Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T16:30:30.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Puddles created by geophagous mammals are potential mineral sources for frugivorous bats (Stenodermatinae) in the Peruvian Amazon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2010

Adriana Bravo ,
Kyle E. Harms  and
Louise H. Emmons
Adriana Bravo*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Kyle E. Harms
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama
Louise H. Emmons
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution, Division of Mammals NHB390, MRC108, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: abravo1@tigers.lsu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Natural licks are activity hotspots for frugivorous bats in the Peruvian Amazon. Large numbers of frugivorous bats congregate at licks to drink water. Because most Amazonian soils are relatively poor in nutrients, plants may contain low concentrations of some nutrients; consequently, frugivorous bats may face nutrient limitations. Accordingly, a potential explanation for lick visitation by bats is to obtain key limited resources. We assessed this hypothesis by comparing concentrations of cations (Ca, K, Mg, Na) in water at three licks and associated non-lick sites across years and seasons at Los Amigos Conservation Concession in south-eastern Peru. We also examined bat activity patterns between lick and non-lick sites. Regardless of the season, at licks >10 bats per net h−1 were captured compared with forest and gap sites where <1 bat per net h−1 was captured. At licks bats belonged primarily to the subfamily Stenodermatinae and over 70% were reproductive females. Although calcium, magnesium and potassium concentrations varied across water sources, sodium concentrations were consistently higher in lick water (>50 ppm) compared with creeks and oxbow lakes (<2 ppm) across seasons. Therefore, since sodium is one of the most limiting nutrients for vertebrates in the tropics, licks may function as sources of sodium (or other elements) for bats. In any case, licks are reliable potential sources of sodium in the south-eastern Peruvian Amazon, an otherwise mineral-poor landscape.

Keywords

Amazoniabatsgeophagymineral-rich water sourceslickssodiumStenodermatinae
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 173 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ADAMS, R. A., PEDERSEN, S. C., THIBAULT, K. M., JADIN, J. & PETRU, B. 2003. Calcium as a limiting resource to insectivorous bats: can water holes provide a supplemental mineral source? Journal of Zoology of London 260:189–194.Google Scholar
ASCORRA, C. F. & WILSON, D. E. 1991. Bat frugivory and seed dispersal in the Amazon, Loreto, Peru. Publicaciones del Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Serie A 43:1–6.Google Scholar
ASCORRA, C. F., SOLARI, S. T. & WILSON, D. E. 1996. Diversidad y ecología de los quirópteros en Pakitza. Pp. 593–612 in Wilson, D. E. & Sandoval, A. (eds.). Manu. The biodiversity of southeastern Peru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.Google Scholar
AYOTTE, J. B., PARKER, K. L., AROCENA, J. M. & GILLINGHAM, M. P. 2006. Chemical composition of lick soils: functions of soil ingestion by four ungulate species. Journal of Mammalogy 87:878–888.Google Scholar
BARCLAY, R. M. R. 1994. Constraints on reproduction by flying vertebrates: energy and calcium. The American Naturalist 144:1021–1031.Google Scholar
BARCLAY, R. M. R. & HARDER, L. D. 2003. Life history of bats: life in the slow lane. Pp. 209–253 in Kunz, T. H. & Fenton, M. B. (eds.). Bat ecology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
BOOHER, C. M. 2008. Effects of calcium availability on reproduction output of big brown bats. Journal of Zoology 274:38–43.Google Scholar
BRAVO, A., HARMS, K. E., STEVENS, R. D. & EMMONS, L. H. 2008. Collpas: activity hotspots for frugivorous bats (Phyllostomidae) in the Peruvian Amazon. Biotropica 40:203–210.Google Scholar
BRAVO ORDOÑEZ, A. 2009. Collpas as activity hotspots for frugivorous bats (Stenodermatinae) in the Peruvian Amazon: underlying mechanisms and conservation implications. PhD thesis, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.Google Scholar
