Professor Leads Research on Mortlock Islands Flying Fox
Kolonia, Pohnpei (October 31, 2013) – National campus Biology Professor, Dr. Don Buden, led a team of researchers to conduct a new study on a rare species of bat known as the Chuuk flying fox.
Found only in Chuuk State, the Chuuk flying fox (Pteropus pelagicus), is considered a critically endangered species due to commercial hunting for export (at least until the 1980s) and its limited geographic range.
Museum specimens (study skins) of Chuuk flying fox collected on Satawan Island, Satawan Atoll, Mortlock Islands by Dr. Buden and Ricardo Carlos. Mortlock specimens tend to have a larger white patch on the chest and abdomen than do those from Chuuk Lagoon Islands. According to a survey conducted by Dr. Buden and his team, an estimated 900 to 1,200 bats inhabit the Mortlock Islands, a chain of coral islands south of Chuuk Lagoon. The Mortlock populations represent a subspecies different from the one found elsewhere in Chuuk.
According to a statement released by Dr. Buden on mongabay.com ; "For those bats inhabiting the Mortlocks and other low lying coralline islands, which are barely above sea level, there will likely be a major negative impact [from global warming]. Aside from the loss of land on islands that are already very small in size, sea water encroachment into the water table along with more frequent total or near total inundation of the islands during storm surges would eliminate the food and roosting sites on which the bats currently depend."
Dr. Buden and his team’s research on the flying fox have been featured in a number of science related websites. For further reading, please visit the links below.
