Nutrient availability predicts frugivorous bat abundance in an urban environment

Jara-Servín, Angelica M.; Saldaña‐Vázquez, Romeo A.; Schondube, Jorge E.

doi:10.1515/mammalia-2015-0039

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…These results are similar to those reported by Flynn et al., (2009), who found in a global meta‐analysis that the FD of nectarivorous birds may be retained in human‐dominated landscapes because of potential surplus flower availability in those environments. Also, the prevalence of some functional groups of fruit‐eating bats in deforested landscapes has been explained as the result of high dispersal capability and an ability to exploit the food supply provided by fruit trees, such as Ficus spp., in urban contexts (Farneda et al., 2015; Gonçalves et al., 2017; Jara‐Servín, Saldaña‐Vázquez, & Schondube, 2016; Klingbeil & Willig, 2009). For instance, deforestation may generate a variety of patches with different successional stages, which might increase fruit availability for several functional groups of phytophagous bats (de la Peña‐Cuéllar, Stoner, Avila‐Cabadilla, Martínez‐Ramos, & Estrada, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Independent variables are centered and standardized and middle-sized omnivorous bats and hematophagous species, had the highest values for those traits but were almost exclusively recorded in the areas with a high proportion of forest cover. In addition to considering traits related to flying performance as the mechanisms responsible for bat success in transformed landscapes, other aspects associated with habitat specialization, foraging behavior, food acquisition, and nutrient intake might play a crucial role in their adaptive capability (Jara-Servín et al, 2016;Saldaña-Vázquez, Ruiz-Sanchez, Herrera-Alsina, & Schondube, 2015;Welch & Beaulieu, 2018).…”

Section: Functional Traits and The Scale Of Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional diversity of phyllostomid bats in an urban–rural landscape: A scale‐dependent analysis

2020

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Urbanization is one of the most pervasive processes of landscape transformation, responsible for novel selection agents promoting functional community homogenization. Bats may persist in those environments, but the mechanisms responsible for their adaptability and the spatial scales in which the landscape imposes environmental filtering remain poorly studied in the Neotropics. We tested the hypothesis that landscape composition interacts with the spatial scale to affect the functional diversity of phyllostomids in an urban-rural gradient. Based on functional traits, we calculated indices of functional richness, divergence, evenness, and community-weighted means of morphological traits, and classified species into functional groups. We evaluated the changes in those variables in response to forest, grassland, and urbanized areas at 0.5, 1.25, and 2km scales. The number of functional groups, functional richness, and functional evenness tended to be higher in areas far from cities and with higher forest cover, whereas functional divergence increased in more urbanized areas. Our results show that the mean value of wing loading in the assemblage was negatively associated with landscape transformation at several spatial scales. However, environmental filtering driven by grass cover was particularly robust at the 0.5km scale, affecting big-sized species with long-pointed wings. Retaining natural forest in cattle ranging systems at ~12 km 2 appears to favor the functional evenness and number of functional groups of phyllostomids. Recognizing the scale of the effect on phyllostomid functional responses appears to be a fundamental issue for elucidating the spatial extent to which phyllostomid conservation planning in urban-rural landscapes should be addressed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Functional Traits and The Scale Of Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional diversity of phyllostomid bats in an urban–rural landscape: A scale‐dependent analysis

2020

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“…The abundance of large bats in transformed ecosystems (e.g. urban areas) has been explained because of the availability of nutrients and by the abilities that larger bodies confer (Jara-Servín et al 2017): for example stronger bites (Freeman and Lemen 2010) allow access to more food items. In our study landscape, for instance, Cecropia angustifolia is abundant in crops and other transformed areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of bats to landscape transformation in an Andean agricultural landscape

Vélez-Orozco

Romero

Castaño

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The current debate on the future of biodiversity gives rise to the need to integrate agricultural landscapes into conservation strategies. Bats are an important component of vertebrate diversity in many terrestrial landscapes where they provide invaluable and important ecosystem services to human societies such as insect pest control, pollination and seed dispersal. Here we study bat diversity and abundance in three landscapes representing a transformational gradient (continuous forests, forest fragments and crops) in an Andean agricultural scenario known as Colombia's "Coffee Cultural Landscape". We captured 1146 bats from 32 species and 4 families. The bat diversity and abundance in this landscape were high, especially for frugivorous bats, but there were no differences among the three transformational landscapes. However, some species were captured differentially between landscapes, suggesting that these landscapes have characteristics that influence the relative abundance of bats. Additionally, body weight and sex affect the abundance of some species in forest fragments and crops.

