Publication: Forest habitat and fruit availability of hornbills in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand
Issued Date
2015
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eng
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Mahidol University
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Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies. Mahidol University
Bibliographic Citation
Environment and Natural Resources Journal. Vol.13, No.1 (2015), 13-20
Suggested Citation
Hata, Hiroki, Vijak Chimchome, Jongdee To-im Forest habitat and fruit availability of hornbills in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Environment and Natural Resources Journal. Vol.13, No.1 (2015), 13-20. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/3168
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Title
Forest habitat and fruit availability of hornbills in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand
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Abstract
This study aimed to examine the quality of hornbill habitat in terms of tree and fruit availability
in mixed deciduous forests, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary (SLP) has
been known as a mixed deciduous forest, which has been disturbed by human activities. All canopy trees
with a breast height diameter (DBH) ≥ 10 cm within the ten belt-transects of 2,000 m X 20 m (a total of
40 hectares) were monitored monthly. A total of 30 tree families including 81 species were observed on
the belt-transects and the dominant species were non-hornbill fruit species. As hornbills needs emergent
tree for nesting, trees with DBH size ≥ 40 cm were regarded as a potential nest tree and 37.78 % of trees
were found in SLP. The abundance of preferred nest tree species (families Dipterocarpaceae, Myrtaceae
and Datiscaceae) were 12.14%. The density of Ficus spp., which is regarded as the most important food
source for hornbill, is 0.55 trees / ha in SLP. The Fruit Availability Index (FAI) of all fruit species during
the breeding season is 23.49 % while the FAI of hornbill fruit species is 58.88 %. Furthermore, in
addition to this study, a pair of Great hornbills was observed during the breeding season and the male
abandoned the nest to feed the mate prior to the expected hatching period. A pair of great hornbills was
observed during the breeding season in SLP and the male would only leave the nest to find and retrieve
food for the female mate prior to the expected hatching period. The average estimated number of food
items fed to the female mate was 220 food items during the period from March (n = 3) to 13 food items in
April 2014 (n = 4). The reduction in the availability of food items may be considered as one of the factors
that affect the success or failure of producing offspring.