Variation of food resources and abundance of bats in banana plantations

Abstract

Luz et al. feed on it, and the greater the diversity of food resources, we expect higher species richness. Fruit crops can attract frugivorous and nectarivorous that feed on these plants. In banana plantations it was found greater abundance of frugivorous and nectarivorous bats than in forest fragments. The aim of this study was to determine whether the abundance of food resources influences the abundance and richness of bats, and particularly frugivorous and nectarivorous guilds, in banana plantation areas. Twelve banana plantations were selected in the southwest of Rio de Janeiro State. Each area was sampled twice, at an interval that varied from five to seven months. Bat sampling was performed using mist nets opened all night and food resource was estimated using plots, in which the number of banana trees and inflorescences of banana were recorded. We obtained 1,606 captures of 22 bat species. The abundance of Glossophaga soricina, a nectarivorous species, and of all nectarivorous bats, as well as the abundance of the frugivorous species Artibeus lituratus and of all frugivorous bats, were positively related to food resources abundance. Bat richness in turn did not show this relationship. These results indicate that the amount of food available in these plantations influences their use by bats. Despite bat feeding preference for certain families of plants, these interactions are not unique and they are able to adapt to other foods source. This result further supports the hypothesis that resources diversity is more important to keep higher diversity of bats than high abundance of a single resource.

Influence of banana plantations on bat assemblages (Chiroptera)

“…Responses of bats to landscape composition and configuration in fragmented areas differed in a guildspecific scale-dependent way (Klingbeil & Willig 2009). In a previous study on these same banana plantations, we found that frugivorous and nectarivorous bats respond to food resource abundance in different scales (Luz et al 2015). Despite the small size, these plantations do indeed have value for some population persistence.…”

“…In a previous study on these same banana plantations, we found that frugivorous and nectarivorous bats respond to food resource abundance in different scales (Luz et al . 2015). Despite the small size, these plantations do indeed have value for some population persistence.…”

Bats of the Serra da Bocaina National Park, southeastern Brazil: an updated species list and a distribution extension for Trinycteris nicefori (Sanborn, 1949)

“…Species richness was highest at site 3, which was the lowest in altitude, and had a small banana plantation. Banana is a resource rich in sugar (fruit) or nectar (flowers), and its availability can influence the presence and abundance of certain bat species, and consequently, their capture rates (Luz et al 2015).…”

Estratificação vertical de quirópteros na floresta Atlântica, reserva biológica Alto da Serra de Paranapiacaba - Santo André, SP / Vertical stratification of bats in the atlantic forest, Alto da Serra de Paranapiacaba biological reserve - Santo André, SP

“…M. albescens resultado obtido, quando se observa outros trabalhos (Adams et al, 2009;Marques et al, 2015;Gregorin et al, 2017), parece que há uma tendência dos morcegos da família Vespertilionidae ser capturada nos estratos superiores (Pires & Fábian, 2013). (Falcão et al, 2003;Aguiar & Marinho-Filho, 2007;Ortêncio-Filho & Reis, 2009;Pereira et al, 2010;Luz et al, 2015) sugerindo-se que o gênero Platyrrhinus também utiliza todos os estratos florestais com relativa frequência.…”

“…Neste sentido, estudos sobre comunidades de morcegos tem abordado aspectos sobre riqueza e abundância (Bernardi & Passos, 2012;Pires & Fabian, 2013;Sato et al, 2015), partilha de recursos e os mecanismos que regulam estes parâmetros (Bernardi & Passos, 2012), dieta (Aguiar & Marinho-Filho, 2009;Luz, et al, 2015), clima e sazonalidade (Bergallo, & Magnusson, 1999).…”