Echolocation Ecology and Flight Morphology of Insectivorous Bats (Chiroptera) in South-Western Australia

Fullard, James H.; Koehler, Catherine E.; Surlykke, Annemarie; McKenzie, N. L.

doi:10.1071/zo9910427

Cited by 62 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Wing morphology has deserved special attention because of the clear relationship between wing size and shape with ecological and behavioural traits of bat species (Findley et al 1972;Findley and Wilson 1982;Findley and Black 1983;Schum 1984;McKenzie and Rolfe 1986;Aldridge and Rautenbach 1987;Norberg and Rayner 1987;Crome and Richards 1988;Willig and Moulton 1989;Fullard et al 1991;Norberg 1994;Heller and Volleth 1995;Arita and Fenton 1997;Stevens and Willig 1999).…”

Section: Morphological Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological assembly mechanisms in Neotropical bat assemblages and ensembles within a landscape

2006

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Empirical studies on bat assemblages have shown that richness is not appreciably influenced by local processes such as ecological interactions. However, most of these studies have been done in large areas that include high heterogeneity, and they analyse all bat species within such areas, and thus they may be not reflecting local but supra-community conditions. We followed an ecomorphological approach to assess how bat assemblages of species from the families Phyllostomidae and Mormoopidae, and ensembles of frugivorous bats, are assembled in local habitats within a single landscape. We measured the volume of the space defined by wing morphology and quantified the average distance between species within such a volume. Then, we related these measures to local richness. Such relationships were contrasted against relationships with random assemblages to test for statistical differences. At the ensemble level of organization, we found that the frugivorous bat morphological assembly mechanism is different from random patterns, and it corresponds to the volume-increasing model. On the other hand, bat assembly mechanisms may be ubiquitous at the assemblage level, because groups of species coexisting in a local habitat and delimited only by phylogeny include more than one ecological group with no potential to interact. Assembling processes are crucial to an understanding of species diversity in local communities, and ecomorphological analyses are very promising tools that may help in their study.

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Section: Morphological Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological assembly mechanisms in Neotropical bat assemblages and ensembles within a landscape

2006

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“…However, some elements of bat faunas typical of forests appear to be missing in New Zealand. These include bats that specialise in foraging in the mid-to-upper strata within the forest (e.g., Chalinolobus morio in Australia; O'Neill & Taylor 1986;Fullard et al 1991), bats with low wing loadings and aspect ratios that often forage in densely cluttered habitats (e.g., many members of the Rhinolophidae, Hipposideridae, andNycteridae; Aldridge & Rautenbach 1987;Jones et al 1993), species that feed very close to surface foliage (e.g., Nyctophilus geoffroyi, Lumsden et al 1994), and open zone specialists which have very long, narrow wings, and high wing loadings and aspect ratios (e.g., Molossidae and Emballonuridae; Aldridge & Rautenbach 1987). Most forest bat faunas support not just one, but a number of species that live in gaps and open spaces (e.g., O'Neill & Taylor 1986;Lumsden et al 1994).…”

Section: Comparison Between Lesser Short-tailed and Long-tailed Batsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat use and nocturnal activity of lesser short‐tailed bats(Mystacina tuberculata)in comparison with long‐tailed bats(Chalinolobus tuberculatus)in temperate rainforest

O’Donnell¹,

Christie²,

Simpson³

2006

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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Habitat use and nocturnal activity patterns of the threatened lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) were sampled during late spring and early summer using automatic bat detector units in temperate beech (Nothofagus) rainforest in Fiordland, New Zealand. Detector units recorded the number of bats passing per hour as an index of activity. Habitat use patterns were compared with longtailed bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) sampled concurrently. Activity levels in lesser short-tailed bats varied significantly among five habitat types and amongst hours of the night. Of the total activity recorded, most passes (82.6% of n = 657 bat passes) were in red beech forest >200 m from the forest edge; 13.7% were in silver beech within 100 m of forest edges, 2.6% were along roads through forest, 0.9% were on the forest-grassland edge, and 0.2% were in the open grassland. Lesser short-tailed bats were active throughout the night but especially at dawn and dusk. There was no correlation between levels of activity by lesser short-tailed bats and overnight minimum or dusk temperatures. Patterns of habitat use and activity in long-tailed bats were significantly different from those of lesser short-tailed bats. Z06009; Online publication date 19 April 2006 Received 20 December 2005; accepted 3 April 2006Of the total activity recorded, most (56.0% of n = 2929 bat passes) was along forest-grassland edges; 15.7% of passes were in open grassland, 13.1% were along roads through forest, 11.0% were in silver beech forest within 100 m of forest edges, and 4.2% within red beech forest. The implications of these findings for conservation and for improving survey techniques are discussed. For example, lack of use of open and edge habitats by lesser short-tailed bats suggests they would not adapt to highly fragmented and cleared forest habitats. The two species of New Zealand bat used available habitats differently while inhabiting the same sites. Therefore, a range of habitats, including forest interior, forest edges and grasslands, are required to sustain both species within reserves and management areas. Surveys for lesser short-tailed bats should focus on mature forest stands >200 m into the forest to maximise the chance of encountering this species, whereas surveys for long-tailed bats would best focus on forest edges.

