A new population of terrestrial Leiopel-

Abstract:Dactylanthus taylorii is thought to be the only ground-flowering plant to be pollinated by a bat; the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata). This unique mutualistic relationship is poorly understood despite both species being threatened. We placed dataloggers around distinct clumps of D. taylorii inflorescences to monitor bats with implanted passive integrated transponders (PIT-tags) and quantify visitation rates and demography during the late-summer flowering season. Adult males and juveniles visited flowers more frequently than adult females. Adult males may have visited flowers to feed on nectar and offset the energy demands of advertising, lek defence and mating, and/or reduced foraging time during summer. Juvenile bats may be under increased energetic burdens due to naïve foraging behaviour and use nectar to augment low energy reserves. The frequency of visits correlated positively with mean night ambient temperature, likely because of increased prey, and therefore, bat activity. Our study is the first to examine the demographics of M. tuberculata visiting D. taylorii and serves as a baseline for future studies considering these unique and vulnerable New Zealand species.

To test the long-term efficacy of mammalian pest control, annual distance sampling estimates of the density of North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis) within the southern Waipapa Ecological Area (WEA), Pureora Forest Park from 2008-2020 are compared to previously published estimates made at the same sites and time of year (October) between 2000-2007. Kākā density increased approximately four-fold from an average of c. 0.5 (95% CI 0.5-0.6) birds ha −1 between 2000 and 2007 to c. 2.3 (95% CI 1.9-2.8) birds ha −1 in 2020. The average of rate of increase between 2000 and 2018 was c. 6.9% per annum. Kākā recovery is likely to be a function of multiple mast events and long-term (> 20 years), large-scale, frequent, effective control of possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) and probably mustelids. It is recommended that the current pest control as well as kākā and pest monitoring continue.

The unique relationship between Dactylanthus taylorii and its pollinator, the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata), is poorly understood despite both species being threatened. We used data collected over two summers (2016 and 2017) to determine if mean ambient temperature and total daily rainfall during the flowering period affected flower visitation by bats. We placed dataloggers around D. taylorii inflorescences to monitor bats with implanted passive integrated transponders (PIT-tags). We determined that flower visitation and bat activity was negatively correlated with daily rainfall but not temperature. Further, we found that juveniles and adult males were much more common visitors, with only four visits from adult females in two years. There is still much to learn about the unique and vulnerable relationship between these two New Zealand species, but it appears that rainfall may play a larger role than previously thought.

The lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) and the long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) are Aotearoa New Zealand's only native extant terrestrial mammals and are believed to have migrated from Australia. Long-tailed bats arrived in New Zealand an estimated two million years ago and are closely related to other Australian bat species. Lesser short-tailed bats, in contrast, are the only extant species within the Mystacinidae and are estimated to have been living in isolation in New Zealand for the past 16-18 million years. Throughout this period of isolation, lesser short-tailed bats have become one of the most terrestrial bats in the world. Through a metatranscriptomic analysis of guano samples from eight locations across New Zealand we aimed to characterise the viromes of New Zealand's bats and determine whether viruses have jumped between these species over the past two million years. High viral richness was observed among long-tailed bats with viruses spanning seven different viral families. In contrast, no bat-specific viruses were identified in lesser short-tailed bats. Both bat species harboured an abundance of likely dietary- and environmental-associated viruses. We also identified alphacoronaviruses in long-tailed bat guano that had previously been identified in lesser short-tailed bats, suggesting that these viruses had jumped the species barrier after long-tailed bats migrated to New Zealand. Of note, an alphacoronavirus species discovered here possessed a complete genome of only 22,416 nucleotides with entire deletions or truncations of several non-structural proteins, thereby representing what is possibly the shortest genome within the Coronaviridae identified to date. Overall, this study has revealed a diverse range of novel viruses harboured by New Zealand's only native terrestrial mammals, in turn expanding our understanding of bat viral dynamics and evolution globally.