The Ecology of Sulawesi, Volume IV in the Ecology of Indonesia Series, by Tony Whitten, Greg S. Henderson and Muslimin Mustafa
The world's most peculiarly shaped island, Sulawesi resembles anything from an open-jawed crocodile to a spastic letter "K." Lying between Kalimantan and Maluku, Sulawesi is Indonesia's third-largest island, with an area of 172,000 square kilometers, about the size of the state of Kansas in the United States. Containing some of Indonesia's most remote jungle areas, nearly unknown tribes and unique flora and fauna, Sulawesi is an utterly fascinating ecosystem to explore.
Because Sulawesi was separated from any land connection to either Asia or Australia since before the last great Ice Age, this led to evolution in isolation – nearly 40% of the birds and a remarkable 90% of the island’s 59 species of mammals are endemic. Sulawesi is home so such extraordinary beasts as the babirusa, a pig-like creature with upward-curving tusks, and the anoa, a very rare, fierce pygmy buffalo resembling an antelope.
Also dwelling here are four primitive forms of black macaques, a genus of heavily built monkeys, as well as saucer-eyed tarsiers and cuscus. Over 220 known species of birds are found on Sulawesi including the maleo bush turkey which digs its nesting holes in ground heated by volcanic steam. The Togian Islands in Tomini Bay are nesting grounds for giant sea turtles.
A true paradise for lepidopterists, 86 species of butterfly and over 200 species of beetles inhabit Sulawesi. The island’s flora consists of ferns that grow in geometric shapes and a stemmed palm that grows in corkscrew fashion, shooting out green spouts at each half circle.
This amazing variety, along with some spectacular mountains, coastline, lakes, and plains, makes Sulawesi a popular island with travelers, especially in the southern leg and the mountain fastness of Tanah Toraja, home of the Torajan people.
Sulawesi is also one of the most least known regions of Indonesia, and wise environmental management, including the proper assessment of environmental impacts arising from development projects, is currently very difficult. A major reason for this is a general lack of information, a problem compounded by the fact that much of the available literature is scattered through a wide range of Dutch, English, German and Indonesian journals, reports and books.
The Ecology of Sulawesi has brought together information from over 1,600 sources, as well as from research conducted specifically for the book. The tome is in fact only one of seven volumes in Periplus’s “Ecology of Indonesia” series which presents a wide range of information about one of the world’s richest biological realms, describing in detail Indonesia’s delicate ecosystems, it’s unparalleled biodiversity and relevant human influences.
Special features of The Ecology of Sulawesi include 64 pages of color and black and white plates, appendices on such abstruse subjects as soil analysis, plant family abbreviations, keys to mangrove and estuarine areas, sea grasses, termites and fruit bats.
Each volume of the series has been written by scientists but the books are obviously useful to laymen involved in resource and environmental management, local government administrative personnel, but should also prove enlightening to Sulawesi’s inhabitants, general readers and visitors.
The Ecology of Sulawesi. Volume IV in the Ecology of Indonesia Series, by Tony Whitten, Greg S. Henderson and Muslimin Mustafa, Periplus 2002, ISBN 962-593-075-2, 754 pages, color section, appendices, notes, bibliography, extensive index.
Available for Rp95,000 at Periplus Bookshops in the Bali Galleria and in the Matahari in Kuta, Warung Made in Seminyak, Ngurah Rai Airport (both international and domestic terminals), in Gramedia Bookstores, and in Ary’s and Ganesha bookshops of Ubud.
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