Bats

Pest control through integrated pest management systems stands as a very convenient sustainable hazard-free alternative to pesticides, which are a growing global concern if overused. The ability of the soprano pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) to control the rice borer moth (Chilo supressalis), which constitutes a major pest of rice around the world, was studied in the Ebre Delta, Northeastern Iberia. Evidence was found on the ability of this particular bat species to control borer infestations: a) the moth was consumed during at least the last two peaks of the moth activity, when most crop damage is done; b) the activity of bats significantly increased with moth abundance in the rice paddies; c) the pest levels have declined in the study area (Buda Island, Eastern Ebre Delta) after the deployment of bat boxes and their subsequent occupation by soprano pipistrelles. The value of the ecosystem service provided by bats was estimated at a minimum of 21€ per hectare, equivalent to the avoided pesticide expenditure alone. We suggest that this natural service can be enhanced by providing bat populations with artificial roosts in rice paddies were some key ecosystem features are present.

Para facilitar esfuerzos de identificación de murciélagos en la región, ponemos a disposición la presente clave de identificación, estructurada a nivel de familias, subfamilias, géneros y especies, incluyendo a todas aquellas citadas hasta ahora para la región neotropical. Se incluyen mapas de la región Neotropical para indicar los países y territorios que la integran, y tablas por regiones y familias en las que se indican los países donde encuentran las especies. El objetivo principal de esta clave es que sea de utilidad para la identificación de especies, no sólo por investigadores en el área específica, sino también por estudiantes, guardaparques y público en general y que, al mismo tiempo, ayude a incentivar estudios sobre este grupo de mamíferos en la región. Los caracteres utilizados en la clave han sido seleccionados para ayudar, principalmente, en la identificación de especies en el campo pero, debido a que para muchas de las especies nuevas nombradas en los últimos tiempos no se ofrecen caracteres muy evidentes de su morfología externa, hemos tenido que agregar caracteres craneales y de la dentición, algunos de los cuales no son fáciles de observar en el campo ni sencillos de interpretar por observadores no especializados en el estudio de los murciélagos. A pesar de esto la clave permitirá, en el campo, una aproximación muy cercana hasta el nivel de especie en casi todos los casos. Al final se agrega una versión de la clave traducida al portugués. En la actualidad reconocemos para el Neotrópico nueve familias, 106 géneros y aproximadamente 450 especies de murciélagos: 22 Emballonuridae, 226 Phyllostomidae, 18 Mormoopidae, 2 Noctilionidae, 2 Furipteridae, 5 Thyropteridae, 11 Natalidae, 56 Molossidae y 108 Vespertilionidae. Respecto las especies por país, aunque existe la misma cautela respecto a diferencias en la taxonomía en uso por cada autor, los datos son los siguientes, indicando los confirmados (y los probables entre paréntesis): SUDAMÉRICA: Argentina 67, Bolivia 146 (1), Brasil 181 (4), Colombia 217 (4), Chile 14, Ecuador 183 (3), Guyana 125 (6), Guayana Francesa 101 (2), Paraguay 57 (2), Perú 188 (2), Surinam 99 (8), Uruguay 22 (3) y Venezuela 172 (2); NORTEAMÉRICA: México 141 (2); CENTROAMÉRICA: Belice 71 (11), Costa Rica 117, El Salvador 68 (3), Guatemala 104, Honduras 113 (2), Nicaragua 111, Panamá 112; CARIBE: Antillas Mayores: Cuba 26, Haití 17, Jamaica 22, Puerto Rico 13, República Dominicana 18; Antillas Menores: Antigua y Barbuda 7 (1), Barbados 10, Dominica 12 (1), Granada 15, San Cristóbal y Nieves 10, San Vicente y Las Granadinas 11, Santa Lucía 9, Trinidad y Tobago 67 (1). Dependencia de Países Bajos: Aruba 7, Bonaire 10, Curazao 6, San Eustaquio 8, Saba 9, San Martin 4. Dependencia de Reino Unido: Anguila 5, Bermuda 3, Islas Vírgenes 4 (1), Isla Caimán 6, Montserrat 11 (1), Turcas y Caicos 2. Dependencia de Francia: Guadalupe 13 (1), Martinica 11, San Martín 4, San Bartolomé 2. Dependencia de Estados Unidos: Islas Vírgenes 4 (1). Lucayas: Las Bahamas 9 (1).

