Strong sexual size dimorphism in the Dark-eared Myza Myza celebensis, a Sulawesi-endemic honeyeater, with notes on its wing markings and moult

We present morphometric and moult data for the Sulawesi-endemic Dark-eared Myza, based on 35 individuals captured at Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi, during March–April and July 2011. Four individuals banded in March were recaptured at the study site in July, suggesting that the population is probably sedentary. Like most meliphagids, although this species is not sexually dimorphic in plumage, measurements show that males are significantly heavier and have longer wings, tail and head–bill than females. Seven of the 16 adults in March–April and five of the 19 in July were moulting their primary feathers. Assuming that primary moult follows breeding, estimated laying dates for adults in the final stages of moult suggest breeding in December and early April, the latter corroborated by the presence of brood patches on two females in late March. A brood patch on a female in July further suggests that the breeding season is protracted. All birds photographed also showed distinct buff tips to most, if not all, secondary coverts and buff fringes to median coverts, a feature that appears to have gone unnoticed in the literature

A New Species of Muscicapa Flycatcher from Sulawesi, Indonesia

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a globally important hotspot of avian endemism, has been relatively poorly studied ornithologically, to the extent that several new bird species from the region have been described to science only recently, and others have been observed and photographed, but never before collected or named to science. One of these is a new species of Muscicapa flycatcher that has been observed on several occasions since 1997. We collected two specimens in Central Sulawesi in 2012, and based on a combination of morphological, vocal and genetic characters, we describe the new species herein, more than 15 years after the first observations. The new species is superficially similar to the highly migratory, boreal-breeding Gray-streaked Flycatcher Muscicapa griseisticta, which winters in Sulawesi; however, the new species differs strongly from M. griseisticta in several morphological characters, song, and mtDNA. Based on mtDNA, the new species is only distantly related to M. griseisticta, instead being a member of the M. dauurica clade. The new species is evidently widely distributed in lowland and submontane forest throughout Sulawesi. This wide distribution coupled with the species' apparent tolerance of disturbed habitats suggests it is not currently threatened with extinction.This project was funded by the National Geographic Society (NGS CRE 8919-11; granted to PCR), the Loke Wan Tho Memorial Foundation (granted to DLY), and an EIPR scholarship at the University of Adelaide (granted to JBCH). Labwork for this project was co-funded by a National University of Singapore Faculty of Science start-up grant to FER (WBS R-154-000-570-133). We thank RISTEK for issuing the national research permits (for 2011, 0215/SIP/FRP/VI/2011; for 2012, 183/SIP/FRP/SM/VI/2012) and Lore Lindu National Park for permit letters. The Research Centre for Biology-LIPI supported DMP and DDP in their field research and provided facilities for laboratory analysis. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

PEMANFAATAN BATANG PISANG SEBAGAI MEDIA TANAM DI DESA PULAU GODANG KARI, KECAMATAN KUANTAN TENGAH, KABUPATEN KUANTAN SINGINGI

Many people ignore the part of the banana stem, even though the banana stem also has various benefits. One of the uses in utilizing banana stems is to use banana stems as a container instead of polybags for planting media. This study aims to see banana stems as a suitable planting medium for plant growth and yield. In community service, socialization was carried out in Pulau Godang Kari Village to implement community service programs by involving the local village community. This study used 2 factors, namely banana stem factors and planting media factors, namely soil fermentation, manure, compost, and rice husks. The results of this study indicate fertility in plants, due to the nutrients contained in the banana stem

Bird observation and sampling in tropical agroforestry landscapes of the Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

We investigated the local bird community in Central Sulawesi (Indonesia), with focus on insectivorous species in the agroforestry landscapes adjacent to the Lore Lindu National Park. All study sites were situated at the northern tip of Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After an initial mapping of the study area, we selected 15 smallholder cacao plantations as sites for our study in March 2010. These sides were mainly used for bird and bat exclosure experiments. All sited were situated along a local gradient (shade availability on each plantation) and a landscape gradient (distance to primary forest), which were independent from each other. In September 2010 and from February until June 2011, we assessed the bird community on our 15 study sites using monthly point count and mist netting sampling. Point count (20 minutes between 07 am and 10 am and in between the net checking hours) and mist netting surveys (12 hours, between 05:30 am and 17:30 pm) were conducted simultaneously but only once per month on each study site, to avoid habituation of the local bird community to our surveys. Further, point counts were conducted at least 100 m apart from the mist netting sites, to avoid potential disturbance between the two methods. We discarded all observations beyond 50 m (including those individuals that flew over the canopy) from the statistical analysis, as well as recaptures of individuals within identical mist netting rounds

Cacao trees in tropical agroforestry landscapes of the Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

All sample sites were situated at the northern tip of Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After an initial mapping of the study area, we selected 15 smallholder cacao plantations as sites for bird and bat exclosure experiments in March 2010. On each study site, we established 4 treatments for these exclosure experiments (bird exclosure - closed during daytime and open during night; bat exclosure - closed overnight and opened during daytime; full exclosure of both birds and bats - always closed and unmanipulated/open control treatments - always open). In each treatment, there were 2 cacao trees (total of 8 cacao trees per study site), surrounded by nylon filament (2x2 cm mesh size) that was opened and closed according to the activity period of day and night active flying vertebrates (05:00-06:00 am and 17:00-18:00 pm) on a daily basis. The mean tree height and diameter at breast height (dbh) result from two measures of all study trees at the beginning of the exclosure experiment (June 2010) and 6 months later (February 2011)

