The dynamics of tent‐roosts in the palm Sabal mauritiiformis and their use by bats in a montane dry forest

Abstract

Tent‐making bats modify leaves to build refuges. Leaf modification involves energetic and defense costs that should be balanced by the benefits of tent‐roosting. The alteration of the leaf's vascular system reduces the tent's life expectancy, so to obtain a benefit, bats are expected to use tents regularly as long as they remain functional and not modify more leaves than necessary. Over 2 yr, we documented the dynamics of tent construction and use by Uroderma convexum and other bat species in the palm Sabal mauritiiformis in a Colombian transitional dry forest. We also assessed tent condition and compared it to nonmodified leaves of approximately the same age in focal palms. Probability of tent use by U. convexum varied between 57 percent during a reproductive period and 4 percent outside of this period. Bats cut the main vein of folioles, partially affecting water transport in the leaf. However, there were no differences between tents and nonmodified leaves in deterioration scores or deterioration rates over 1 yr. During 2 yr, 48 tents were lost for different causes, but this loss was balanced by the construction of 51 new tents. Thus, bats maintained an excess of usable tents. Palm leaves are long‐lived and seem preadapted to sustain damage and remain viable, particularly in species growing in dry environments. We present several hypotheses to explain the advantage of maintaining a tent surplus.

Parasitization of bats by bat flies (Streblidae) in fragmented habitats

“…These bat species are confronted with similar roosting options in all three habitats and readily use also ornamental plants for tent construction (Rodríguez‐Herrera et al, ; Rose et al, ). They switch roosts rather frequently, due to the comparably short lifespan of their leaf tents (Herrera‐Victoria, Zuluaga‐Egas, Rojas‐Díaz, Valenzuela, & Kattan, ; Rodriguez‐Herrera, Ceballos, & Medellin, ), and are therefore less likely to experience changes in parasitization due to habitat alteration.…”

TENT USE BY Artibeus AND Uroderma (CHIROPTERA,PHYLLOSTOMIDAE) IN NORTHERN COLOMBIA

“…Some authors even suggest that it uses tents made by other species (Brooke 1987;Rodríguez-Herrera et al 2007). Tent-use by A. jamaicensis has been previously recorded in Costa Rica (Foster & Timm 1976), on the island of Trinidad (Kunz & McCracken 1996), and in western Colombia (Herrera-Victoria et al 2018).…”

“…The first reports of leaf tents used by bats came from Panama, and most subsequent studies on tent-roosting bats were made in Central America and Trinidad (Barbour 1932;Kunz et al 1994;Rodríguez-Herrera et al 2007). Additional records of tent-roosting bat species have been made in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Peru (Koepcke 1984;Timm 1987;Charles-Dominique 1993;Zortéa 1995;Herrera-Victoria et al 2018), and currently 20 species of stenodermatine and rhinophylline bats are known to use tents (Garbino & Tavares 2018). However, most of the studies on tent-using bats in South America are based on occasional encounters and provide but a few details on group size, tent architecture and plant species used by the bats.…”