Foraging ecology of the black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) in
the seasonal tropics of the Northern Territory, Australia Carol
Palmer, Owen Price and Christine Bach 27(2) 169 - 178 Pteropus
alecto uses landscape patchiness at two scales: firstly, between
broad vegetation types (i.e. eucalypt open forest/savanna
woodland versus rainforest vegetation); secondly, within
vegetation types. Radio-collared Pteropus alecto selected
foraging sites that were richer in flower or fruit resources
than floristically similar sites and moved through the landscape
in response to the flowering and fruiting of a number of plant
species occurring in different vegetation types. Abundance of P.
alecto within four monitored rainforest patches and the outside
vegetation fluctuated substantially during the study. Overall,
P. alecto was more abundant in the rainforests than in the
surrounding vegetation. P. alecto foraged on the flowers and
fruit from 23 species in 11 families. Full text
doi:10.1071/WR97126 © CSIRO 2000