Diversity of bats in three selected forest types in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur / Nursyereen Mohd Nasir

Bats have been occupying variety of habitat that can sustain their population. Many bat species play important roles in tropical forest. Through this study, we explored the diversity of bats in various habitats; primary forest, secondary forest and urban forest. The aims of this study are to determine species composition of bats in three different habitat types; primary forest, secondary forest and urban forest, to study the population distribution, species diversity, species richness, species evenness and abundance of bats, and to compare the capture rate of bats using two different capture methods which are mist nets and harp traps. This study was done at the primary and secondary forest of Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve and urban forest in Universiti Malaya Botanical Garden from February 2012 until April 2014. The sampling were done for 3 nights using 10 mist nets and 4 harp traps which were set up across strategic flyways; near fruiting trees and forest gaps. These mist nets and harp traps were left open overnight and checked in one hour interval until 2330 and were closed during the day. This study resulted in the capture of 1226 individuals representing 46 species. Throughout this study, 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 urban forest. Primary forest (Shannon-Wiener,H’ = 2.516) has higher diversity of bats compared to secondary forest (Shannon-Wiener,H’ = 2.476) and urban forest (Shannon-Wiener,H’ = 1.527). However, the urban forest has higher evenness index calculated (E = 0.4184) compared to primary forest (E = 0.3994) and secondary forest (E = 0.3718). Species richness in secondary forest is the highest (Dmn = 1.616) followed by primary forest (Dmn = 1.257) and urban forest (Dmn = 0.7383). This study showed that primary forest is more diversified compared to other habitats although more individuals were recorded in secondary forest. ANOVA showed a significant difference between the three habitat types but using JACCARD coefficient dendogram, the diversity of bats in primary forest and urban forest are almost similar. The total capture rate for mist nets recorded in this study (0.39 bats per night per net) is lower that the total capture rate for harp traps (0.56 bats per night per net) showing the effectiness of harp trap in sampling insectivorous bats as well as frugivorous bats.