Bats of Agroforest in Sumatra - Book available
Thanks very much to Sephy Noerfahmy for sending through a pdf of "Jenis-Jenis Kelelawar Khas Agroforest Sumatera" which we have been trying to track down for a while. It is attached below!
 Bats of Agroforests Sumatra.pdf | [ ] | 8118 Kb |
SEABCRU Students in Action
Two student members of the Southeast Asian Bat Conservation Research Unit (SEABCRU) presented preliminary findings of their dissertation research projects at the 5th Enrichment Workshop for U.S. Fulbright Scholars and Students in Southeast Asia held in Bangkok, Thailand on March 6 - 9, 2013. In back-to-back paper presentations, Kendra Phelps and Susan Tsang, Fulbright Fellows to the Philippines and Indonesia respectively, discussed topics relating to the conservation of cave bats and flying foxes in Southeast Asia respectively. Ms. Phelps gave a presentation entitled “Conserving cave bats in the Philippines: assessing the impact of cave disturbance on bats”; while Ms. Tsang gave paper and poster presentations entitled “Population genetics of widespread species of flying foxes (genus Pteropus) in Indonesia”.
Note from Tigga: Students -- please do share your activities with the rest of us!
Hardwicke’s woolly bats sleep in two species of carnivorous pitcher plants– but which one is the better roost?
Written by Michael Gerhard Schöner and Caroline Regina Schöner
Here we present our new study on the unusual interaction between bats (Kerivoula hardwickii hardwickii) and carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes). Using radio-telemetry we discovered that the bats exclusively used two pitcher plant species as roosts in Brunei Darussalam. Nepenthes hemsleyana benefits from its inhabitants by gaining nutrients from their feces. In contrast, Nepenthes bicalcarata cannot gain any nutrients because all pitchers in which we found bats were either wilted or had small holes at their base through which the fluid had drained off. Our research on the microclimate inside the pitchers, the parasite infestation and the body conditions of the bats that had used either Nepenthes hemsleyana or Nepenthes bicalcarata indicates that Nepenthes hemsleyana is a higher quality roost for the bats. However, Nepenthes bicalcarata is more common throughout north-western Borneo than Nepenthes hemsleyana. By additionally using these lower quality roosts the bats are able to expand their range.
Our study shows how the local supply of roosts with different qualities affects the behavior and body condition of their inhabitants and—as a consequence—how the demand of the inhabitants can influence evolutionary adaptations of the roost providing species.
Schöner, C.R., M.G. Schöner, G. Kerth & T.U. Grafe (2013): Supply determines demand: influence of partner quality and quantity on the interactions between bats and pitcher plants. Oecologia, Online first. DOI 10.1007/s00442-013-2615-x
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-013-2615-x
Please also notice that our first publication on this subject is now freely available and is attached.
Grafe, T.U., C.R. Schöner, A. Junaidi, G. Kerth &M.G. Schöner (2011): A novel resource-service mutualism between bats and pitcher plants. Biology Letters 7: 436-439.
| Biol. Lett.-2011-Grafe-rsbl.2010.1141.pdf | [Grafe et al. 2011 - A novel resource] | 285 Kb |
New species record to Lao PDR
More species from Lao PDR! A male Hill Fruit bat (Sphaerias blanfordi) was found by a research team of scientists from National University of Laos, Prince of Songkla University, and Harrison Institute from northern Lao PD. The new country record was reported by Bounsavane Douangboubpha and his colleagues, including Dr. Sara Bumrungsri and Dr. Paul Bates, two steering committee members of SEABCRU, and the result was published in the 2012 August issue of Tropical Natural History. This finding is not only the 95th bat species to the country but also fills the gap of its distribution among China, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Original citation: Douangboubpha, B., D. Sanamxay, V. Xayaphet, S. Bumrungsri, and P. J. J. Bates. 2012. First record of Sphaerias blanfordi (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Lao PDR. Tropical Natural History, 12(1): 117-122.
Free article can be accessed here.
BCI Conservation Impact Award
Congratulations to our SEABCRU friend from Bangladesh, Nurul Islam, recipient of the 2012 BCI Conservation Impact Award for Advocacy/Education. Nurul has been keeping us posted on his work in Bangladesh and has shared his materials with us here. I've attached the announcement from BCI's BATS magazine which gives an overview of his activities. Well done from all of us!
| BCI CONSERVATION IMPACT AWARDS.pdf | [ ] | 280 Kb |