Mangal roost selection by the flying-fox Pteropus alecto (Megachiroptera : Pteropodidae)

Abstract

A study in an unaltered environment was undertaken to gain baseline data on habitat requirements of flying-fox (Pteropus alecto). A survey of the South Alligator River in northern Australia during the dry season of 1992 located 13 P. alecto roosts. A comparison of their vegetation, and micro-climate with those of matched control sites with no flying-fox roosts used traditional Aboriginal knowledge, ground and air survey and a Geographical Information System. Roost habitat was rare in the study area, being restricted to riparian mangal vegetation that maintained a closed canopy throughout the dry season. The location and abundance of mangal vegetation within range of suitable foraging resources was believed to be the main factor influencing the distribution and colony size of P. alecto.