Foraging Movements of Epauletted Fruit Bats (Pteropodidae) in Relation to the Distribution of Sycamore Figs (Moraceae) in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Differences in the male mating calls of co-occurring epauletted fruit bat species (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae, Epomophorus wahlbergi and Epomophorus crypturus) in Kruger National Park, South Africa

“…Although one could argue that because we could not definitively identify individuals to species from which calls were recorded, we could not make this determination. However, several factors help in corroborating our interpretation of results: a) there are unequivocal distinctions in the type of male mating calls recorded in different areas of KNP; b) the calls are consistently different in the two regions of KNP, with exceedingly small degrees of variation in each of the call parameters; c) our capture data, as well as data from other researchers (Bonaccorso et al 2014), indicate that E. wahlbergi dominates the area around Skukuza, whereas E. crypturus dominates the area near Shingwedzi; d) capture data from other studies in KNP (Fenton et al 1985), and other areas in Africa, show spatial separation between epauletted fruit bat species on both local (Wickler and Seibt 1976) and, in some cases, regional scales (Kingdon 1974); and e) there are no records of mixed-species feeding groups of epauletted fruit bats at the same fig trees, and radio-telemetry data indicate that female E. wahlbergi from a particular colony moved to the same feeding area of ripe fig trees nightly (Fenton et al 1985). …”

“…Monadjem et al (2010) reports no records for E. crypturus from the southern areas of KNP, but Bonaccorso et al (2014) captured both species in southern and northern KNP between 2004 and 2007, but showed skewed population numbers with E. crypturus in higher abundance in the north and E. wahlbergi in higher abundance in the south. Fenton et al (1985) captured and radio-tagged 10 male and 10 female E. wahlbergi near Pafuri, about 30 km north of Shingwedzi, where our study took place, thus showing that concentrations of this species can and do occur in the northern KNP.…”

Effects of forest and cave proximity on fruit set of tree crops in tropical orchards in Southern Thailand

“…We used pollinator foraging distances to determine the cut-off distances for near and far orchards. Since previous work indicates that the mean foraging distance of local pollinator species ranges 2–7 km (1.97 km for a stingless bee (Wahala & Huang 2005); 1.7–6.9 km for Rousettus bats (Bonaccorso et al 2014); 4.4 km for Eonycteris spelaea bats (Acharya et al 2015)), we classified orchards as near if they were < 1 km away from the nearest rainforest patch and as far if they were >7 km away from rainforest. All pairs of orchards were at least 10 km apart.…”

Few figs for frugivores: Riparian fig trees in Zimbabwe may not be a dry season keystone resource

“…Elsewhere in Africa, riparian fig trees such as F. sycomorus can be much more abundant than in our study area (Makishima, 2005) and they even form virtual monocultures along rivers in Kruger Park, South Africa (Adams & Snode, 2013;Bonaccorso et al, 2014). The abundance of riparian fig trees therefore varies greatly, but they can retain ecological significance in deserts even when at low densities (Ahmed et al, 2009;Brain, 1988;Wharton, Tilson, & Tilson, 1980).…”

“…Because fig trees in the area are largely or entirely confined to riverbanks, it was possible to record most of the figs being produced across an area of several hundred square kilometres. This allowed us to determine the extent of their reproductive investment and the quantity of resources they were providing for frugivorous vertebrates at a scale that covered their likely foraging ranges (Bonaccorso, Winkelmann, Todd, & Miles, 2014). To assess the extent of reproductive investment and the likely value of the trees to frugivores, we recorded the densities of trees, the numbers of figs present, if any, and their developmental stages.…”