SEABCRU » pollination

Decline of flying foxes could affect the durian industry

Sheema Abdul Aziz — Sat, 30 Sep 2017 19:44:03 +0000

An international team of researchers working in Peninsular Malaysia have found that the giant fruit bats known as flying foxes (Pteropus hypomelanus) are actually important pollinators for the durian (Durio zibethinus) tree, which produces a unique fruit that is highly popular throughout Southeast Asia and beyond. As this is the first time such a role has been documented for these highly threatened bats, it’s possible that a decline in their populations could potentially affect fruit production in the commercial durian industries of Southeast Asian countries. Led by SEABCRU member Sheema Abdul Aziz, the study has recently been published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.

Aziz SA, Clements GR, McConkey KR, Sritongchuay T, Pathil S, Yazid MNHA, Campos-Arceiz A, Forget P-M, Bumrungsri, S. 2017. Pollination by the locally endangered island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) enhances fruit production of the economically important durian (Durio zibethinus). Ecol Evol. 2017;00:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3213

From Tigga: You can read the press release from RIMBA (which has some great photos) here.

Eonycteris spelaea — an essential link in durian pollination networks.

Tigga Kingston — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 17:47:44 +0000

“Its me again .. Eonycteris spelaea pollinator extraordinaire!” (photo T. Kingston)

Further documentation of just how wonderful Eonycteris spelaea is with a new paper out this month in the Journal of Pollination Ecology. Pushpa Raj Acharya is the lead author, and here is a wonderful write-up on the history of Eonycteris spelaea studies and the significance of the study taken directly from the Journal’s press release:

“One of Paul Racey’s first duties as a new lecturer in the University of Aberdeen in 1974 was to act as internal examiner for Anthony Start’s PhD thesis on the ecology of Eonycteris spelaea in peninsula Malaysia. Start had made the intriguing discovery of mangrove (Sonneratia) pollen in the faeces of Eonycteris in a roost 38km from the nearest mangrove swamp, providing convincing evidence of long distance foraging. Forty years later, Racey’s former PhD student and now Professor, Sara Bumrungsri has revealed the critical role of Eonycteris in pollinating Durio and Parkia, with crop values of USD 137 million in Southern Thailand, crucial to local livelihoods. Pushpa Raj Acharya, a Nepali who had already co-authored a monograph on the bats of Nepal, won a scholarship to carry out research for a PhD by Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai and used radiotracking to study the foraging behavior of Eonycteris. He showed that the bats moved up to 8 km between patches of durian and by transferring pollen between patches, were the main agents of cross pollination. A major concern is the conservation status of Eonycteris, colonies of which live in caves, but the numbers of bats in these colonies are decreasing as a result of hunting and disturbance. Durian fruit set is as low as 0 -1.4% in orchards where bats are not seen foraging. The message is clear: no bats – no durian! ”

Pushpa Raj Acharya, Paul A Racey, Sunthorn Sotthibandhu, Sara Bumrungsri (2015). Feeding behavior of the dawn bat (Eonycteris spelaea) promotes cross pollination of economically important plants in Southeast Asia. Journal of Pollination Ecology 15: 44-50.

You can get a copy from Pushpa — email him at pushpa underscore psu at yahoo dot com

The perils of pollination

Paul Racey — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 13:01:01 +0000

Although Eonycteris spelaea pollinates commercially important plants, as illustrated in the recent paper by Sara Bumrungsri and colleagues, this sometimes costs them their lives. Fruit farmers find the flowers of such plants lying on the ground the morning after bats have visited and think the bats have destroyed them. The farmers do not realise that bat-pollinated flowers generally open for one night only and then fall, so they put up nets to prevent the bats from approaching the flowers. The bats get caught in the nets and are left to die. Public education is trying to prevent this travesty.

Sara Bumrungsri, Duncan Lang, Colin Harrower, Ekapong Sripaoraya, Kitika Kitpipit and Paul A Racey. 2103. The dawn bat, Eonycteris spelaea Dobson (chiroptera: Pteorpodidae) feeds mainly on pollen of economically important food plants in Thailand. Acta Chiropterologica 15: 95-104

Bumrungsri et al_Acta Chiro_2013

Photos below by Pushpa Acharya