Frugivorous Birds in Taman Hutan Raya Sultan Thaha Syaifuddin Jambi, Jambi

Abstract

Frugivorous birds play an important role in forests regeneration by dispersing seeds from the fruit that has been digested by the bird. Taman Hutan Raya Sultan Thaha Syaifuddin is one of the disturbed forests in Jambi Province. In 2015, the province experienced a large fire that nearly devoured its entire area and left very little natural forest. The current land cover includes logged-over secondary forest, after-burnt forest and shrubs, oil palm plantation and some rubber plantation. The objective of this study was to document and compare the species composition of frugivorous birds in the four habitat types. Point counts with a radius of 50 m was used to document the birds. Fifteen sample points with 10 min duration were established in each of the four habitats. Fourteen frugivorous bird species belonging to 6 families were identified. Natural forest held the highest richness and diversity of frugivorous birds (D Mg =2.484, H’=2.05), while the oil palm plantation held the lowest richness and diversity (D Mg : 0.887, H’=0.74). Sooty-headed Bulbul (Pycnonotus aurigaster) and Orange-bellied Flowerpecker (Dicaeum trigonostigma) were dominant in every habitat.