), but they also
prevent inbreeding, especially in plants that are capable of selfing (Lobo et al.,
2005). Furthermore, seed and pollen dispersal by animals might improve
landscape connectivity and ecological processes in fragmented forests (Henry et
al., 2007).

Only bats from the families of Pteropodidae and Phyllostomidae are
phytophagous, varying into trophic niches extending from frugivory to nectivory
(Marshall, 1983; Phua & Corlett, 1989; Gnocchi et al., 2019). From their foraging
activities, these bats play an essential role to the survival of hundreds of plant
species (Kunz et al., 2011) by dispersing the seeds and pollen of their plant food
sources (Bawa, 1990; Herrera, 2002; Fleming & Kress, 2011). This mutualism
between bats and the plants they forage however is more complicated and still
understudied. For example, although Fleming et al. (2009) reported bat as
pollinators of a semi-deciduous tree Inga marginata (Family Mimosaceae) in
South America, further study however found that bats were not effective
pollinators of the tree species (Marin-Gomez et al., 2016).

In Peninsular Malaysia, more than 30 plant species were reported to rely mainly
on the pteropodid bats as their seed dispersal agents (Hodgkison et al., 2003),