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Avian Biogeography and Conservation in Eastern Indonesia John C

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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2014 Avian Biogeography and Conservation in Eastern Indonesia John C. Mittermeier Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Recommended Citation Mittermeier, John C., "Avian Biogeography and Conservation in Eastern Indonesia" (2014). LSU Master's Theses. 2367. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/2367 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AVIAN BIOGEOGRAPHY AND CONSERVATION IN EASTERN INDONESIA A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Biological Sciences by John C. Mittermeier B.A., Yale University, 2008 MSc, University of Oxford, 2011 December 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been fortunate to receive incredible support and encouragement from many friends and colleagues during my time in Baton Rouge and throughout my fieldwork in Indonesia. I am very grateful for this, and look forward to continuing the many friendships and collaborations that I have developed at LSU. First and foremost, I would especially like to thank my advisor Dr Robb Brumfield, who provided fantastic mentorship and guidance during my thesis. My committee members Drs Fred Sheldon, J.V. Remsen, and Phil Stouffer also deserve special thanks for their advice, feedback on drafts and grant submissions, and help in working through ideas and research plans. Dr Sheldon, in particular, provided me with amazing opportunities to participate in field expeditions to Borneo and Java and offered guidance and advice on ornithology in South-East Asia. Each of the papers presented here represents a collaborative effort with multiple co- authors, and I would like to thank my co-authors for their help in planning, research, and writing. Eden Cottee-Jones, in particular, worked closely with me on the Moluccan Woodcock research, the surveys of Obi, and the assessment of the North Moluccan parrot trade and made these projects possible. Eka Hesdianti, Nova Mauldina Ashuri, Christine Edang Purba, Dr Jatna Supriatna, and Dr. Dave Redding were integral in completing projects in the Moluccas, and Dr Rob Moyle, Carl Oliveros, Ryan Burner, Dewi Prawiradilaga, Mohammad Irham, and Tri Haryoko contributed to research in Java. Dr Moyle and Carl especially deserve thanks for allowing me to join their Java research permits, as do Dr Supriatna and Diah Asri for their help with logistics on Obi. During the writing process, Nigel Collar, Brian Sykes, and Bas van Balen provided guidance and corrections to early manuscript drafts, as did Robert J. Whittaker, Paul Jepson, and Rich Grenyer. For advice in terms of planning and organizing fieldwork I thank: Shonil Bhagwat, Maan Barua, Stuart Butchart, Jared Diamond, Frank Lambert, Hanom Bashari, Marc Thibault, Bruce Beehler, Allison Styring, K. David Bishop, and Richard Noske. Matt Medler at Cornell’s Macaulay Library provided with sound recording equipment and helped to archive my recordings. As is always the case with field projects, research in Indonesia was only possible with the hospitality and support of local people, in particular: Bambang Setiawan, Pak Uspa, the heads of Kawasi, Gambaru, and Kampung Buton villages, Pak La Gode and Pak Ilham of Kampung Buton, Adam and Ikhsan of Wayloar, and Nisha and her family in Jikotamo. A Ron and Mary Neal graduate research fellowship funded my research at LSU, and I thank Mr and Mrs Neal for providing the funding to make this project possible. Additional financial support was received from a National Geographic Society/Waitt Grant and a Small Fieldwork Grant from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), and research on Java was funded through a National Science Foundation Grant (DEB1241181) to Drs Moyle and Sheldon. At LSU, Tammie Jackson and Laura Savage in the Museum of Natural Science, and Priscilla Milligan at the Graduate Program Office were incredibly helpful in dealing with all kinds of issues. Finally, I would like to thank my lab mates, fellow graduate students, and members of the museum for the many enlightening discussions and excellent memories. In particular fellow members of the Brumfield lab, Gustavo Bravo, Andres Cuervo, Caroline Judy, Michael Harvey, Sarah Hird, James Maley, Glenn Seeholzer, Brian Smith, and Ryan Terrill, and the Sheldon lab, ii Clare Brown, Ryan Burner, Vivien Chua, and Dency Gawin, as well as Matt Brady, Steve Cardiff, Donna Dittmann, Paul van Els, Dr Jake Esselstyn, Daniel Lane, Cameron Rutt, and Cesar Sanchez. It has been a great honor to learn from the incredible community at the Museum of Natural Science and to be part of LSU ornithology. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. v INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 1: A CASE STUDY IN INDONESIA’S LINNAEAN SHORTFALL ...................................... 4 Vocalizations and display behaviour of Javan Woodcock Scolopax saturata support its status as a distinct species .......................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: A CASE STUDY IN INDONESIA’S WALLACEAN SHORTFALL ................................. 7 A survey of the avifauna of Obi Island, North Moluccas, Indonesia ....................................................... 7 An avifaunal survey of three Javan volcanoes (Salak, Slamet, and Ijen) ............................................... 11 CHAPTER 3: RED LIST EVALUATIONS FOR TWO INDONESIAN BIRDS ...................................... 21 The Moluccan Woodcock Scolopax rochussenii on Obi island, Northern Moluccas, Indonesia: a ‘lost’ species is less endangered than expected ................................................................................................ 21 An assessment of the parrot trade on Obi Island (Northern Moluccas, Indonesia) reveals heavy exploitation of the Vulnerable Chattering Lory Lorius garrulus ........................................................... 31 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 39 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 40 APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 50 A. Birds recorded on Obi, Northern Moluccas, Indonesia; 5 July−27 August, 2012. ........................... 50 B. Birds recorded on Mt Salak, Mt Slamet, and Ijen Highlands, Java, Indonesia; 18 September - 20 October, 2013. ........................................................................................................................................ 54 APPENDIX 2 .............................................................................................................................................. 59 Permission to reproduce published material ........ ................................................................ ................ 59 VITA ........................................................................................................................................................... 60 iv ABSTRACT Evaluating the conservation status of threatened species requires a sequential process of 1) taxonomic classification, 2) distributional mapping, and 3) evaluation of species according to criteria established by the IUCN Red List. Knowledge gaps in the first two phases of this process have been termed the Linnaean and Wallacean Shortfalls, respectively. The Indonesian archipelago is one of the most biologically diverse areas of the planet, as well as one of the most threatened and poorly studied, and the Linnaean and Wallacean Shortfalls pose substantial challenges for conservation in the region. Here I address each of the three stages of categorizing threatened species through a series of case studies on birds in two regions of Indonesia: Java and the Northern Moluccas. The first chapter addresses an example of the Linnaean Shortfall; using behavioural and vocal data, I provide insight on the taxonomic status of woodcock (genus: Scolopax) on Java. The display and vocalizations of these birds confirm that they are a distinct biological species and should be evaluated separately from woodcock in New Guinea. The second chapter focuses on the Wallacean Shortfall, and clarifies avian distributions in three Javan montane areas and on the North Moluccan island of Obi. On Obi, in particular, previous knowledge of bird distribution is woefully incomplete; I report nine species of resident birds previously unknown on the island. In
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