Evidence for Exploitative Competition: Comparative Foraging Behavior and Roosting Ecology of Short‐Tailed Fruit Bats (Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

Chestnut short-tailed bats, Carollia castanea, and Seba's short-tailed bats, C. perspicillata (Phyllostomidae), were radio-tracked (N = 1593 positions) in lowland rain forest at Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Orellana Province, Ecuador. For 11 C. castanea, mean home range was 6.8 ± 2.2 ha, mean core-use area was 1.7 ± 0.8 ha, and mean long axis across home range was 438 ± 106 m. For three C. perspicillata, mean home range was 5.5 ± 1.7 ha, mean core-use area was 1.3 ± 0.6 ha, and mean long axis was 493 ± 172 m. Groups of less than five C. castanea occupied day-roosts in earthen cavities that undercut banks the Tiputini River. Carollia perspicillata used tree hollows and buildings as day-roosts. Interspecific and intraspecific overlap among short-tailed bats occurred in core-use areas associated with clumps of fruiting Piper hispidum (peppers) and Cecropia sciadophylla. Piper hispidum seeds were present in 80 percent of the fecal samples from C. castanea and 56 percent of samples from C. perspicillata. Carollia perspicillata handled pepper fruits significantly faster than C. castanea; however, C. castanea commenced foraging before C. perspicillata emerged from day-roosts. Evidence for exploitative competition between C. castanea and C. perspicillata is suggested by our observations that 95 percent of ripe P. hispidum fruits available at sunset disappear before sunrise (N = 74 marked fruits). Piper hispidum plants produced zero to 12 ripe infructescences per plant each night during peak production. Few ripe infructescences of P. hispidum were available during the dry season; however, ripe infructescences of C. sciadophylla, remained abundant.Abstract in Spanish is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp.

Roosting Ecology of Amazonian Bats: Evidence for Guild Structure in Hyperdiverse Mammalian Communities

“…) as roosts support similar conclusions. That roosting behavior has been shaped by resource competition is suggested by consistent differences in this trait among closely related sympatric species (e.g., Bradbury and Emmons, 1974;Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976;Simmons et al, 2002;Bonaccorso et al, 2006;Velazco et al, 2014), a pattern not unlike the interspecific trophic differences that have long fascinated tropical bat researchers.…”

Interactions between frugivorous bats (Phyllostomidae) and Piper tuberculatum (Piperaceae) in a tropical dry forest remnant in Valle del Cauca, Colombia

“…Several studies have assessed the influence of different factors on the use and dispersal of Piper by Carollia. Those factors include the intrinsic characteristics of the fruits, such as smell, shape and hardness (Thies, Kalko, & Schnitzler, 1998;Dumont, 1999), as well as characteristics of the bats, such as body size, behavior, circadian cycle, reproduction and food handling behavior (Fleming 1991;Bonaccorso et al, 2006;Mello, Schittini, Selig, & Bergallo, 2004). However, those studies initially compared Piper use only among Carollia spp., eventually including other species that consume these fruits and could coexist, such as bats from the genus Sturnira (Saldaña-Vázquez, Sosa, Iñiguez-Dávalos, & Schondube, 2013).…”

The activity time of the lesser bamboo bat, Tylonycteris pachypus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)

“…When common resources are limited, the niche theory predicts that resource partitioning (such as spatial and temporal niche) is necessary for species to coexist within a guild. They may forage in different habitats (ARLETTAZ 1999) and then feed on different diet items (ARLETTAZ et al 1997), or forage during different times (BONACCORSO et al 2006). In contrast, when their shared resources are not limited, species may forage concomitantly and for longer periods.…”

“…Moreover, intrinsic biological factors such as predation risk (MCWILLIAM 1989, SPEAKMAN 1991, colony size, age, sex, the reproductive status of individuals (AVERY 1986, RYDELL 1989, KORINE et al 1994, CLARK et al 2002, O'DONNELL 2002, and interspecific competition (SWIFT & RACEY 1983, BONACCORSO et al 2006) may also impact the nocturnal activity of bats. The intensity of competition between or among sympatric related species is expected to be greater because they are morphologically similar, which is assumed to reflect niche similarity (FINDLEY & BLACK 1983, ALDRIDGE & RAUTENBACH 1987, ARITA 1997.…”

“…Although this increase is small in magnitude, it represents a 10% increase in average activity time. The different activity behavior in different locations may have resulted from many factors such as the effect of interspecific competition (SWIFT & RACEY 1983, BONACCORSO et al 2006, variations in prey abundance (ERKERT 1982), predation risk (MCWILLIAM 1989, SPEAKMAN 1991, and colony size (AVERY 1986, RYDELL 1989, KORINE et al 1994, CLARK et al 2002, O'DONNELL 2002. Both T. pachypus and T. robustula eat similar categories of insects when they occur sympatrically, although the prey of the later is somewhat larger than that of the former (ZHANG et al 2005a).…”