Seasonal variations in small mammal - landscape associations in temperate agroecosystems: a study case in Buenos Aires province, Central Argentina

SÁNCHEZ MARIANO S.; CARRIZO, LUZ V.; GIANNINI NORBERTO P.; BARQUEZ R.M.

MAMMALIA

WALTER DE GRUYTER & CO

Año: 2012 vol. 76 p. 269 - 275

0025-1461

The principal goal of our research was to evaluate dietary variation of frugivorous bats in two contrasting subtropical rainforests in Argentina (montane rainforest in the NW with a strong seasonality and lowland rainforest in the NE with a mild seasonality). Diet was estimated on the basis of over 1000 dietary records collected along two seasonal annual cycles. Our results indicated that dominant frugivorous bats exhibit a marked seasonality in the use of fruit resources and that some plants represent keystone resources in periods of general food scarcity. NW bat ensemble response to fruit phenology was a strong decrease in capture rate toward the end of the dry season. The NE bat ensemble did not show the same seasonal pattern and we hypothesize that other variables probably are more important to determine bat abundance. Diet of bats varied in response to spatial changes in availability of their preferred fruits. For instance, the use of Solanum, Piper and other fruits by Sturnira bats appeared to be coupled with patterns of diversity and density of these resources.