Habitat structure, wing morphology, and the vertical stratification of Malaysian fruit bats (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae)

Abstract

This study investigated the vertical stratification of Old World fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in relation to habitat structure and wing morphology, in a lowland Malaysian rain forest. In total, 352 fruit bats of eight species were captured within the subcanopy of the structurally complex old-growth forest during 72 306 m2 mist net hours of sampling. Fruit bat species that were grouped in relation to capture height were also grouped in relation to wing morphology – with those species predicted to have more manoeuvrable flight (i.e. lower wing-loadings and lower aspect-ratios) captured in increasingly cluttered airspaces. Thus, small differences in wing morphology are likely to be ecologically significant to the vertical stratification of bats. Hence, habitat heterogeneity may be a key factor promoting fruit bat species diversity in old-growth palaeotropical forests.

Bat diversity in Vietnamese limestone karst areas and the implications of forest degradation

“…Possible under-representation of species which habitually fly within the forest canopy may have been offset by our intensive sampling on ridgetops however, as this occurred at the level of the forest canopy in the immediate vicinity due to the steep terrain surrounding ridgetops. The fact that pteropodids, for whom vertical stratification is known (Hodgkison et al 2004), were only caught on ridgetops would appear to support this suggestion.…”

A Recent Bat Survey Reveals Bukit Barisan Selatan Landscape as a Chiropteran Diversity Hotspot in Sumatra

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