BRIGHTSMITH, D. J. & ARAMBURÚ, R. 2004. Avian geophagy and soil characteristics in Southeastern Peru. Biotropica 36:534–546.Google Scholar
BRIGHTSMITH, D. J., TAYLOR, J. & PHILLIPS, T. D. 2008. The roles of soil characteristics and toxin adsorption in avian geophagy. Biotropica 40:766–774.Google Scholar
CRAWLEY, M. J. 2007. The R book. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., Chichester. 942 pp.Google Scholar
DAVIES, A. G. & BAILLIE, I. C. 1988. Soil eating by red leaf monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda) in Sabah, northern Borneo. Biotropica 20:252–258.Google Scholar
DEMPSEY, J. L. 2004. Fruit bats: nutrition and dietary husbandry. Nutrition advisory group handbook (Factsheet 014):1–17.Google Scholar
EMMONS, L. H. & FEER, F. 1997. Neotropical rainforest mammals. A field guide. (Second edition). The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 307 pp.Google Scholar
EMMONS, L. H. & STARK, N. M. 1979. Elemental composition of a natural mineral lick in Amazonia. Biotropica 4:311–313.Google Scholar
FLEMING, T. H. 1988. The short-tailed fruit bat. A study in plant–animal interactions. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 365 pp.Google Scholar
GARDNER, A. L. (ed.). 2008. Mammals of South America: Volume 1 Marsupials, xenarthrans, shrews, and bats. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 690 pp.Google Scholar
GIANNINI, N. P. & KALKO, E. K. V. 2004. Trophic structure in a large assemblage of phyllostomid bats in Panama. Oikos 105:209–220.Google Scholar
GILARDI, J. D. 1996. Ecology of parrots in the Peruvian Amazon: habitat use, nutrition, and geophagy. PhD thesis, University of California, Davis.Google Scholar
GILARDI, J. D., DUFFEY, S. S., MUNN, C. A. & TELL, L. A. 1999. Biochemical functions in geophagy in parrots: detoxification of dietary toxins and cytoprotective effects. Journal of Chemical Ecology 25:897–922.Google Scholar
HAMILTON, S. K., KELLNDORFER, J., LEHNER, B. & TOBLER, M. 2007. Remote sensing of floodplain geomorphology as a surrogate for biodiversity in a tropical river system (Madre de Dios, Peru). Geomorphology 89:23–38.Google Scholar
HANDLEY, C. O., WILSON, D. E. & GARDNER, A. L. 1991. Demography and natural history of the common fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicencis, on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC. 173 pp.Google Scholar
HOLDØ, R. M., DUDLEY, J. P. & MCDOWELL, L. R. 2002. Geophagy in the African elephant in relation to availability of dietary sodium. Journal of Mammalogy 83:652–662.Google Scholar
HOLDRIDGE, L. R., GRENKE, W. C., HATHEWAY, W. H., LIANG, T. & TOSI, J. A. 1971. Forest environments in tropical life zones: a pilot study. Pergamon Press, New York. 747 pp.Google Scholar
HOOD, W. R., OFTEDAL, O. T. & KUNZ, T. H. 2006. Variation in body composition of female big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) during lactation. Journal of Comparative Physiology B 176:807–819.Google Scholar
HURLBERT, S. H. 1971. The nonconcept of species diversity: a critique and alternative parameters. Ecology 52:577–586.Google Scholar
IUDICA, C. A. & BONACCORSO, F. J. 2003. Anecdotal observations of seawater ingestion by flying foxes of the genus Pteropus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae). Mammalia 67:455–458.Google Scholar
JORDAN, C. F. & HERRERA, R. 1981. Tropical rain forests: are nutrients really critical? The American Naturalist 117:167–180.Google Scholar
KALKO, E. K. V., HERRE, E. A. & HANDLEY, C. O. 1996. Relation of fig fruit characteristics to fruit-eating bats in the New and Old World tropics. Journal of Biogeography 23:565–576.Google Scholar
KEELER, J. O. & STUDIER, E. H. 1992. Nutrition in pregnant big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) feeding on June beetles. Journal of Mammalogy 73:426–430.Google Scholar
KLAUS, G., KLAUS-HÜGI, C. & SCHMID, B. 1998. Geophagy by large mammals at natural licks in the rain forest of Dzanga National Park, Central African Republic. Journal of Tropical Ecology 14:829–839.Google Scholar
