Interactions between frugivorous bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) and Piper tuberculatum (Piperaceae) in a tropical dry forest in Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

In any ecosystem, fruits are resources that vary in time and space as well as in nutritional content. Coexistence of species from a trophic guild depends on the division and use of resources. Therefore, the organisms that depend on them as a food source, tend to show a certain degree of specialization. This way, understanding the factors that influence the dynamics of seed dispersal is important for the regeneration and conservation of tropical ecosystems. Our aim was to determine variation in consumption of Piper tuberculatum by fruit bat assemblages in the village of Robles (Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia). P. tuberculatum is a resource used not only by wildlife but also by people in the village of Robles. Bats were captured in mist nets between June and November 2014, their feces were collected, and the length of the forearm, wing area, leg length and mass were recorded. At the Universidad del Valle seed laboratory, fecal samples were washed, and their content determined. Of the 14 species captured, Sturnira lilium, Carollia brevicauda, Carollia perspicillata and Artibeus lituratus showed signs of having consumed P. tuberculatum. Sturnira lilium was the main consumer of P. tuberculatum fruits, with the greatest number of consumption events of fruit from this plant species, whereas the other bats showed more diversified consumption events. The greatest niche overlap was recorded between C. brevicauda and C. perspicillata, species that showed similar sizes (i.e., wing area and forearm length) followed by S. lilium and C. perspicillata. In contrast, A. lituratus showed the least niche overlap with the other three fruit bats captured. In conclusion, Sturnira lilium showed an interaction Sturnira-Piper, which is the result of low Solanum availability, and this bat species was the largest consumer of P. tuberculatum in the region.

BatFly: A database of Neotropical bat-fly interactions.

Global changes have increased the risk of emerging infectious diseases, which can be prevented or mitigated by studying host-parasite interactions, among other measures. Bats and their ectoparasitic flies of the families Streblidae and Nycteribiidae are an excellent study model but, so far, our knowledge has been restricted to fragmented records at a local scale. To help boost research, we assembled a data set of bat-fly interactions from 174 studies published between 1904 and 2022 plus three original data sets. Altogether, these studies were carried out at 650 sites in the Neotropics, mainly distributed in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, southern USA, and Colombia, among other countries. In total, our data set contains 3984 interaction records between 237 bat species and 255 fly species. The bat species with the largest number of recorded interactions were Carollia perspicillata (357), Artibeus jamaicensis (263), and Artibeus lituratus (228). The fly species with the largest number of recorded interactions were Trichobius joblingi (256), Megistopoda aranea (235), and Megistopoda proxima (215). The interaction data were extracted, filtered, taxonomically harmonized, and made available in a tidy format together with linked data on bat population, fly population, study reference, sampling methods and geographic information from the study sites. This interconnected structure enables the expansion of information for each interaction record, encompassing where and how each interaction occurred, as well as the number of bats and flies involved. We expect BatFly to open new avenues for research focused on different levels of ecological organization and spatial scales. It will help consolidate knowledge about ecological specialization, resource distribution, pathogen transmission, and the drivers of parasite prevalence over a broad spatial range. It may also help to answer key questions such as: Are there differences in fly prevalence or mean infestation across Neotropical ecoregions? What ecological drivers explain those differences? How do specialization patterns vary among fly species in the Neotropics? Furthermore, we expect BatFly to inspire research aimed at understanding how climate and land-use changes may impact host-parasite interactions and disease outbreaks. This kind of research may help us reach Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and Wellbeing, outlined by the United Nations. The data are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Interactions between frugivorous bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) and Piper tuberculatum (Piperaceae) in a tropical dry forest in Valle del Cauca, Colombia / Interacciones entre murciélagos frugívoros (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) y Piper tuberculatum (Piperaceae) en un bosque seco tropical en Valle del Cauca, Colombia

AbstractIn any ecosystem, fruits are resources that vary in time and space as well as in nutritional content. Coexistence of species from a trophic guild depends on the division and use of resources. Therefore, the organisms that depend on them as a food source, tend to show a certain degree of specialization. This way, understanding the factors that influence the dynamics of seed dispersal is important for the regeneration and conservation of tropical ecosystems. Our aim was to determine variation in consumption of Piper tuberculatum by fruit bat assemblages in the village of Robles (Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia). P. tuberculatum is a resource used not only by wildlife but also by people in the village of Robles. Bats were captured in mist nets between June and November 2014, their feces were collected, and the length of the forearm, wing area, leg length and mass were recorded. At the Universidad del Valle seed laboratory, fecal samples were washed, and their content determined. Of the 14 species captured, Sturnira lilium, Carollia brevicauda, Carollia perspicillata and Artibeus lituratus showed signs of having consumed P. tuberculatum.Sturnira lilium was the main consumer of P. tuberculatum fruits, with the greatest number of consumption events of fruit from this plant species, whereas the other bats showed more diversified consumption events. The greatest niche overlap was recorded between C. brevicauda and C. perspicillata, species that showed similar sizes (i.e., wing area and forearm length) followed by S. lilium and C. perspicillata. In contrast, A. lituratus showed the least niche overlap with the other three fruit bats captured. In conclusion, Sturnira lilium showed an interaction Sturnira-Piper, which is the result of low Solanum availability, and this bat species was the largest consumer of P. tuberculatum in the region. Rev. Biol. Trop. 64 (2): 701-713. Epub 2016 June 01.

ResumenLa coexistencia de las especies de un gremio trófico depende de la división y el uso de recursos. Los frutos en cualquier ecosistema son recursos alimenticios que varían en el tiempo y el espacio, así como en su contenido nutricional, por ende, los organismos que dependen de éstos como fuente alimenticia, tienden a presentar cierto grado de especialización. La comprensión de los factores que influyen en la dinámica de la dispersión de semillas es importante para la regeneración y conservación de los ecosistemas tropicales. Nuestro objetivo fue determinar cómo varía el consumo de Piper tuberculatum (Pipilongo) por parte del ensamblaje de murciélagos frugívoros en el corregimiento de Robles (Jamundí, Valle del Cauca, Colombia). P. tuberculatum es un recurso utilizado no solo por la fauna, sino también por los habitantes del corregimiento de Robles. Se capturaron murciélagos en redes de niebla entre junio y noviembre 2014, sus heces fueron recolectadas y medidas de la longitud del antebrazo, área alar, longitud de la pata y el peso fueron registradas. En el laboratorio de semillas de la Universidad del Valle, se lavaron las muestras y se determinó su contenido. Las especies Sturnira lilium, Carollia brevicauda, C. perspicillata, y Artibeus lituratus mostraron evidencia de consumo de frutos de P. tuberculatum, entre las 14 especies de murciélagos frugívoros capturadas. Entre ellas, S. lilium fue la principal consumidora de P. tuberculatum, con el mayor número de eventos de consumo de esta especie, mientras que las otras especies de murciélagos tuvieron eventos de consumo más diversos. El mayor traslape de nicho se registró entre las especies C. brevicauda y C. perspicillata, los cuales presentaron un tamaño similar (i.e., área alar, antebrazo), seguido de S. lilium y C. perspicillata. En contraste, el menor traslape de nicho se registró para A. lituratus con cada una de las otras tres especies de murciélagos frugívoras registradas. En conclusión, Sturnira lilium mostró una relación Sturnira-Piper, la cual es el resultado de la baja disponibilidad de Solanum, siendo ésta especie de murciélago el mayor consumidor de P. tuberculatum de la región.