Abstract in English below.
Des observations récentes montrent que les chauves-souris ont un impact important sur les morphologies pariétales de très nombreuses grottes dans le monde. L’état de surface et les formes associées attestent de la fréquence et de l’ampleur du phénomène de biocorrosion, les parois ayant pu reculer par dissolution de quelques millimètres à plusieurs décimètres voire mètres. Si ces retouches post-karstogéniques impliquent une révision de certains processus invoqués dans le creusement ou la réutilisation de conduits karstiques, elles ont également des conséquences sur l’art pariétal en grotte. Ainsi, il est envisageable que dans les cavités où vivent des colonies de chauves-souris, les œuvres d’art, qu’elles soient peintes ou gravées, ont disparu avec la dissolution de leur support. En fonction de la géométrie, de la morphologie et de l’aérologie d’une cavité, ses parois ont pu être affectées par l’altération et notamment la biocorrosion. Il en résulte une répartition de l’art pariétal visible qui n’est pas uniquement due au choix des hommes préhistoriques mais aussi à un processus taphonomique. Ce processus peut affecter les zones profondes de grottes, habituellement les mieux protégées: il devient donc important de savoir en identifier les stigmates et d’en évaluer l’ampleur avant d’interpréter la répartition spatiale de l’art pariétal d’une grotte. La grotte du Mas d’Azil (Ariège) présente une véritable opposition entre les parties ornées, où l’on observe encore les formes de creusement initiales, et celles sans art, où les formes de biocorrosion sont manifestes.

ABSTRACT: Biocorrosion, a new parameter to take into account when interpreting the distribution of rock paintings. The example of the Mas d’Azil cave in Ariège (France). Recent studies in several caves show that bats have had a significant impact on the walls and the roof of many caves in the world. These forms, unknown until recent years, show the importance of the phenomenon of biocorrosion, as the walls retreated by dissolution from a few millimeters to several decimeters or even meters. Although this post-karstogenetic weathering implies a revision of some processes invoked in the development or the reuse of karstic conduits, it also has consequences on rock art. One can imagine that the areas where colonies of bats lived have been subjected to this process. In consequence, the fragile rock art, whether painted or engraved, have disappeared with the dissolution of their support. Thus, depending on the morphology of the cavity but also on the aerology, sections of caves or parts of walls could be affected by biocorrosion. The result is a distribution of art intimately linked to a taphonomy process, even in the deepest parts of caves, usually the best preserved from walls degradations. It is therefore important to be able to recognize this phenomenon and to evaluate its extent in order to make an unbiased interpretation of the global distribution of rock art in a cave. The Mas d’Azil (Ariège) Cave presents a strong opposition between the decorated parts, where we still observe the initial kartogenetic features on cave walls, and those without rock art, where biocorrosion evidences are visible.

PREFACE

This book is designed as a guide aimed at satisfying the needs of those conducting field work on bats in the Amazon. It is largely based on Lim et al. (2001), with modifications derived from both personal observations and three years of field experience in the Brazilian Amazon at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP), as well as a thorough revision of available bat keys and scientific papers describing new species.

Our aim was to write a straightforward, easy-to-use guide that would be both practical and very visual, and would facilitate bat species identification in the field. We tried to avoid as much as possible confusing features such as fur colour, as well as certain skull and teeth characteristics that cannot be easily measured under field conditions.

We decided to group together many of the cryptic species that are still indistinguishable in the field and that can only reliably be identified using molecular methods such as DNA barcoding. Taxonomic
nomenclature throughout this key follows Nogueira et al. (2014). This is an interactive field-guide that we hope will be continuously improved and updated.

