Keywords
Ficus
Figs
Fruit Bats
Keystone Species
Sriharikota.
How to Cite
Abstract
Reshy-fruits and their consumers were documented in a coastal tropical dry evergreen forest in southern India from April 2005 to May 2008. Twenty-one species of birds and nine species of mammals were recorded feeding on 56 fleshy-fruit species. The major avian frugivores were Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus and White-browed Bulbul Pycnonotus luteolus. Bonnet Macaque Macaca radiata. Golden Jackal Canis aureus, Small Indian Civet Viverricula indica. Short-nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx and Indian Flying Fox Pteropus giganteus were the major mammalian frugivores.
The frugivore assemblage in Sriharikota is typical of degraded secondary vegetation. Use of fleshy-fruits by birds was limited by seed protection in the form of husk and tough fruit/seed coat and to some extent by fruit colour, whereas mammals used a variety of fleshy-fruits. Green ripe fruits, avoided by birds and most mammals, were chiefly or exclusively eaten by fruit bats.
Figs (Ficus species) are an important fleshy-fruit resource for frugivores. The Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala shows a high degree of dependency on figs. Fruit bats utilized figs almost in all months of the study period. The conservation of fig trees, and other bird and bat attracting flora is vital for the survival of frugivores, which are important components in forest ecosystems, due to their crucial role in seed dispersal and regeneration.
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