Maleo Bird Habitat at Lake Towuti Found to Differ

Image: article cover, from Hadijah et al. (2022), Jurnal Wasian, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

A research team from the Faculty of Forestry at Universitas Andi Djemma, together with the Research Centre for Ecology and Ethnobiology at BRIN, has studied the vegetation characteristics of the habitat of the maleo bird (Macrocephalon maleo) in the Towuti Lake Nature Tourism Park, East Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi. The maleo generally lives in forests near hot springs. In East Luwu, however, its habitat lies on the shore of a lake. The study was published in Jurnal Wasian in 2022.

In the area where maleos rest, the macadamia tree (Macadamia hildebrandii) has the highest importance value of any species. The fruit of this tree is thought to be one of the maleo's food sources. At the nesting site, by contrast, cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) is the most dominant species. The research team recorded maleos feeding on grass seeds around the nesting burrows. This difference is reflected in the ecological indices: the resting area is classified as moderate to high, whereas the nesting area is classified as low.

These findings make the Towuti Lake Nature Tourism Park one of the remaining in situ habitats of the maleo in South Sulawesi. According to the study, the results can serve as a consideration for local government in protecting and conserving the area.

Source and how to cite

This story is based on the research article Vegetation Characteristics of The Maleo Bird (Macrochepalon maleo) Habitat at Natural Tourism Park of Towuti Lake, South Sulawesi by Hadijah Azis Karim Hadijah, Nardy Noerman Najib Nardy and Nada Sofyan Nada, published in Jurnal Wasian Vol. 9 No. 1 (2022). The full article is free to read on the Jurnal Wasian website.

Cite the original article (APA 7):

Hadijah, H. A. K., Nardy, N. N. N., & Nada, N. S. (2022). Vegetation Characteristics of The Maleo Bird (Macrochepalon maleo) Habitat at Natural Tourism Park of Towuti Lake, South Sulawesi. Jurnal Wasian, 9(1), 63–73. https://doi.org/10.62142/bpc0tb21

If you use these findings in coursework, a thesis or other writing, cite the original article above, not this news story. The original article is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.