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“…This acoustic partitioning was subsequently confirmed analytically (e.g. Neuweiler 1989;Fullard et al 1991;McKenzie andBullen 2003, 2009) and experimentally (Siemers and Schnitzler 2004;Triblehorn and Yager 2005) for both temporal (time-frequency) and spectral variables. Here, we assess the functional relevance of two spectral variables, F peakC and Q, to aspects of bat foraging niche and to the frequency tuning characteristics peculiar to bat auditory neurones (Covey 2005).…”

Section: Relevance Of Call Spectral Characteristics To Foraging Nichementioning

confidence: 72%

An acoustic survey of zoophagic bats on islands in the Kimberley, Western Australia, including data on the echolocation ecology, organisation and habitat relationships of regional communities

McKenzie¹,

Bullen²

2012

Rec West Aust Mus Sup

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-Bat ultrasound was recorded on 30 of the in-shore islands along the Northern Kimberley coast as part of a biological survey to assess their conservation potential as microcosms of the region's biodiversity. Species were identifi ed from their search-mode echolocation call sequences using a call library based (mainly) on two variables: the frequency maintained for the greatest number of cycles (F peakC ) and sharpness quotient (Q ). Populations of 20 of the 21 species that comprise the Northern Kimberley region's zoophagic bat fauna are now known to occur on these islands, an average of 8±0.6 (S.E.) species per island.The Kimberley has two compositionally distinct bat communities, one occupying landward environments and the other occupying mangroves. Both were represented on the islands. In each community, the search-mode calls of syntopic species were dispersed in spectral space, with few showing more than peripheral overlap in their spectral variables (Q and F peakC ). Their different call designs were functionally appropriate to differences in (1) foraging niche predicted from empirical data on species' fl ight capabilities and foraging behaviours, and (2) airframe variables related to fl ight performance and control. These observations imply a niche-assembly model of metacommunity structure. Pleistocene climatic fl uctuations and habitat fi ltering also appear to have infl uenced metacommunity structure at regional scales. However, nestedness was observed in assemblage composition that could be explained by environmental factors, implying the infl uence of environmental controls. The richest bat assemblages were recorded on the most mesic of the large inshore islands with cavernous landscapes and permanent pools.Comparison with surrounding regions revealed a diversity-productivity model of faunal structure, with an organisation that conforms to the specialisation hypothesis. Six islands, including their mangrove stands, are identifi ed as priorities for conservation. There are no published assemblage data with which to assess the organisation of bat faunas on Australia's continental islands, despite the importance of these islands as conservation arks (Nias et al. 2010). The Kimberley's inshore islands extend from Sunday Island in King Sound to Adolphus Island in Cambridge Gulf ( Figure 1) and, in terms of their climate, geology and biogeographical history, belong to the Northern Kimberley bioregion (e.g. Gibson and McKenzie 2012). Of the 24 species of echolocating bats listed for the Kimberley, 21 are known from the Northern Kimberley (Burbidge et al. 2008;. Prior to this study, however, available data on the region's island bat faunas was fragmentary, as it was gleaned from opportunistic collections made during a few brief visits over the last 40 years by zoologists carrying out general vertebrate surveys (e.g. McKenzie et al. 1978;Friend et al. 1991;McKenzie et al. 1995;How et al. 2006). The richest list was from Koolan Island, where iron ore has been mined since the 1960s (McKenzie et al. 1995)...

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Echolocation Ecology and Flight Morphology of Insectivorous Bats (Chiroptera) in South-Western Australia

Cited by 62 publications

References 22 publications

Morphological assembly mechanisms in Neotropical bat assemblages and ensembles within a landscape

Morphological assembly mechanisms in Neotropical bat assemblages and ensembles within a landscape

Habitat use and nocturnal activity of lesser short‐tailed bats(Mystacina tuberculata)in comparison with long‐tailed bats(Chalinolobus tuberculatus)in temperate rainforest

An acoustic survey of zoophagic bats on islands in the Kimberley, Western Australia, including data on the echolocation ecology, organisation and habitat relationships of regional communities

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