The echolocation calls, habitat relationships, foraging niches and communities of Pilbara microbats

McKenzie, N. L.; Bullen, R. D.

doi:10.18195/issn.0313-122x.78(1).2009.123-155

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…harmonic; see Figure 2 in McKenzie and Bullen 2009). The frequency that was maintained for the greatest number of cycles (F peakC ), and its sharpness quotient (Q = F peakC /width of F peakC , Laverghetta 1981), were determined from the frequency spectrum.…”

Section: Reference Call Librarymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their biological relevance for Australian microbats has been well documented (e.g. McKenzie and Rolfe 1986;Lumsden and Bennett 1995;Law et al 1998;McKenzie and Muir 2000;Young and Ford 2000;Williams and Dickman 2004;Milne et al 2005a, b;McKenzie and Bullen 2009). Atmospheric conditions were not included in the analysis because we did not sample on cold or windy nights, or during wet season storms.…”

Section: Habitat Associationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these communities, cooccurring species occupy different foraging niches, An acoustic survey of zoophagic bats on islands in the Kimberley, Western Australia, including data on the echolocation ecology, organisation and habitat relationships of regional communities but environmental factors infl uence turnover in species composition across landscapes (e.g. Crome and Richards 1988;McKenzie and Start 1989;Milne et al 2005b;McKenzie and Bullen 2009). For the bats in these communities, foraging method is as tightly coupled to aspects of their echolocation call structure as it is to their fl ight morphology (McKenzie and Bullen 2003;, and search-mode calls are useful for acoustic identification of species (Bullen and McKenzie 2002a;McKenzie and Bullen 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Crome and Richards 1988;McKenzie and Start 1989;Milne et al 2005b;McKenzie and Bullen 2009). For the bats in these communities, foraging method is as tightly coupled to aspects of their echolocation call structure as it is to their fl ight morphology (McKenzie and Bullen 2003;, and search-mode calls are useful for acoustic identification of species (Bullen and McKenzie 2002a;McKenzie and Bullen 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cluttered airspaces between boulders, tree trunks, branches and among foliage in stands of vegetation (IS). Species were assigned to one of fi ve foraging strategies by integrating data on fl ight speeds and foraging behaviours (including turn capabilities) such as those reported in Bullen and McKenzie (2001), McKenzie et al (2002) and McKenzie and Bullen (2009). In those studies, we used turn capability to rate species airframes in terms of agility, mode horizontal free-fl ight speed as an approximation of foraging speed, and documented foraging behaviours (either observed during fieldwork, or reported for the same species elsewhere).…”

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confidence: 99%

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An acoustic survey of zoophagic bats on islands in the Kimberley, Western Australia, including data on the echolocation ecology, organisation and habitat relationships of regional communities

McKenzie¹,

Bullen²

2012

Rec West Aust Mus Sup

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-Bat ultrasound was recorded on 30 of the in-shore islands along the Northern Kimberley coast as part of a biological survey to assess their conservation potential as microcosms of the region's biodiversity. Species were identifi ed from their search-mode echolocation call sequences using a call library based (mainly) on two variables: the frequency maintained for the greatest number of cycles (F peakC ) and sharpness quotient (Q ). Populations of 20 of the 21 species that comprise the Northern Kimberley region's zoophagic bat fauna are now known to occur on these islands, an average of 8±0.6 (S.E.) species per island.The Kimberley has two compositionally distinct bat communities, one occupying landward environments and the other occupying mangroves. Both were represented on the islands. In each community, the search-mode calls of syntopic species were dispersed in spectral space, with few showing more than peripheral overlap in their spectral variables (Q and F peakC ). Their different call designs were functionally appropriate to differences in (1) foraging niche predicted from empirical data on species' fl ight capabilities and foraging behaviours, and (2) airframe variables related to fl ight performance and control. These observations imply a niche-assembly model of metacommunity structure. Pleistocene climatic fl uctuations and habitat fi ltering also appear to have infl uenced metacommunity structure at regional scales. However, nestedness was observed in assemblage composition that could be explained by environmental factors, implying the infl uence of environmental controls. The richest bat assemblages were recorded on the most mesic of the large inshore islands with cavernous landscapes and permanent pools.Comparison with surrounding regions revealed a diversity-productivity model of faunal structure, with an organisation that conforms to the specialisation hypothesis. Six islands, including their mangrove stands, are identifi ed as priorities for conservation. There are no published assemblage data with which to assess the organisation of bat faunas on Australia's continental islands, despite the importance of these islands as conservation arks (Nias et al. 2010). The Kimberley's inshore islands extend from Sunday Island in King Sound to Adolphus Island in Cambridge Gulf ( Figure 1) and, in terms of their climate, geology and biogeographical history, belong to the Northern Kimberley bioregion (e.g. Gibson and McKenzie 2012). Of the 24 species of echolocating bats listed for the Kimberley, 21 are known from the Northern Kimberley (Burbidge et al. 2008;. Prior to this study, however, available data on the region's island bat faunas was fragmentary, as it was gleaned from opportunistic collections made during a few brief visits over the last 40 years by zoologists carrying out general vertebrate surveys (e.g. McKenzie et al. 1978;Friend et al. 1991;McKenzie et al. 1995;How et al. 2006). The richest list was from Koolan Island, where iron ore has been mined since the 1960s (McKenzie et al. 1995)...

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Section: Reference Call Librarymentioning

confidence: 99%