Trophic Ecology of the Free-tailed Bats Nyctinomops femorosaccus and Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in Big Bend National Park, Texas

Matthews, Amanda K.; Neiswenter, Sean A.; Ammerman, Loren K.

doi:10.1894/jkf-08.1

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Thus, we suggest that principles of both niche theory and optimal foraging may help us to understand to the structure of this community. Previous work has found only minimal evidence of niche partitioning in bats (Arrizabalaga‐Escudero et al, ; Matthews, Neiswenter, & Ammerman, ; Razgour et al, ; Salinas‐Ramos et al, ); however, almost all previous work has been limited to a small subset of the community (though see for example Emrich et al, ; Galan et al, ). Here, we have taken a novel approach of considering partitioning at the level of the community and as such we can analyze categories of behavior rather than species in isolation and we observe that partitioning is more apparent or more detectable at this level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular diet analysis finds an insectivorous desert bat community dominated by resource sharing despite diverse echolocation and foraging strategies

Gordon

Ivens

Ammerman

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Interspecific differences in traits can alter the relative niche use of species within the same environment. Bats provide an excellent model to study niche use because they use a wide variety of behavioral, acoustic, and morphological traits that may lead to multi‐species, functional groups. Predatory bats have been classified by their foraging location (edge, clutter, open space), ability to use aerial hawking or substrate gleaning and echolocation call design and flexibility, all of which may dictate their prey use. For example, high frequency, broadband calls do not travel far but offer high object resolution while high intensity, low frequency calls travel further but provide lower resolution. Because these behaviors can be flexible, four behavioral categories have been proposed: (a) gleaning, (b) behaviorally flexible (gleaning and hawking), (c) clutter‐tolerant hawking, and (d) open space hawking. Many recent studies of diet in bats use molecular tools to identify prey but mainly focus on one or two species in isolation; few studies provide evidence for substantial differences in prey use despite the many behavioral, acoustic, and morphological differences. Here, we analyze the diet of 17 sympatric species in the Chihuahuan desert and test the hypothesis that peak echolocation frequency and behavioral categories are linked to differences in diet. We find no significant correlation between dietary richness and echolocation peak frequency though it spanned close to 100 kHz across species. Our data, however, suggest that bats which use both gleaning and hawking strategies have the broadest diets and are most differentiated from clutter‐tolerant aerial hawking species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular diet analysis finds an insectivorous desert bat community dominated by resource sharing despite diverse echolocation and foraging strategies

Gordon

Ivens

Ammerman

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…El porcentaje de volumen relativo se estimó mediante un conteo visual para cada categoría taxonómica de artrópodos en el contenido digestivo. Esta técnica se ha utilizado frecuentemente para analizar muestras fecales y contenido estomacal en murciélagos y, ha demostrado ser un estimador fiable de la composición dietética (Kunz y Whitaker, 1983;Whitaker, 1988;Marquardt y Choate, 2009;Matews et al, 2010). En algunos casos, en donde la masticación y la digestión de los murciélagos fragmentaron de manera considerable el material, solo se logró identificar hasta el nivel de orden.…”

Section: Análisis Del Tracto Digestivounclassified

HÁBITOS ALIMENTICIOS DEL MURCIÉLAGO MICROENDÉMICO Rhogeessa mira Laval, 1973 (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE), MICHOACÁN, MÉXICO