We will be delighted to receive readers’ comments and suggestions!
Please send them to: adria.baucells@gmail.com

Thank you!
The Authors

Bats play crucial roles in ecosystems, are increasingly used as bio-indicators and are an important component of tropical diversity. Ecological studies and conservation-oriented monitoring of bats in the tropics benefit from published libraries of echolocation calls, which are not readily available for many tropical ecosystems. Here, we present the echolocation calls of 15 species from the Valparai plateau in the Anamalai Hills, southern Western Ghats of India: three rhinolophids (Rhinolophus beddomei, R. rouxii (indorouxii), R. lepidus), one hipposiderid (Hipposideros pomona), nine vespertilionids (Barbastella leucomelas darjelingensis, Hesperoptenus tickelli, Miniopterus fuliginosus, M. pusillus, Myotis horsfieldii, M. montivagus, Pipistrellus ceylonicus, Scotophilus heathii, S. kuhlii), one pteropodid (Rousettus leschenaultii) and one megadermatid (Megaderma spasma). Discriminant function analyses using leave-one-out cross validation classified bats producing calls with a strong constant frequency (CF) component with 100% success and bats producing frequency modulated (FM) calls with 90% success. For five species, we report their echolocation calls for the first time, and we present call frequencies for some species that differ from those published from other parts of the species’ ranges. This exemplifies the need for more local call libraries from tropical regions to be collected and published in order to record endemic species and accurately identify species whose calls vary biogeographically.

Impact mitigation practices are currently one of the hottest topics in conservation and regarded as priorities worldwide. Forest bat populations are known to provide important ecosystem services such as pest control and bat boxes have become one of the most popular management options for counteracting the loss of roosts. However, bat boxes tend to be employed in non-native forests near highly humanized areas where human disturbance is higher. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the surrounding landscape composition affects bat box occupancy in urban non-native forests along the Mediterranean corridor in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Two hundred wooden bat boxes were monitored in young non-native forests in the period 2004–2012. The influence of land cover on occupancy rate of bat boxes was analysed at the landscape level in a 5 km buffer around bat-box stations. In total, 1659 inspections were carried out, in which a 15 % occupancy rate was detected. Bat boxes hosted three different species (Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Pipistrellus kuhlii and Nyctalus leisleri). More than 70 % of the occupancy can be explained by habitat and spatial composition. The presence of urban areas around bat boxes tends to have a negative impact on bat occupation rates; by contrast, forest coverage has a positive effect, especially for the tree-dwelling bats. These patterns could be associated with the large number of available roosts in buildings, microhabitat or phylopatry. Thus, to increase success, we suggest that landscape composition should be considered when using bat boxes for conservation.

The study of bats was conducted in Pulau Bidong and Pulau Perhentian Besar from 31st May to 7th July and 13th to 20th August 2015. This study aimed to document the first record of bats and to construct a checklist in for these two off-coast islands in South China Sea. Standard mist nets and harp traps were used throughout the study. A total of 116 individuals comprised of ten species of bats were captured. The most abundant species of chiropterans for both islands was Cynopterus brachyotis with 74 individuals whereas the least was Eonycteris spelaea with only one individual. Two species; Rhinolophus lepidus and Hipposideros cineraceus were new records for Pulau Perhentian Besar. A long-term study covering other areas and habitat types within Pulau Perhentian Besar and the surrounding islands will definitely increase the bats records in the future.

Understanding the consequences of habitat modification on wildlife communities is central to the development of conservation strategies. However, albeit male and female individuals of numerous species are known to exhibit differences in habitat use, sex-specific responses to habitat modification remain little explored. Here, we used a landscape-scale fragmentation experiment to assess, separately for males and females, the effects of fragmentation on the abundance of Carollia perspicillata and Rhinophylla pumilio, two widespread Neotropical frugivorous bats. We predicted that sex-specific responses would arise from higher energetic requirements from pregnancy and lactation in females. Analyses were conducted independently for each season, and we further investigated the joint responses to local and landscape-scale metrics of habitat quality, composition, and configuration. Although males and females responded similarly to a fragmentation gradient composed by continuous forest, fragment interiors, edges, and matrix habitats, we found marked differences between sexes in habitat use for at least one of the seasons. Whereas the sex ratio varied little in continuous forest and fragment interiors , females were found to be more abundant than males in edge and matrix habitats. This difference was more prominent in the dry season, the reproductive season of both species. For both species, abundance responses to local-and landscape-scale predictors differed between sexes and again, differences were more pronounced in the dry season. The results suggest considerable sex-mediated responses to forest disruption and degradation in tropical bats and complement our understanding of the impacts of fragmentation on tropical forest vertebrate communities. Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.

