Temporal Variation in the Relative Abundance of Fruit Bats (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae) in Relation to the Availability of Food in a Lowland Malaysian Rain Forest

Abstract

The aims of this study were to investigate the diet and relative abundance of fruit bats in a lowland Malaysian rain forest and to test the hypothesis that the local assemblage structure of fruit bats varies significantly over time in relation to the availability of food. In total, 352 fruit bats of eight species were captured during 72,306 m2 mist‐net hours of sampling between February 1996 and September 1999. Three species of fruit bats (Balionycteris maculita, Chironax melanocephalus, and Cynopterus brachyotis) that fed on a wide range of “steady state” and “big bang” food resources were captured continuously throughout the study period, with no significant variation in capture rates over time. In contrast, five species that fed exclusively or almost exclusively on “big bang” food resources were sampled intermittently, with significant temporal variation in the capture rates of two species (Cynopterus horsfieldi and Megaerops ecaudatus). Significant variation in the capture rates of the remaining three species (Dyacopterus spadiceus, Eonycteris spelaea, and Rousettus amplexicaudatus) could not be detected due to small sample sizes. Since ephemeral “big bang” food resources were only sporadically available within the study area and were associated with large canopy trees and strangler figs, these results suggest that food abundance, or the availability of specific food items, may be important factors limiting local fruit bat species diversity in old‐growth Paleotropical rain forest. Thus, only three fruit bat species were locally resident within the forest throughout the study period. Therefore, further studies on the ranging behavior and habitat requirements of Malaysian fruit bats are required to assess the adequacy of existing reserves and protected areas.

The Conflict Between Pteropodid Bats and Fruit Growers: Species, Legislation and Mitigation

“…Parry-Jones and Augee (2001) and Williams et al (2006) investigated food resources and the effect of food availability on the occupation of urban areas by P. poliocephalus in Australia, where Richards (1990) also described the diet of P. conspicillatus. Bumrungsri et al (2007) reported on the diet of two species of Cynopterus in Thailand, and Hodgkison et al (2003Hodgkison et al ( , 2004 studied nine fruit bat species in Peninsular Malaysia.…”

Elucidating the diet of the island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) in Peninsular Malaysia through Illumina Next-Generation Sequencing

“…Indeed, apart from a few studies in the Philippines (Reiter & Curio, 2001; Mildenstein et al, 2005; Stier & Mildenstein, 2005), Thailand (Weber et al, 2015), and Myanmar (Win & Mya, 2015), all other dietary and foraging studies on Southeast Asian Pteropodidae have focused on the smaller pteropodids (e.g., Hodgkison et al, 2004; Fletcher, Zubaid & Kunz, 2012; Bumrungsri et al, 2013; Stewart, Makowsky & Dudash, 2014). This is of particular concern given that out of the 67 flying fox species listed on the IUCN Red List, almost half (30 species i.e., 45%) are found in Southeast Asia (IUCN, 2016).…”

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

“…Absence of correlation between fruit availability and fruit bat captures may be due to the continuous fruit availability provided by Ficus luschnathiana (Table 4). Although food availability influences bat species composition (Hodgkison et al 2004) and reproduction (Mello et al 2004b), fructification of Ficus species provide food throughout the year and can explain why there was no obvious seasonality in the captures of fruit bats.…”

“…Variations in the abundance and species composition of frugivorous bats are related to food availability (Hodgkison et al 2004). Species that feed on fruits available throughout the year are captured continually while species which forage on temporary resources are found intermittently.…”

“…Species that feed on fruits available throughout the year are captured continually while species which forage on temporary resources are found intermittently. Therefore, there is a temporal variation in the species composition of fruit bats (Hodgkison et al 2004).…”