Loera-Padilla

Díaz-Pacheco

Arroyo-Cabrales

et al. 2017

RMM

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RESUMENSe analizó el contenido estomacal de cinco ejemplares del murciélago amarillo de "El Infiernillo" (Rhogeessa mira Laval, 1973), procedentes de una nueva localidad de estudio El Zapoteco-Zicuirán, municipio de La Huacana, Michoacán, México. Anteriormente solo se habían reportado fragmentos de individuos de insectos pertenecientes a las familias Tachinidae, Therevidae (Diptera) y Lepidoptera. Los resultados del presente análisis, confirman la ingesta de insectos de los órdenes: Diptera y Lepidoptera, adicionando individuos de Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera y Blattodea, así como del orden Psocoptera y de la subclase Acari, posiblemente ingeridas de manera accidental. El orden Coleoptera representó más del 60% de consumo en todos los individuos revisados, lo que lo convierte en el grupo más abundante en el contenido digestivo del murciélago.Palabras clave: contenido estomacal, Cuenca del Bajo Balsas, ecología, insectívoro, microendémico, murciélago amarillo del Balsas.ABSTRACTThe stomach contents of five the Balsas´s yellow bats (Rhogeessa mira Laval, 1973), from a new study site were analyzed: The Zapoteco-Zicuirán, municipality of La Huacana, Michoacan, Mexico. Previously, there have been recorded fragments pertaining to individuals within the Arhtropoda family’s Techinidae and Therevidae (Diptera) and the order Lepidoptera. The results from the food content analysis confirmed the presence of insects within the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Blattodea, Psocoptera, and the subclass Acari possibly accidentally ingested. The order Coleoptera accounted for over 60% of consumption in all of the studied specimens, turning it into the most abundant group in the bats digestive content.Key words: stomachal contents, Basin lower Balsas, ecology, insectivore, microendemic Balsas´s yellow bat – least yellow bat.

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“…Niche theory predicts that the stable coexistence of morphologically and ecologically similar species in a community depends on resource partitioning to minimize competition (Hutchinson, 1959;Schoener, 1974;Chesson, 2000;Letten et al, 2017). In recent years, numerous studies have shown that trophic niche differentiation often plays a key role in shaping the structure of animal communities (Holt, 2009;Matthews et al, 2010;Codron et al, 2015;Novella-Fernandez et al, 2020), especially for sympatric closely related species. This knowledge can be vital to the understanding of diet composition, interspecific competition, and the mechanism of trophic niche differentiation (Salinas-Ramos et al, 2015;Arrizabalaga-Escudero et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diet composition, niche overlap and partitioning of five sympatric rhinolophid bats in Southwestern China during summer

Dai

Chang

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Understanding trophic niche differentiation is critical for exploring interspecific competition and stable coexistence among morphologically similar sympatric species. Bats are an ideal model for studying trophic niche differentiation among species because of their high taxonomic and ecological diversities, as well as their special life history traits. Although many factors can affect bat trophic niches, few studies have combined multiple factors to investigate the influences on bat trophic niches. In this study, we analyzed the summer diet and potential influencing factors of five sympatric rhinolophid bats in southwestern China: Rhinolophus macrotis, Rhinolophus osgoodi, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Rhinolophus affinis, and Rhinolophus pusillus. All five species mainly fed on Lepidopteran and Dipteran insects, with a large trophic niche breadth for each species and a low degree of dietary overlap. With the exception of R. affinis and R. pusillus, significant differences in diet composition were detected among species, which indicated relatively low interspecific competition. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that both echolocation calls and body size significantly affected interspecific diet differentiation, while wing morphology and bite force had relatively weak effects. This study suggests that the combined effects of multiple factors may drive trophic niche differentiation among five rhinolophid bat species in the study area.

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Trophic Ecology of the Free-tailed Bats Nyctinomops femorosaccus and Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in Big Bend National Park, Texas

Cited by 9 publications

References 19 publications

Molecular diet analysis finds an insectivorous desert bat community dominated by resource sharing despite diverse echolocation and foraging strategies

Molecular diet analysis finds an insectivorous desert bat community dominated by resource sharing despite diverse echolocation and foraging strategies

<b>HÁBITOS ALIMENTICIOS DEL MURCIÉLAGO MICROENDÉMICO</b> <i>Rhogeessa mira</i> <b> Laval, 1973 (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE), MICHOACÁN, MÉXICO</b>

Diet composition, niche overlap and partitioning of five sympatric rhinolophid bats in Southwestern China during summer

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