Environmental Seasonality Explains Reproductive Timing of Short-Tailed Fruit Bats in a Premontane Forest of Central Peru

Activity patterns of short-tailed fruit bats Carollia Gray, 1838 in a premontane forest of central Peru

“…Based on data from the Satipo meteorological station of SENAMHI (Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del Perú 2019), annual temperature and rainfall fluctuate between 24-26°C and 1500-2000 mm, respectively. The climate in this region is characterized by two main seasons: (1) dry season, from April to September, defined by temperatures from 25-26°C and monthly precipitations ranging approximately from 55 to 120 mm; (2) wet season, from October to March, defined by temperatures from 24-25°C and monthly precipitations ranging approximately from 150 to 270 mm (Rivero-Monteagudo et al 2021).…”

“…Time of capture data was obtained from two bat surveys conducted from 2013 to 2016 (Zegarra 2019;Pellón et al 2021;Rivero-Monteagudo et al 2021). In both surveys, different numbers of mist nets were deployed at 3-4 m above the ground (12 m length, 2.5 m height), in small forest gaps, water flows and near potential roosting sites or feeding patches with vegetation dominated by species of Piper, Solanum, and Cecropia.…”

“…Data of the first survey were taken from Zegarra ( 2019 Pellón et al (2021). Total sampling effort was 26784 meters of net per hour (see Zegarra 2019;Pellón et al 2021;Rivero-Monteagudo et al 2021, for details in sampling design). Mist nets were opened between 17:30-18:30 h, closed between 00:00-01:00 h and checked every 30 minutes.…”

“…Time of sunset was obtained using the Suncalc package (Thieurmel & Elmarharaoui 2019) in R software and varied from 17:43 h in May (dry season) to 18:29 h in January and February (wet season). Individuals captured during the seasonal survey (Zegarra 2019) were marked by fur trimming (Presley et al 2009) and those captured during the annual survey (Pellón et al 2021;Rivero-Monteagudo et al 2021) by nail polish (Stawski 2012;Kemenesi et al 2015;Dekeukeleire et al 2016) to prevent double counting. Sex was determined based on external characteristics of reproductive organs (Kunz et al 1996;Racey 2009) and species identification was made using taxonomic keys (Pacheco & Solari 1997;Gardner 2008;Díaz et al 2011).…”

“…The fact that the peak of activity was more pronounced in the rainy season, could be related to a higher occurrence of pregnant and lactating females (Rivero-Monteagudo et al 2021). Reproductive females reduce flight time due to a higher energetic demands, resulting in a more pronounced peak of activity at early hours (Charles-Dominique 1991).…”