Psittacidae community in Mbeliling landscape, Flores

Abstract

A study of Psittacidae community has been conducted in the area of Mbeliling landscape, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. The purpose of this study was to asses the community of Psittacidae which includes the relative abundance, dominance and species composition in three locations with their different representations of habitats and altitudes. Data were collected in May and July 2013 from three locations, namely Lengkong Ra’beng, Dencang Mese and Wae Ndae. The data collection method used is Point Count. As many as 330 individual Psittacidae were found which are included in 4 different species; Tanygnathus megalorynchos, Geoffroyus geoffroyi, Trichoglossus haematodus weberi and Loriculus flosculus. Amongst the four species found, Loriculus flosculus is listed as Flores’s endemic species and Trichoglossus haematodus weberi is listed as Flores’s endemic sub-species. The relative abundance of each species are expressed in encounter rates. The dominance index value of Mbeliling region is at 0.547. Results shows that these four species are dispersed in different group clusters in composition dependant to the type of habitats represented at three sampling sites. Results pointed out the importance of Mbeliling Landscape area for Psittacidae conservation in Flores.