Tropical forest loss and fragmentation are due to increase in coming decades. Understanding how matrix dynamics, especially secondary forest regrowth, can lessen fragmentation impacts is key to understanding species persistence in modified landscapes. Here, we use a whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment to investigate how bat assemblages are influenced by the regeneration of the secondary forest matrix. We surveyed bats in continuous forest, forest fragments and secondary forest matrix habitats, ~15 and ~30 years after forest clearance, to investigate temporal changes in the occupancy and abundance of old-growth specialist and habitat generalist species. The regeneration of the second growth matrix had overall positive effects on the occupancy and abundance of specialists across all sampled habitats. Conversely, effects on generalist species were negligible for forest fragments and negative for secondary forest. Our results show that the conservation potential of secondary forests for reverting faunal declines in fragmented tropical landscapes increases with secondary forest age and that old-growth specialists, which are often of most conservation concern, are the greatest beneficiaries of secondary forest maturation. Our findings emphasize that the transposition of patterns of biodiversity persistence in island ecosystems to fragmented terrestrial settings can be hampered by the dynamic nature of human-dominated landscapes. Humanity's global footprint is so ubiquitous and far-reaching that many argue that we now live in a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene 1. Habitat loss and fragmentation are pervasive and conspicuous features of this new historical context, which, in combination with other human-related threats, are compelling the planet into a " sixth wave of extinction " 2,3. The scars of the Anthropocene defaunation are being carved deep into the planet's biodiversity strongholds, the tropical forests 4. As large swaths of old-growth forest give way to expanding humanized landscapes, species persisting in forest remnants are left to endure the pervasive consequences of increased isolation and decreased area 5. Landscape-wide assemblage dynamics in fragments created in the aftermath of deforestation are dependent , to a large extent, on the nature of the matrix within which forest patches are embedded 6. Conservation science has traditionally conceived the modified matrix as a " sea " of hostile habitat, in which fragments act as " islands " and this analogy has guided much of the theory and practice of the field 6,7. However, equating forest fragments with island ecosystems, while appropriate in some situations, fails to accommodate the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of most present-day modified landscapes 8,9. Vertebrate assemblage dynamics in tropical land-bridge islands have painted a dire portrait of the consequences of forest fragmentation in true island systems 10–12. Mainland studies that also construed fragments as

The Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), is generally considered a ‘migratory-hibernator,’ migrating to areas where it overwinters with periods of dormancy.  It has long been hypothesized that this species may not be migratory in British Columbia, or migration distances are short, supported by its year-round detection in the province.  We studied L. noctivagans at three study locations in SE B.C. from 2009 – 2014. Using temperature-sensitive transmitters in winter, we documented arousal patterns of both sexes.  We determined that L. noctivagans hibernate in mines, rock-crevices, trees and snags, often switching roosts during the winter period.  Hibernacula microclimates are high in humidity, but colder than required for optimal growth of Pseudogymnoascus destructans.  By banding individuals at two mines in both summer and winter, we documented the first evidence of year-round residency at mines by male L. noctivagans. Recaptures of both males and females banded as juveniles and recaptured as adults in subsequent years confirms roost fidelity. Evidence of winter mating was found in some January and February captures. We present detailed methods on how to assess male reproductive status. Patterned acoustic recordings by L. noctivagans could be described as “songs” and may be associated with mating behavior given their predominance during fall and winter.