Bird diversity of three islands in the straits of Malacca
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Abstract
Bird species diversity of three islands (pulau) in the Straits of Malacca was studied in 2004 and 2007. A total of 12 species of birds was recorded from Pulau Perak, 21 species from Pulau Jarak, and 9 species from Pulau Lalang. Avifauna of these islands not only show differences in species diversity but also in community structures. Among the islands, Pulau Jarak had the highest bird diversity while Pulau Perak had the lowest bird diversity. Although Pulau Perak had more birds, this was contributed by the two most abundant species, i.e. Brown Noddy (Anous stolidus) and Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) which comprised 98.7% of the island's bird population. On other islands, the most abundant species were White-bellied Sea Eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster (31% in Pulau Jarak and 34.7% in Pulau Lalang) and Pied Imperial Pigeon, Ducula bicolor (17.5% in Pulau Jarak and 30.4% in Pulau Lalang). This study confirms several earlier records on distribution of certain unique and interesting components of the biodiversity of the islands.
Keywords
Bird community, Bird diversity, Pulau Jarak, Pulau Lalang, Pulau Perak, Tropical islands
Divisions
InstituteofBiologicalSciences
Publication Title
Malaysian Journal of Science
Volume
27
Issue
3
Publisher
Faculty of Science, University of Malaya
Additional Information
Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science Building, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA