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Hobby Forum Index » Animals and Wildlife » Over 100 Species Of Bats Found Within Several Acres Of...
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 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:35 pm |
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080712150148.htm
Over 100 Species Of Bats Found Within Several Acres Of Rainforest In
Ecuador
ScienceDaily (July 12, 2008) — Bats are a remarkable evolutionary
success story representing the second largest group of mammals,
outnumbered only by rodents in number of species. Now, researchers of
the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin
(Germany) and Boston University (U.S.A.) have discovered the place
that harbours the highest number of bat species ever recorded. In a
few ha* of rainforest in the Amazon basin of eastern Ecuador, the
authors have found more than 100 species of bats.
Dr. Katja Rex and colleagues captured bats at several biodiversity
hotspots in the New World tropics, in the lowland rainforest of Costa
Rica, the slopes of the Andes and a site in the Amazon rainforest of
Eastern Ecuador, at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station1 located
adjacent to the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. During many months of
strenuous nightly field work, exposed to rain and mosquitoes, the
researchers captured bats, identified species and recorded the total
number of each species they captured. Based on these numbers, they
calculated the species richness and diversity present in each of these
forests.
“The forest at Tiputini Biodiversity Station is known as one of the
global biodiversity hotspots with extremely high numbers of plant,
insect and bird species” explains Dr. Christian Voigt (IZW, Berlin).
“We expected a high number of bat species when we started our study,
but we were amazed ourselves by our final estimates. This forest is
just super diverse in life forms, including bats.”
Forests of the temperate zone are regionally inhabited by only 3 to 10
bat species which all feed exclusively on insects. In contrast,
tropical forests harbour more than 10 times as many species as
temperate forests. Now the researchers want to study how so many bat
species manage to coexist together in such a small area. “The forest
is like a large city with people of various professions, some are
specialised and some are generalists. The ecological role of bats in
the forest is quite similar. Among bats we observed dietary
specialists and generalists” states Voigt.
The Yasuní Biosphere Reserve and adjacent Tiputini Biodiversity
Station are theoretically protected against logging and poaching by
Ecuadorian law. However, recently, oil exploitation is threatening the
forest since new oil fields were discovered in this region. During the
past several years new roads have been constructed to access the newly
discovered oil fields. Conservationists fear that squatters will
increasingly settle illegally in this pristine region as soon as the
oil companies abandon these sites. This may turn out very badly for
forest biodiversity.
* One ha is approximately two and a half acres
K. Rex et al. (2008). Species richness and structure of three
phyllostomid bat assemblages. Biological Journal of the Linnean
Society, DOI : 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01014.x is published online at
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119878431/issue |
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