KORINE, C., SPEAKMAN, J. & ARAD, Z. 2004. Reproductive energetics of captive and free-ranging Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptoacus). Ecology 85:220–230.Google Scholar
KWIECINSKI, G. G., KROOK, L. & WIMSATT, W. A. 1987. Annual skeletal changes in little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus lucifugus, with particular reference to pregnancy and lactation. American Journal of Anatomy 178:410–420.Google Scholar
MAHANEY, W. C., AUFREITER, S. & HANCOCK, R. G. V. 1995. Mountain gorilla geophagy: a possible seasonal behavior for dealing with the effects of dietary changes. International Journal of Primatology 16:475–488.Google Scholar
MICHELL, A. R. 1995. The clinical biology of sodium: the physiology and pathophysiology of sodium in mammals. Elsevier Science Ltd. New York. 370 pp.Google Scholar
MOKHTAR, M. B., LEE, Y. H., STUEBING, R. B., MOHAMED, M. & ISMAIL, G. 1990. Elemental composition of rhinoceros wallow soils in Danum Valley, East Malaysia. Biotropica 22:110–112.Google Scholar
MONTENEGRO, O. L. 2004. Natural licks as keystone resources for wildlife and people in Amazonia. PhD thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
MORRIS, J. G. 1991. Nutrition. Pp. 231–276 in Prosser, L. (ed.). Environmental and metabolic animal physiology. (Fourth edition). Wiley-Liss Inc., New York.Google Scholar
MORRISON, D. W. 1978. Lunar phobia in a Neotropical fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicencis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Animal Behaviour 26:852–855.Google Scholar
MORRISON, D. W. 1980. Efficiency of food utilization by fruit bats. Oecologia 45:270–273.Google Scholar
NAGY, K. A. & MILTON, K. 1979. Aspects of dietary quality, nutrient assimilation and water balance in wild howler monkeys (Allouata palliata). Oecologia 39:249–258.Google Scholar
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. 1995. Nutrient requirement of laboratory animals. (Fourth revised edition). National Academy Press, Washington DC. 192 pp.Google Scholar
NELSON, S. L., KUNZ, T. H. & HUMPHREY, S. R. 2005. Folivory in fruit bats: leaves provide a natural source of calcium. Journal of Chemical Ecology 31:1683–1691.Google Scholar
O'BRIEN, T. G., KINNAIRD, M. K., DIERENFELD, E. S., CONKLIN-BRITTAIN, N. L., WRANGHAM, R. W. & SILVER, S. C. 1998. What's so special about figs? Nature 392:668.Google Scholar
SPEAKMAN, J. R. 2008. The physiological costs of reproduction in small mammals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 363:375–398.Google Scholar
STARK, N. 1970. The nutrient content of plant and soils from Brazil and Surinam. Biotropica 2:51–60.Google Scholar
STUDIER, E. H. & WILSON, D. E. 1991. Physiology. Pp. 9–17 in Handley, C. O., Wilson, D. E. & Gardner, A. L. (eds.). Demography and natural history of the common fruit bat Artibeus jamaicensis on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington DC.Google Scholar
TERBORGH, J. 1983. Five New World primates. A study in comparative ecology. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. 260 pp.Google Scholar
TIRIRA, D. 2007. Mammals of Ecuador. Ediciones Murciélago Blanco, Quito, Ecuador. 576 pp.Google Scholar
TOBLER, M. W. 2008. The ecology of lowland tapir in Madre de Dios, Peru: using new technologies to study large rainforest mammals. PhD thesis, Texas A and M University.Google Scholar
VOIGT, C. C., DECHMANN, D. K. N., BENDER, J., RINEHART, B. J., MICHENER, R. H. & KUNZ, T. H. 2007. Mineral licks attract neotropical seed-dispersing bats. Research Letters in Ecology Article ID 34212 pp. 1–4.Google Scholar
VOIGT, C. C., CAPPS, K. A., DECHMANN, D. K. N., MICHENER, R. H. & KUNZ, T. H. 2008. Nutrition or detoxification: why bats visit mineral licks of the Amazonian rainforest. Plos One 3:1–4.Google Scholar
VOSS, R. & EMMONS, L. H. 1996. Mammalian diversity in Neotropical lowland rainforest: a preliminary assessment. Bulletin of American Museum of Natural History 230:106–109.Google Scholar
WENDELN, M. C., RUNKLE, J. R. & KALKO, E. K. V. 2000. Nutritional values of 14 fig species and bat feeding preferences in Panama. Biotropica 32:489–501.Google Scholar