TCD and WEC alumna Sheherazade Master’s work hit the NYTimes.

Study shows that flying foxes are crucial for durian pollination, demonstrating the economic importance of bats for durian fruit production in Indonesia. Durian is economically important for local livelihoods in Indonesia. The study investigated the identity of pollinators of semi‐wild durian and subsequently estimated the economic contribution of these pollination services. The researches, including a TCD and UF WEC alumna Sheherazade Jayadi, conducted pollination exclusion experiments and deployed camera traps at durian trees from October 2017 to January 2018 in an area where the local economy depends on durian production in West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Durian flowers in the experiment that were accessible to bats had significantly higher fruit set compared with flowers that were completely closed to animal visitors or those that could only be visited by insects, suggesting that bats were the primary durian pollinator. The researchers wanted to improve the fruit yields for small farmers in Indonesia, and hope their findings will encourage protections for bats.

Check Sheherazade‘s paper from her Masters at UF: ‘Contributions of bats to the local economy through durian pollination in Sulawesi, Indonesia’.

Sources: The New York Times and Biotropica.