Ecological drivers of selection for remnant forest habitats by an insectivorous bat in a tropical, human-modified landscape

Prakash, Harish; Saha, Kasturi; Sahu, Soham; Balakrishnan, Rohini

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119451

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 59 publications

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“…We used studies from Europe and Australia on bats from the three guilds (NSFD: Bontadina et al, 2002;OSA: Marques et al, 2004;ESA: Gonsalves et al, 2013). Prakash et al (2021) tagged insectivorous bats in the Western Ghats (Megaderma spasma, not included in our analyses), and found highly localized foraging activity. Effects of percent land-cover types in surrounding buffers (representing the landscape context) were tested on bat activity recorded at each point in particular habitats (similar to Gili et al, 2020).…”

Section: Habitat Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stretching the Habitat Envelope: Insectivorous Bat Guilds Can Use Rubber Plantations, but Need Understorey Vegetation and Forest Buffers

Deshpande

Kelkar

Krishnaswamy

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Effects of land-cover change on insectivorous bat activity can be negative, neutral or positive, depending on foraging strategies of bats. In tropical agroforestry systems with high bat diversity, these effects can be complex to assess. We investigated foraging habitat use by three insectivorous bat guilds in forests and rubber plantations in the southern Western Ghats of India. Specifically, we monitored acoustic activity of bats in relation to (1) land-cover types and vegetation structure, and (2) plantation management practices. We hypothesized that activity of open-space aerial (OSA) and edge-space aerial (ESA) bat guilds would not differ; but narrow-space, flutter-detecting (NSFD) bat guild activity would be higher, in structurally heterogeneous forest habitats than monoculture rubber plantations. We found that bat activity of all guilds was highest in areas with high forest cover and lowest in rubber plantations. Higher bat activity was associated with understorey vegetation in forests and plantations, which was expected for NSFD bats, but was a surprise finding for OSA and ESA bats. Within land-cover types, open areas and edge-habitats had higher OSA and ESA activity respectively, while NSFD bats completely avoided open habitats. In terms of management practices, intensively managed rubber plantations with regular removal of understorey vegetation had the lowest bat activity for all guilds. Intensive management can undermine potential ecosystem services of insectivorous bats (e.g., insect pest-control in rubber plantations and surrounding agro-ecosystems), and magnify threats to bats from human disturbances. Low-intensity management and maintenance of forest buffers around plantations can enable persistence of insectivorous bats in tropical forest-plantation landscapes.

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Section: Habitat Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stretching the Habitat Envelope: Insectivorous Bat Guilds Can Use Rubber Plantations, but Need Understorey Vegetation and Forest Buffers

Deshpande

Kelkar

Krishnaswamy

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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A trait-based understanding of the vulnerability of a paleotropical moth community to predation by a sympatric bat with flexible foraging strategies

Dey,

Balakrishnan

2023

Preprint

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Prey profitability for a predator hunting diverse prey varies with species and seasons. Whereas prey selection by aerial-hawking or gleaning bats is well established, this is challenging to establish in species that adopt both these strategies flexibly. Measurable prey traits coupled with availability in the foraging grounds help characterize the vulnerability of prey species to predation. In the Western Ghats of India, a global biodiversity hotspot, we studied an anthropogenic landscape, where insectivorous bats are abundant and diverse, but their impact on moth communities is little understood. We investigated the morphological traits of a sympatric moth community that make them more vulnerable to predation by Megaderma spasma, a bat with flexible foraging strategies. We also established the seasonal composition of moth prey in the diet of the bat. We analyzed the discarded prey remains from several roosts, collected over three years, for seasonal patterns in the diet and selective hunting. Through light-trapping, we collected moth specimens in different seasons to assess the morphological traits of the moth community available in the foraging area of the bat. The traits likely to affect the profitability of prey moths were measured: forewing length, hindwing length, wingspan, and body length (a proxy for body size); forewing area, hindwing area, maneuverability, and wing loading (as a proxy for evasive flight capability), and forewing aspect ratio (as a proxy for wing shape). Our results showed that consumed moth prey diversity varies seasonally, with moths belonging to the Hepialidae family being preferred in the wet season. Moths belonging to the Sphingidae family were the most abundant in the diet, followed by Erebidae and Hepialidae. Sphingid moths have the lowest maneuverability, and highest forewing aspect ratio; the Hepialidae moths have the maximum body size followed by Sphingids thus confirming our hypothesis that larger moths with low evasive capabilities are more vulnerable to predation. Assessing vulnerability at the prey community level, we establish a framework for future research on moth-bat interactions from the diverse and less-explored paleotropical communities. Additionally, the study reiterates the usefulness of trait-based approaches to understanding prey-predator dynamics.

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A trait‐based understanding of the vulnerability of a Paleotropical moth community to predation by a sympatric bat with flexible foraging strategies

Dey,

Balakrishnan

2024

Ecological Entomology

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Prey vulnerability across seasons can be predicted by measuring their morphological traits and availability. Although conventional prey–predator dynamics focus on pairs of prey and predator species, the trait‐based approach allows us to draw inferences at the scale of the entire assemblage. Here, we coupled measurable prey traits with their availability in the study area, to identify the vulnerability of a diverse moth assemblage to predation by the lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma) Chiroptera: Megadermatidae, Linneaus 1758, a bat with flexible foraging strategies, in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot of India. We analysed the discarded prey remains from several roosts, collected over 3 years, for seasonal patterns in the diet and selective hunting. Through light‐trapping, we collected moth specimens in different seasons and measured the morphological traits likely to affect their vulnerability to predation, such as body size and evasive flight capability. Our results showed that consumed moth prey diversity varies seasonally, with moths belonging to the Hepialidae family being preferred in the wet season. We found that the larger moth species with lower evasive capabilities are more vulnerable to predation. Sphingid and Hepialid moths, among the most abundant in the diet, have the lowest manoeuvrability and the maximum body size, respectively. By assessing vulnerability at the prey assemblage level, our study sets the stage for future research on moth–bat interactions from the diverse and less‐explored Paleotropical communities. In addition, the study reiterates the usefulness of trait‐based approaches to understanding prey–predator dynamics.

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Ecological drivers of selection for remnant forest habitats by an insectivorous bat in a tropical, human-modified landscape

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Stretching the Habitat Envelope: Insectivorous Bat Guilds Can Use Rubber Plantations, but Need Understorey Vegetation and Forest Buffers

Stretching the Habitat Envelope: Insectivorous Bat Guilds Can Use Rubber Plantations, but Need Understorey Vegetation and Forest Buffers

A trait-based understanding of the vulnerability of a paleotropical moth community to predation by a sympatric bat with flexible foraging strategies

A trait‐based understanding of the vulnerability of a Paleotropical moth community to predation by a sympatric bat with flexible foraging strategies

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