The distribution, abundance and vulnerability to population reduction of a nomadic nectarivore, the Grey-headed Flying-fox<i>Pteropus poliocephalus</i>in New South Wales, during a period of resource concentration

Eby, Peggy; Richards, G. C.; Parry-Jones, Kerryn

doi:10.7882/az.1999.024

Cited by 88 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Climate change is likely to have profound impacts on the natural environment ( Thomas et al 2004); however, little is known about the kinds of effects of temperature extremes on natural systems. The divergent susceptibilities of P. alecto and P. poliocephalus to temperature extremes indicate that temperature extremes could mitigate the increased competition between the species that has been cited as another reason for the current demise of P. poliocephalus ( Eby et al 1999). This provides an example of how climate change may affect the connectedness in current ecosystems by influencing the dynamics between closely interacting or competing species.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes

Welbergen

Klose

Markus³

et al. 2007

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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353

315

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Little is known about the effects of temperature extremes on natural systems. This is of increasing concern now that climate models predict dramatic increases in the intensity, duration and frequency of such extremes. Here we examine the effects of temperature extremes on behaviour and demography of vulnerable wild flying-foxes (Pteropus spp.). On 12 January 2002 in New South Wales, Australia, temperatures exceeding 428C killed over 3500 individuals in nine mixed-species colonies. In one colony, we recorded a predictable sequence of thermoregulatory behaviours (wing-fanning, shade-seeking, panting and saliva-spreading, respectively) and witnessed how 5-6% of bats died from hyperthermia. Mortality was greater among the tropical black flying-fox, Pteropus alecto (10-13%) than the temperate grey-headed flying-fox, Pteropus poliocephalus (less than 1%), and young and adult females were more affected than adult males (young, 23-49%; females, 10-15%; males, less than 3%). Since 1994, over 30 000 flying-foxes (including at least 24 500 P. poliocephalus) were killed during 19 similar events. Although P. alecto was relatively less affected, it is currently expanding its range into the more variable temperature envelope of P. poliocephalus, which increases the likelihood of die-offs occurring in this species. Temperature extremes are important additional threats to Australian flying-foxes and the ecosystem services they provide, and we recommend close monitoring of colonies where temperatures exceeding 42.08C are predicted. The effects of temperature extremes on flying-foxes highlight the complex implications of climate change for behaviour, demography and species survival.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes

Welbergen

Klose

Markus³

et al. 2007

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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353

315

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“…Data show that flying fox populations have either declined, shifted into urbanized environments, or both [ 16,22,30,34,59], since early surveys by Ratcliffe [49,50] and Nelson [48]. Historically, more numerous and more connected flying fox populations probably favoured smouldering, low-incidence epidemic dynamics in nearly contiguous east coast forest, and an overall larger number of infected individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Host aggregation during reproduction [23,30,48,49] or periods of resource concentration [15,22] are other potential drivers of transmission that need further investigation. Finally, environmental stress could drive geographical 'stress synchrony'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today, all of Australia's major east coast cities, and many major towns, contain continuously occupied flying fox camps (daytime roosts), which were not historically present ( figure 2; the electronic supplementary material, figures S1 and S2). In addition to this distributional shift, ongoing urban and rural residential development in critical flying fox habitat [22,37] may increase the overlap between human, horse and flying fox populations. These recent changes probably have important consequences for the metapopulation dynamics of HeV, and disease transmission between flying foxes and people.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urban habituation, ecological connectivity and epidemic dampening: the emergence of Hendra virus from flying foxes (Pteropusspp.)

Plowright

Foley

Field³

et al. 2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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290

385

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Anthropogenic environmental change is often implicated in the emergence of new zoonoses from wildlife; however, there is little mechanistic understanding of these causal links. Here, we examine the transmission dynamics of an emerging zoonotic paramyxovirus, Hendra virus (HeV), in its endemic host, Australian Pteropus bats (fruit bats or flying foxes). HeV is a biosecurity level 4 (BSL-4) pathogen, with a high case-fatality rate in humans and horses. With models parametrized from field and laboratory data, we explore a set of probable contributory mechanisms that explain the spatial and temporal pattern of HeV emergence; including urban habituation and decreased migration-two widely observed changes in flying fox ecology that result from anthropogenic transformation of bat habitat in Australia. Urban habituation increases the number of flying foxes in contact with human and domestic animal populations, and our models suggest that, in addition, decreased bat migratory behaviour could lead to a decline in population immunity, giving rise to more intense outbreaks after local viral reintroduction. Ten of the 14 known HeV outbreaks occurred near urbanized or sedentary flying fox populations, supporting these predictions. We also demonstrate that by incorporating waning maternal immunity into our models, the peak modelled prevalence coincides with the peak annual spill-over hazard for HeV. These results provide the first detailed mechanistic framework for understanding the sporadic temporal pattern of HeV emergence, and of the urban/peri-urban distribution of HeV outbreaks in horses and people.

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“…in Australia (Plowright et al, 2011). However, the 'ample food supply' available to resident bats is nutritionally inferior to natural food sources (Eby et al, 1999;Markus and Hall, 2004) and is hypothesized to result in immunosuppression and a subsequent increased risk of Hendra virus transmission to horses (Plowright et al, 2015). Monitoring of the annual migrations of E. helvum roosts, or lack thereof, may therefore prove useful in the future for responding to any viral pathogens that might emerge in Africa.…”

Section: Bat-human Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Does Africa's Most Hunted Bat Vary Across the Continent? Population Traits of the Straw-Coloured Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum) and Its Interactions with Humans

Peel

Wood

Baker

et al. 2017

Acta Chiropterologica

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The distribution, abundance and vulnerability to population reduction of a nomadic nectarivore, the Grey-headed Flying-foxPteropus poliocephalusin New South Wales, during a period of resource concentration

Cited by 88 publications

References 21 publications

Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes

Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes

Urban habituation, ecological connectivity and epidemic dampening: the emergence of Hendra virus from flying foxes (Pteropusspp.)

How Does Africa's Most Hunted Bat Vary Across the Continent? Population Traits of the Straw-Coloured Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum) and Its Interactions with Humans

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