Reproductive phenologies of phyllostomid bats in the Central Amazon

Hazard, QCK; Sabino-Pinto, J; López-Baucells, A; Farneda, FZ; Meyer, CFJ; Rocha, R

Abstract

Mammals tend to align their most energetically demanding phenological events with periods of peak resource availability. Their reproductive phenology is influenced by local resource availability, potentially leading to geographical variation in their breeding strategy. Although the Amazon is the world’s epicenter of bat diversity, the reproductive phenology of Amazonian bats remains poorly known. Seasonality induces fluctuations in resource availability and most phyllostomid species, crucial agents of seed dispersal, pollination and arthropod suppression in the Neotropics, have been described to exhibit seasonal bimodal polyestry. However, current understanding of phyllostomid reproductive phenology is impaired by the paucity of comparative examinations of the phenologies of sympatric species, using consistent classification schemes based on the number and timing of annual peaks in pregnancy and lactation. Using a multi-year dataset from Central Amazonia, we examined the reproductive phenology of nine bat species (Artibeus concolor, A. obscurus, A. lituratus, Carollia brevicauda, C. perspicillata, Gardnerycteris crenulatum, Lophostoma silvicolum, Rhinophylla pumilio, and Trachops cirrhosus), as well as two feeding ensembles (i.e., frugivores and gleaning animalivores). Only three of the nine species exhibited a bimodal reproductive phenology. Six species and the frugivore ensemble showed unimodal reproductive phenology, while gleaning animalivores displayed an amodal pregnancy pattern. All species except L. silvicolum had their primary pregnancy peak during the mid-dry season. A reproductive peak during the early wet season, or local variation in the duration of the fruiting season may explain the deviation of our observations from the expected bimodal polyestry.

Citation

Hazard, Q., Sabino-Pinto, J., López-Baucells, A., Farneda, F., Meyer, C., & Rocha, R. (2022). Reproductive phenologies of phyllostomid bats in the Central Amazon. Mammalian Biology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00242-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 14, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 9, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 9, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 9, 2023
• Journal: Mammalian Biology
• Print ISSN: 1616-5047
• Electronic ISSN: 1618-1476
• Publisher: Elsevier
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00242-6
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00242-6
• Related Public URLs: https://www.springer.com/journal/42991
• Additional Information: Access Information : This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00242-6; Funders : Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT);Bat Conservation International;ARDITI—Madeira’s Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation; Grant Number: PTDC/BIABIC/111184/2009; Grant Number: SFRH/BD/80488/2011; Grant Number: 2020.01129.CEECIND/CP1601/CT0004; Grant Number: PD/BD/52597/2014; Grant Number: M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002