Page 95 - JWP 120122

Seed and Pollen Dispersal by Small Pteropodid Bats in Lowland Forests of Terengganu, 87
87
Seed and Pollen Dispersal by Small Pteropodid Bats in Lowland Forests of Terengganu,
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia

such as durian (Durio zibethinus) banana (Musa spp.), Indian trumpet (Oroxylum
indicum), bitter bean (Parkia speciosa) etc. in southern Thailand (Stewart et al.,
2014). This is true as indicated by pollen grains recorded on the bats’ bodies.
Although not reported as important pollinating agents of these trees, multiple
pollen types carried by the bats showed visitation to multiple tree species to fulfil
their energy and nutrient requirements by feeding on the nectar of the flowers
(Courts, 1998). We reported P. lucasi to carry three types of pollen grains,
although it was not previously reported to visit flowering chiropterophilous trees
for nectar (Stewart et al., 2014). For the three bat species other than the two
Cynopterus species, interestingly, we reported more than half of the individuals
captured were carrying pollen grains, although this is limited to the small sample
size. As pollen load indicates the important role of pteropodid bats as pollinating
agents (Stewart & Dudash, 2017), thus these three bat species can potentially
become pollinating agents to the tree species they visited by transferring the
pollen grains on their bodies to the stigma of the flowers they forage at.

As compared to other pollinating agents such as insects, a large bat’s body size
enables them to carry and transport a larger amount of pollen load Fleming et al.,
2009). Not only that, bats are also highly mobile animals with wing membranes
that enables them to fly considerable distances in a foraging night (Start &
Marshall, 1976), thus bats might help in promoting cross-pollination of the flowers
they visit. By travelling long distances each night, bats consequently have to visit
numerous flowers (Start & Marshall, 1976; von Helversen & Reyer,1984), hence
providing great mobility for pollen and genes within and among populations
(Horner et al., 1998; Molina-Freaner et al., 2003) for the plants in at least 67
families of angiosperms worldwide (Fleming et al., 2009; Kunz et al., 2011). For
example, Acharya et al. (2015) reported that a nectarivorous bat, Eonycteris
spelaea (cave nectar bat) visited many durian trees in their foraging route, hence
acting as a key pollinating agent by promoting cross-pollination for the self-
incompatible durian trees.

CONCLUSION

From the total six pteropodid bat species recorded in the lowland forests of
Terengganu, only two species; C. brachyotis and C. horsefieldii showed the
potential to be the seed dispersal and pollinating agents at the study sites. These
two frugivorous species ingested a high number of seeds and carried high pollen
loads on their bodies. The nectarivorous bat, M. sobrinus on the other hand was
found with only pollen loads on their bodies, and thus are important pollinating
agents for the trees they visited. As seed and pollen dispersal has a significant
effect on forest restoration, the information on the bat-plant mutualism in this
study highlights the important ecological role of these small pteropodid bats in