Foraging behaviour and habitat use by the European free-tailed bat Tadarida teniotis

• Autorzy: Marques J.T. , Rainho A. , Carapuco M. , Oliveira P. , Palmeirim J. M.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Autumnal foraging behaviour and habitat use by Tadarida teniotis were studied in Southern Portugal, using seventeen radio-marked individuals, followed over multiple nights from fixed and mobile stations. Tadarida teniotis proved to be a late emerger, leaving the roost about one hour after sunset and, in contrast to most insectivorous bat species, only had one foraging bout. These bouts were very long, lasting an average of 6 hours and 39 minutes. Bout duration was unrelated to climatic conditions and so probably determined by foraging success. In the early evening almost all bats were foraging, but this activity declined steadily through the night. They kept flying even during fairly cold nights, but did not leave the roost on the coldest nights, in which they probably remained in torpor. As predicted by its body mass and wing morphology, T. teniotis was found to be a strong flyer, reaching speeds of over 50 km/h, and flying for up to 10 hours without resting periods. The observed speeds were 2.5 times higher than the predicted maximum range speed, which may be possible due to peculiar adaptations to high-speed flight. On most nights bats flew straight to a previously identified feeding site, but on a few they made slower indirect flights, suggesting a search for profitable foraging areas. Upon arriving to a feeding site most bats remained there for the rest of the foraging trip. The median size of these sites was just over 100 ha. Several tracked bats used the same feeding area simultaneously. The range of the colony had a radius of over 30 km, but most feeding sites were concentrated in a mountainous region located about 5 km north of the roost. The studied bats foraged preferentially over forested areas, particularly pine and cork oak woodlands. They used both alluvial plains and the valleys of a mountainous area, but not its ridges. Our observations support the hypothesis that T. teniotis is an opportunistic forager, depending on temporary concentrations of prey, such as insect swarms.

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Chiropterologica
• Rocznik: 2004
• Tom: 06
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.99-110,fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Marques J.T.

• UMC - Unidade de Macroecologia e Conservacao, Universidade de Evora, Antiga Fabrica dos Leoes, 7000 Evora, Portugal

autor

Rainho A.

autor

Carapuco M.

autor

Oliveira P.

autor

Palmeirim J. M.

