Present and Potential Future Distribution of Common Vampire Bats in the Americas and the Associated Risk to Cattle

Abstract

Success of the cattle industry in Latin America is impeded by the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus, through decreases in milk production and mass gain and increased risk of secondary infection and rabies. We used ecological niche modeling to predict the current potential distribution of D. rotundus and the future distribution of the species for the years 2030, 2050, and 2080 based on the A2, A1B, and B1 climate scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We then combined the present day potential distribution with cattle density estimates to identify areas where cattle are at higher risk for the negative impacts due to D. rotundus. We evaluated our risk prediction by plotting 17 documented outbreaks of cattle rabies. Our results indicated highly suitable habitat for D. rotundus occurs throughout most of Mexico and Central America as well as portions of Venezuela, Guyana, the Brazilian highlands, western Ecuador, northern Argentina, and east of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay. With future climate projections suitable habitat for D. rotundus is predicted in these same areas and additional areas in French Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela and Columbia; however D. rotundus are not likely to expand into the U.S. because of inadequate ‘temperature seasonality.’ Areas with large portions of cattle at risk include Mexico, Central America, Paraguay, and Brazil. Twelve of 17 documented cattle rabies outbreaks were represented in regions predicted at risk. Our present day and future predictions can help authorities focus rabies prevention efforts and inform cattle ranchers which areas are at an increased risk of cattle rabies because it has suitable habitat for D. rotundus.

Microsatélites revelan heterocigosidad y estructura poblacional de murciélagos vampiro (Desmodus rotundus) (Quiróptera: Phyllostomidae) de México

“…Genetic differentiation between populations of vampire bats in America leads to high levels of sequence divergence and cryptic species in Desmodus complex (Martins et al, 2007;Pinto, 2009;Hernández-Dávila et al, 2012). Although D. rotundus is restricted to the tropical areas of the Neotropics, extensive field surveys suggest that D. rotundus remains well distributed within its fragmented range, and abundant within forested habitats with available food (Lee et al, 2012). A wide range with low vagility presumably facilitates population isolation between localities, promoting the development of significant genetic structure among populations.…”

“…D. rotundus is one of the common genera in order of abundance in the Neotropics and is considered an important element of the species richness of fragmented areas by its profusion (Trajano, 1996;Kraker-Castañeda & Echeverría-Tello, 2012;Lee et al, 2012). vampire bats have a clear positive response to environmental disturbance, with an increase in abundance related to the growth in livestock areas (Medellín et al 2000;Coutinho & Bernard, 2012;Streicker et al, 2012).…”

“…High bat vagility is expected when competition for local resources is high, allowing individuals to commute large distances (Chen et al, 2010). However, vampire bats (D. rotundus) are not limited by scarce food availability due to the introduction of cattle in tropical areas (Lee, Papes, & van Den Bussche, 2012). Landscape structure may play an important role in the genetic diversity and local gene flow of species, but has been probed that D. rotundus accomplishment high densities on patchy habitats especially influenced by cattle density and remains of original vegetation (Lee et al, 2012).…”

“…However, vampire bats (D. rotundus) are not limited by scarce food availability due to the introduction of cattle in tropical areas (Lee, Papes, & van Den Bussche, 2012). Landscape structure may play an important role in the genetic diversity and local gene flow of species, but has been probed that D. rotundus accomplishment high densities on patchy habitats especially influenced by cattle density and remains of original vegetation (Lee et al, 2012). Thus, differences in genetic structure among populations of vampire bats may depend upon the geographic scale of the study, and on local factors that allow/restrict gene flow of the species.…”

A Novel Endogenous Betaretrovirus in the Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus) Suggests Multiple Independent Infection and Cross-Species Transmission Events

“…1A). The core viral elements are flanked by long terminal repeats (LTRs) approximately 360 bp long, with the 5= LTR having an intact primer binding site (PBS) complementary to tRNA 1,2 Lys . We detected four DrERV copies (DrERV_824, DrERV_216, DrERV_479, and DrERV_C53), with variants DrERV_216 and DrERV_824 being complete proviruses but with substantially high overall genetic divergence in the env and LTR regions (0.039 in Tamura-Nei distance), suggesting that they might have arisen from independent endogenization events or that they underwent recombination.…”