Avian species identity and predation success in tropical cacao agroforestry of the Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Avian ecosystem services such as the suppression of pests are considered being of high ecological and economic importance in a range of ecosystems, especially in tropical agroforestry. But how bird predation success is related to the diversity and composition of the bird community, as well as local and landscape factors, is poorly understood. The author quantified arthropod predation in relation to the identity and diversity of insectivorous birds, using experimental exposure of artificial, caterpillar-like prey on smallholder cacao agroforestry systems, differing in local shade management and distance to primary forest. The bird community was assessed using both mist netting (targeting on active understory insectivores) and point count (higher completeness of species inventories) sampling. The study was conducted in a land use dominated area in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, adjacent to the Lore Lindu National Park. We selected 15 smallholder cacao plantations as sites for bird and bat exclosure experiments in March 2010. Until July 2011, we recorded several data in this study area, including the bird community data, cacao tree data and bird predation experiments that are presented here. We found that avian predation success can be driven by single and abundant insectivorous species, rather than by overall bird species richness. Forest proximity was important for enhancing the density of this key species, but did also promote bird species richness. The availability of local shade trees had no effects on the local bird community or avian predation success. Our findings are both of economical as well as ecological interest because the conservation of nearby forest remnants will likely benefit human needs and biodiversity conservation alike

Bird predation experiments in tropical agroforestry landscapes of the Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

We performed bird predation experiments (dummy experiments), using artificial prey and bird community data to investigate the importance of predator diversity vs. predator identity in cacao agroforestry landscapes. All sample sites were situated at the northern tip of Napu Valley in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. After an initial mapping of the study area, we selected 15 smallholder cacao plantations as sites for our exclosure experiments in March 2010. For our predation experiment, we selected 10 (out of 15) study sites and 5 cacao trees per site for the application of artificial prey for birds (dummy caterpillars made of plasticine). Our study trees (numbered from 1 to 5 per site) were randomly chosen and we kept spacing of at least two unmanipulated cacao trees between two study trees to avoid clumped distribution. To quantify both daytime/diurnal predation and night-time/nocturnal predation (e.g. birds vs. bats), we applied 7 caterpillar dummies on all study trees and controlled them for predation marks in the early morning (05:00-06:00 am), in the evening (17:00-18:00 pm) and in the early morning on the next day (completing one survey round). In total, we performed four survey rounds per study site (in June and July 2011). The caterpillar dummies were always applied in the same order and on three different parts of each cacao study tree: One 'control dummy' (located on first branching of the cacao tree); 3 'branch dummies' (located on one main branch coming from first branching; 20-25 cm between single dummies) and 3 'leaf dummies' (3 medium aged cacao trees adjacent to main branch were selected and single dummies placed in the center of each cacao leaf). The different positions were chosen to control for different foraging modes of predators (e.g. branch gleaners versus leaf gleaners). During day- and nighttime surveys, we controlled if the dummy caterpillars were still present in their original position, if they were absent and could not be relocated on the ground or if they were fallen to the ground, but could still be recorded. Eaten dummies were counted as 1 mark usually, except for those dummies, where two or more different kind of arthropods had eaten parts of the dummy (2 marks or more). Other predation marks were added to this number. For each dummy, we counted the total number of different predation marks. We focused on predation marks that could be identified with certainty (based on preliminary observations and/or literature): marks of birds, rodents and snails. Finally, we analysed the relationship of bird predation marks and bird community parameters (abundance vs. diversity), as well as effects of local and landscape management on the avian predation success

Avian species identity drives predation success in tropical cacao agroforestry

Avian ecosystem services such as the suppression of pests are considered to be of high ecological and economic importance in a range of ecosystems, especially in tropical agroforestry. However, how bird predation success is related to the diversity and composition of the bird community, as well as local and landscape factors, is poorly understood. We quantified arthropod predation in relation to the identity and diversity of insectivorous birds using experimental exposure of artificial, caterpillar-like prey in 15 smallholder cacao agroforestry systems differing in local shade-tree management and distance to primary forest. The bird community was assessed using both mist-netting (targeting active understorey insectivores) and point counts (higher completeness of species inventories). Bird predation was not related to local shade-tree management or overall bird species diversity, but to the activity of insectivorous bird species and the proximity to primary forest. Insectivore activity was best predicted by mist-netting-based data, not by point counts. We identified the abundant Indonesian endemic lemon-bellied white-eye Zosterops chloris as the main driver of predation on artificial prey.Synthesis and applications. The suppression of arthropods is a major ecosystem service provided by insectivorous birds in agricultural systems world-wide, potentially reducing herbivore damage on plants and increasing yields. Our results show that avian predation success can be driven by single and abundant insectivorous species, rather than by overall bird species richness. Forest proximity was important for enhancing the density of this key species, but did also promote bird species richness. Hence, our findings are both of economical as well as ecological interest because the conservation of nearby forest remnants will likely benefit human needs and biodiversity conservation alike. The suppression of arthropods is a major ecosystem service provided by insectivorous birds in agricultural systems world-wide, potentially reducing herbivore damage on plants and increasing yields. Our results show that avian predation success can be driven by single and abundant insectivorous species, rather than by overall bird species richness. Forest proximity was important for enhancing the density of this key species, but did also promote bird species richness. Hence, our findings are both of economical as well as ecological interest because the conservation of nearby forest remnants will likely benefit human needs and biodiversity conservation alike

New Biogeographic Records in the Avifauna of Peleng Island (Sulawesi, Indonesia), with Taxonomic Notes on Some Endemic Taxa

Volume: 130Start Page: 181End Page: 20

Range expansion of Lemon-bellied White-eye Zosterops chloris and Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster to south-east Sulawesi, Indonesia

Volume: 30Start Page: 143End Page: 14