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“…In addition, energy density was calculated for all food plants. Approximate values were obtained from previously published studies [ 8 , 12 , 16 , 32 ], the Australian Food Composition Database [ 33 ], or the U.S. Department of Agriculture FoodData Central Database [ 34 ] for crude fat (CF; S2 Table ). For any plant species where approximate CF values could not be found, a proxy value of 2.4% DM was used based on recommendations by Dairy One for CF in miscellaneous forages ( S2 , S4 and S6 Tables).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Behavioral studies of frugivorous bats provide evidence that these animals require a variety of food plants to meet their nutritional requirements, including fruit, nectar, pollen, leaves and petioles [ 8 , 9 , 11 – 18 ]. Nutritional studies of frugivorous bat species have primarily focused on macronutrient content [ 12 , 13 , 19 – 21 ] and only a handful of studies reported micronutrient content of food plants consumed by flying-foxes [ 8 , 14 – 16 ] and the short-nosed fruit bat ( Cynopterus sphinx ) [ 17 ], limiting our ability to accurately predict nutrient requirements. Nutrient analysis of native food plants would provide evidence for how flying-foxes met their nutritional requirements historically and how the introduction of alien food plants might impact the nutrition of insular flying-foxes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of nutritional value of native and alien food plants for a critically endangered island flying-fox

et al. 2021

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Habitat loss and alteration are two of the biggest threats facing insular flying-foxes. Altered habitats are often re-vegetated with introduced or domestic plant species on which flying-foxes may forage. However, these alien food plants may not meet the nutritional requirements of flying-foxes. The critically endangered Christmas Island flying-fox (CIFF; Pteropus natalis) is subject to habitat alteration and the introduction of alien food plants, and therefore is a good model species to evaluate the potential impact of alien plant species on insular flying-foxes. In this study, we evaluated nutritional content of native food plants to determine how flying-foxes historically met their nutritional requirements. Furthermore, we compared the nutritional content of native and alien fruits to predict possible impacts of alien plants on insular flying-foxes. Native and alien fruits and flowers, and native foliage (leaves, petals, and petioles) commonly consumed by the CIFF were collected and evaluated for soluble sugars, crude protein, non-fiber carbohydrates, and nine minerals. Evaluation of native food plants suggests that flying-foxes meet energy requirements by consuming fruit and nectar. However, fruit and nectar are low in protein and essential minerals required for demanding life periods; therefore, flying-foxes likely supplement their diets with pollen and foliage. Thus, flying-foxes require a diverse array of plants to meet their nutritional requirements. Compared to native fruits, alien fruits contained significantly higher non-fiber carbohydrates, and this may provide an important energy source, particularly from species that bear fruit year-round. Median mineral concentrations in alien fruit species, however, were deficient compared to native fruits, suggesting major (or even seasonal) shifts in the proportion of alien species in the CIFF diet could lead to nutritional imbalances. This study confirms the need to quantify nutritional parameters in addition to feeding ecology when evaluating habitat quality to inform conservation actions that can be applied both locally and globally.

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Nutrient availability predicts frugivorous bat abundance in an urban environment

Abstract: We used a mathematical model based on nutrient availability to predict

Cited by 16 publications

References 34 publications

Functional diversity of phyllostomid bats in an urban–rural landscape: A scale‐dependent analysis

Functional diversity of phyllostomid bats in an urban–rural landscape: A scale‐dependent analysis

Responses of bats to landscape transformation in an Andean agricultural landscape

A comparison of nutritional value of native and alien food plants for a critically endangered island flying-fox

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