Bibliografia

• Aellen, V. 1966. Notes sur Tadarida teniotis (Raf.) (Mammalia, Chiroptera) — I. Systématique, paléontologie et peuplement, répartition géographique. Revue Suisse de Zoologie, 73: 119-159.
• Aldridge, H. D. J. N., and R. M. Brigham. 1991. Factors influencing foraging time in two aerial insectivores: the bird Chordeiles minor and the bat Eptesicus fuscus. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 69: 62-69.
• Arlettaz, R. 1990. Contribution à l’éco-éthologie du Molosse de Cestoni, Tadarida teniotis (Chiroptera), dans les Alpes valaisannes (sud-ouest de la Suisse). Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 55: 28-42.
• Arlettaz, R. 1995. Tadarida teniotis. Pp. 198-202, in Säugetiere der Schweiz. Verbreitung, Biologie, Ökologie (J. Hausser, ed.). Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, 501 pp.
• Arlettaz, R., C. Ruchet, J. Aeschimann, E. Brun, M. Genoud, and P. Vogel. 2000. Physiological traits affecting the distribution and wintering strategy of the bat Tadarida teniotis. Ecology, 81: 1004-1014.
• Audet, D. 1990. Foraging behavior and habitat use by a gleaning bat, Myotis myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 71: 420-427.
• Barta, Z., and L.-C. Giraldeau. 2001. Breeding colonies as information centers: a reappraisal of information-based hypotheses using the producer-scrounger game. Behavioral Ecology, 12: 121-127.
• Carmel, Y., and U. Safriel. 1998. Habitat use by bats in a Mediterranean ecosystem in Israel — conservation implications. Biological Conservation, 84: 245-250.
• Catto, C. M. C., A. M. Hutson, P. A. Racey, and P. J. Stephenson. 1996. Foraging behaviour and habitat use of serotine bat (Eptesicus serotinus) in southern England. Journal of Zoology (London), 238: 623-633.
• Erkert, H. G. 1982. Ecological aspects of bat activity rhythms. Pp. 201-242, in Ecology of bats (T. H. Kunz, ed.). Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York, 425 pp.
• Fenton, M. B. 2003. Eavesdropping on the echolocation and social calls of bats. Mammal Revue, 33: 193-204.
• Hutson, A. M. 1999. Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814). Pp. 156-157, in The atlas of European mammals (A. J. Mitchell-Jones, G Amori, W. Bogdanowicz, B. Kryštufek, P. J. H. Reijnders, F. Spitzenberger, M. Stubbe, J. B. M. Thissen, V. Vohralík, and J. Zima, eds.). Academic Press, London, 484 pp.
• Jones, G. 1995. Flight performance, echolocation and foraging behaviour in noctule bats Nyctalus noctula. Journal of Zoology (London), 237: 303-312.
• Jones, G., and J. M. V. Rayner. 1989. Optimal flight speed in Pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Pp. 247-253 in European Bat Research 1987 (V. Hanák, I. Horáček, and J. Gaisler, eds.). Charles University Press, Praha, 718 pp.
• Jones, G., and J. Rydell. 1994. Foraging strategy and predation risk as factors influencing emergence time in echolocating bats. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 346: 445-455.
• Kervyn, T. 2001. Écologie et éthologie de la serotine commune, Eptesicus serotinus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae): perspectives en vue de la conservation des chiroptères. PhD Thesis, Université de Liège, Liège, 164 pp.
• Krebs, C. J. 1989. Ecological methodology. Harper Collins Publications, New York, 654 pp.
• Krutzsch, P. H., T. H. Fleming, and E. G. Crichton. 2002. Reproductive biology of male Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana). Journal of Mammalogy, 83: 489-500.
• Norberg, R. Å. 1981. Optimal flight speeds in birds when feeding young. Journal of Animal Ecology, 50: 473-477.
• Norberg, U. M., and J. M. V. Rayner. 1987. Ecological morphology and flight in bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera): wing adaptations, flight performance, foraging strategy and echolocation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 316: 335-427.
• Nowak, R. M. 1994. Walker’s bats of the world. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 287 pp.
• Russo, D., and G. Jones. 2003. Use of foraging habitats by bats in a Mediterranean area determined by acoustic surveys: conservation implications. Ecography, 26: 197-209.
• Rydell, J., and R. Arlettaz. 1994. Low-frequency echolocation enables the bat Tadarida teniotis to feed on tympanate insects. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 257: 175-178.
• Rydell, J., A. Entwistle, and P. A. Racey. 1996. Timing of foraging flights of three species of bats in relation to insect activity and predation risk. Oikos, 76: 243-252.
• Seaman, D. E., and R. A. Powell. 1996. An evaluation of the accuracy of the Kernel density estimators for the home range analysis. Ecology, 77: 2075-2085.
• Shiel, C. B., R. E. Shiel, and J. S. Fairley. 1999. Seasonal changes in the foraging behaviour of Leisler’s bats (Nyctalus leisleri) in Ireland as revealed by radio-telemetry. Journal of Zoology (London), 249: 347-358.
• Springer, J. T. 1979. Some sources of bias and sampling error in radio triangulation. Journal of Wildlife Management, 43: 926-935.
• Swihart, R. K., and N. A. Slade. 1985. Testing for independence of observations in animal movements. Ecology, 66: 1176-1184.
• Taylor, L. R., and C. I. Carter. 1961. The analysis of numbers and distribution in an aerial population of macrolepidoptera. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 113: 396-386.
• Vaughan, T. A., and M. M. Bateman. 1980. The molossid wing: some adaptations for rapid flight. Pp. 69-78, in Proceedings of the Fifth International Bat Research Conference (D. E. Wilson and A. L. Gardner, eds.). Texas Tech Press, Lubbock, 434 pp.
• Waring, P. A. 1989. Comparison of light-trap catches in deciduous and coniferous woodland habitats. Entomologist’s Record, 101: 1-10.
• Waters, D., G. Jones, and M. Furlong. 1999. Foraging ecology of Leisler’s bat (Nyctalus leisleri) at two sites in southern Britain. Journal of Zoology (London), 249: 173-180.
• White, G C., and R. A. Garrot. 1990. Analysis of wildlife radio-tracking data. Academic Press, London, 383 pp.
• Wilkinson, G. S. 1995. Information transfer in bats. Pp. 345-360, in Ecology, evolution and behaviour of bats (P. A. Racey and S. M. Swift, eds.). Clarendon Press, Oxford, 421 pp.
• Wilkinson, G. S., and J. W. Boughman. 1998. Social calls coordinate foraging in greater spear-nosed bats. Animal Behaviour, 55: 337-350.
• Zbinden, K., and P. Zingg. 1986. Search and hunting signals of echolocating European free-tailed bats, Tadarida teniotis, in southern Switzerland. Mammalia, 50: 9-25.