Habitat use, roost selection and conservation of bats in Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Madagascar

Kofoky, Amyot; Andriafidison, Daudet; Ratrimomanarivo, Fanja H.; Razafimanahaka, H. Julie; Rakotondravony, Daniel; Racey, Paul A.; Jenkins, Richard K. B.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6320-6_14

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Forty-two species of insectivorous bats occur in Madagascar, with several species occurring more frequently in anthropogenic landscapes as opposed to forest habitats (Randrianandrianina et al, 2006;Rakotoarivelo et al, 2007). In general, most studies have focused on the dry western region (Goodman et al, 2005;Kofoky et al, 2006;Bambini et al, 2010;Racey et al, 2010;Fernández-Llamazares et al, 2018) as opposed to the humid eastern zone (Randrianandrianina et al, 2006) and only a few studies have tackled habitat selection while none have addressed the potential pest suppressor role in agricultural areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bats as potential suppressors of multiple agricultural pests: A case study from Madagascar

Kemp

López‐Baucells

Rocha

et al. 2019

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

105

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The conversion of natural habitats to agriculture is one of the main drivers of biotic change. Madagascar is no exception and land-use change, mostly driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, is impacting the island's exceptional biodiversity. Although most species are negatively affected by agricultural expansion, some, such as synanthropic bats, are capable of exploring newly available resources and benefit from man-made agricultural ecosystems. As bats are known predators of agricultural pests it seems possible that Malagasy bats may be preferentially foraging within agricultural areas and therefore provide important pest suppression services. To investigate the potential role of bats as pest suppressors, we conducted acoustic surveys of insectivorous bats in and around Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, during November and December 2015. We surveyed five landcover types: irrigated rice, hillside rice, secondary vegetation, forest fragment and continuous forest. 9,569 bat passes from a regional assemblage of 19 species were recorded. In parallel, we collected faeces from the six most common bat species to detect insect pest species in their diet using DNA metabarcoding. Total bat activity was higher over rice fields when compared to forest and bats belonging to the open space and edge space sonotypes were the most benefited by the conversion of forest to hillside and irrigated rice. Two economically important rice pests were detected in the faecal samples collected-the paddy swarming armyworm Spodoptera mauritia was detected in Mops leucogaster samples while the grass webworm Herpetogramma licarsisalis was detected from Mormopterus jugularis and Miniopterus majori samples. Other crops pests detected included the sugarcane cicada Yanga guttulata, the macadamia nut-borer Thaumatotibia batrachopa and the sober tabby Ericeia inangulata (a pest of citrus fruits). Samples from all bat species also contained reads from important insect disease vectors. In light of our results we argue that Malagasy insectivorous bats have the potential to suppress agricultural pests. It is important to retain and maximise Malagasy Benstead, 2005). However, despite its high level of endemism and species diversity, Madagascar's forests continue to face one of the highest rates of conversion in the world with approximately 1% of the island's forest cover being cleared each year (Rasolofoson et al., 2015; Eklund et al., 2016; Vieilledent et al., 2018). While most Malagasy biodiversity is adversely affected by agriculture-driven habitat modification, some 'winner' species benefit from habitat modification and increase their abundance in agricultural areas. Several of these are insectivorous birds (Martin et al., 2012; Rocha et al., 2015) and bats (López-Baucells et al., 2017b) that through the suppression of agricultural pests can provide valuable ecosystem services to local populations (Karp and Daily 2014; Maas et al. 2015). Rice (Oryza spp.) is one of the most important staple food crops worldwide (Muthayya et al., 2014). It is the main...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bats as potential suppressors of multiple agricultural pests: A case study from Madagascar

Kemp

López‐Baucells

Rocha

et al. 2019

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

105

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“…Further dietary studies of H. commersoni , using both faecal analysis and direct observations of foraging bats, will better determine the key prey types and permit an assessment of whether seasonal shortages of these invertebrates coincides with shifts in abundance or the sex ratio of bat populations. Kofoky et al. (2007) reported that H. commersoni was abundant in PNTB in October but very rare in the same area during July.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…For further details of the study sites see Nicoll & Langrand (1989), Alosno et al. (2002), Rasoloarison & Paquier (2003), Ratsirarson & Goodman (2005) and Kofoky et al. (2007).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The food habits of a Malagasy Giant: Hipposideros commersoni (E. Geoffroy, 1813)

Rakotoarivelo¹,

Ralisata²,

Ravoahangimalala³

et al. 2009

African Journal of Ecology

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Hipposideros commersoni is a large microchiropteran bat endemic to Madagascar. We analysed fragments of its prey from faeces and from underneath feeding perches to describe its diet from four sites. Diet was similar across sites and Coleoptera was the main prey item by percentage volume (75%), followed by Hemiptera (13%). Carabidae and Scarabidae were the most frequent coleopterans found in the diet. Direct observations (n = 3) were made of bats flying short distances from perches along forest trails to prey on Cicadidae (c. 20 mm in length) located on tree trunks. There were differences in the composition of faecal samples collected form netted bats and pellets collected under feeding perches, with the latter consisting of more Blattoptera (Blattellidae ‘cockroaches’). Hipposideros commersoni appears to have a unique foraging behaviour and diet among Malagasy microchiropterans and its preference for certain Coleoptera and other large invertebrates may account for reported seasonal variation in body fattening and activity.

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“…Forest loss continues in and around Ankarana (Cardiff & Befourouack, 2008) and this may have an impact on foraging or roosting habitat for some bat species (Goodman et al. , 2005; Kofoky et al. , 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunting, disturbance and roost persistence of bats in caves at Ankarana, northern Madagascar

Ratrimomanarivo

Rembert

2009

African Journal of Ecology

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Surveys and monitoring of 37 caves in and around the Ankarana Special Reserve, northern Madagascar, yielded evidence of hunting of bats and potential disturbance of bats by miners and tourists, and colony counts for several bat species of potential conservation concern. Colony size decreased by 95% and 14% for a colony of Hipposideros commersoni and a colony of Eidolon dupreanum, respectively, when recent evidence of hunting occurred at those colonies and those declines are probably attributable to hunting. Evidence of hunting occurred commonly at the roosts of those species and most commonly at the roosts of Rousettus madagascariensis. Hunting of pteropodids was associated with high vulnerability of roosts to hunters, little forest buffer between the cave and open savannah and the absence of tombs in the cave. Roost sites of the hunted species persisted for at least several years and this regularity may facilitate hunting. This work supports the ranking of E. dupreanum, R. madagascariensis and H. commersoni as species of conservation concern. Managers should consider the impact of tourist visits on bats and of increasing access to caves for tourism. Conservation efforts for the hunted species should also seek to protect vulnerable and unprotected cave roosts.

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Habitat use, roost selection and conservation of bats in Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Madagascar

Cited by 13 publications

References 20 publications

Bats as potential suppressors of multiple agricultural pests: A case study from Madagascar

Bats as potential suppressors of multiple agricultural pests: A case study from Madagascar

The food habits of a Malagasy Giant: Hipposideros commersoni (E. Geoffroy, 1813)

Hunting, disturbance and roost persistence of bats in caves at Ankarana, northern Madagascar

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