Activity patterns of nine phyllostomid bat species in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Seasonal, monthly and hourly activity patterns of nine bat species were studied based on their capture rates at the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala (RPPN-FMA), Caratinga, Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil. The frugivorous and nectarivorous bat species have their activity closely related to the availability of food. Divergence in monthly and hourly activity is discussed for pairs of similar species and the hypothesis of reduction in competition for nectarivorous and frugivorous species are rejected. Further studies on frugivores-plants interactions should be conducted to assess the long term consequences for the whole system at the RPPN-MFA.

Coletar morcegos por seis ou doze horas a cada noite?

“…É consenso entre os pesquisadores que as primeiras horas após o pôr-do-sol são as mais produtivas, com a taxa de captura declinando três a seis horas após (JONES et al 1996, MARINHO-FILHO & SAZIMA 1989, PEDRO & TADDEI 2002, AGUIAR & MARINHO-FILHO 2004. Na maioria absoluta das espécies de morcegos estudadas até o momento, a atividade noturna é sincronizada com o pôr-do-Sol (CHURCH 1957, HERREID & DAVIS 1966, BATEMAN & VAUGHAN 1974, ERKERT 1978, 1982, AVERY 1986, MCANEY & FAIRLEY 1988, ISAAC & MARITHMU 1993, CATTO et al 1995, KUNZ & ANTHONY 1996.…”

Resources partitioning in a fruit bat community of the southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil

“…This is a well known pattern in bat ecology in the Neotropical region (Marinho-Filho and Sazima 1989, Bernard 2002, Aguiar and Marinho-Filho 2004, Ortencio Filho et al 2010. High activity before sunrise is common among Neotropical bats (Brown 1968).…”

“…Time can be used by species in different ways, such as variation throughout the year or periods of the night (Marinho-Filho and Sazima 1989, Aguiar and Marinho-Filho 2004, Ortencio Filho et al 2010. Fruit bats tend to be more active in the evening.…”

“…This may decrease the intra-and interspecific competition, since once it has been eaten a fruit cannot be replaced and the number of ripe fruits tend to decrease through the night (Marinho-Filho and Sazima 1989). Nectarivorous bats do not show a strong activity pattern because nectar is easily replaced in a short time by the plant Sazima 1989, Aguiar andMarinho-Filho 2004). Different activity periods avoid encounters among potential competitors that use the same food or spatial resource (Kronfeld-Schor and Dayan 2003).…”

Efeito da coleta de morcegos por noites seguidas no mesmo local

“…Para minimizar os custos de deslocamento, uma das opções pode ser a coleta em noites subseqüentes no mesmo local ou em poucos locais trocados regularmente a intervalos determinados pelo pesquisador (e.g. MARINHO-FILHO & SAZIMA 1989, TEIXEIRA & PERACCHI 1996, AGUIAR & MARINHO-FILHO 2004. No entanto, já existem relatos de que "alguns morcegos são frequentemente eficientes em evitar as redes" (KUNZ & KURTA 1988) e "como regra geral, as redes devem ser movidas a cada noite porque os morcegos aprendem a evitá-las" (SIMONS & VOSS 1998).…”