Forbidden fruits? Ecosystem services from seed dispersal by fruit bats in the context of latent zoonotic risk

Oikos ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kadambari Deshpande ◽  
Abi T. Vanak ◽  
M. Soubadra Devy ◽  
Jagdish Krishnaswamy
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Zoonotic Risk

scholarly journals Seed dispersal by fruit bats in Colombia generates ecosystem services

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Enríquez-Acevedo ◽  
Jairo Pérez-Torres ◽  
Cesar Ruiz-Agudelo ◽  
Andres Suarez
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fruit Bats

Vertical stratification of fruit bats (Pteropodidae) in lowland dipterocarp rainforest in Malaysia

1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles M. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
Food Selection ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Lowland Rainforest ◽  
Capture Rates ◽  
Foraging Ranges

ABSTRACTMistnets were set at ground level and 11–30 m above ground in lowland rainforest at Kuala Lompat in peninsular Malaysia, and Sepilok in Sabah, to compare the abundance of fruit bats in the subcanopy and at ground level. Capture rates in the subcanopy were up to 100 times greater than at ground level, averaging 3–7 bats per net-night. Species diversity was higher in the subcanopy than forest understorey. Two species that were frequently captured in the subcanopy,Megaerops wetmoreiandDyacopterus spadiceus, were previously thought to be rare. The abundance of Old World fruit bats in the subcanopy indicates that their roles in pollination and seed dispersal of Malaysian forest trees may be greater than previously recognized. Further research on foraging ranges, food selection and roosting habits is required to determine the overall importance of fruit bats in forest regeneration through seed dispersal, and the adequacy of existing reserves for their conservation.

Seed-dispersing bird assemblages in riparian environments of a partially urbanized river basin, Southeastern Brazil

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. F. Lessi ◽  
M. G. Reis ◽  
C. Z. Fieker ◽  
M. M. Dias
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Frugivorous Birds ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
Number Of Individuals

Abstract Birds play a key role in ecosystem dynamics, including urban and rural areas, bringing environmental quality improvements and ecological stability. Species contribute directly to natural regeneration of vegetation and succession processes, by offering ecosystem services as seed dispersal, an important role in human-modified areas. We studied the assemblages of fruit-eating birds in riparian environments of Monjolinho basin, central São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. Birds were recorded in 41 points distributed in riparian ecosystems alongside waterbodies, in landscapes with five types of surrounding matrices: urban, periurban, farmland, and native vegetation. We described how assemblages are structured aiming to evaluate the possible influence of seasonality and landscape type. We recorded 39 bird species that can play a role as seed-dispersers, 32 in wet season and 32 in dry season. There were no significant differences in the diversity and dominance of species between seasons considering the entire area, indicating stability of basic assemblage structure. However, total number of individuals of all species recorded in different landscapes were influenced by seasonality. Also, the composition and abundance of species significantly changed between seasons, leading to a high dissimilarity with almost 50% of the species contributing with almost 90% of the observed variation. A higher taxonomic diversity and distinctness pointed to a wider array of possible seed dispersal services in natural areas, while the lowest values of indexes were found in human-modified areas. The higher number of non-related bird species during dry season contrasted with the higher number of individuals during wet season, indicating that there is more possible ecosystem services offered by frugivorous birds in driest period of the year, while in the rainy period the carrying capacity of the riparian environments was increased.

scholarly journals Linking colony size with quantitative estimates of ecosystem services of African fruit bats

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. R237-R238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariëlle L. van Toor ◽  
M. Teague O’Mara ◽  
Michael Abedi-Lartey ◽  
Martin Wikelski ◽  
Jakob Fahr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Colony Size ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Quantitative Estimates

Adaptive foraging tactics of greater short-nosed fruit bats on a spiny shrub and its effect on seed dispersal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dhanapal Sangavi ◽  
Chinnaperamanoor Madhappan Murugan ◽  
Valliyappan Mahandran ◽  
Ganapathy Marimuthu ◽  
Parthasarathy Thiruchenthil Nathan
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Foraging Tactics ◽  
Adaptive Foraging

scholarly journals Role of species: traits, interactions and ecosystem services

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25345
Author(s):  
Tereza Giannini ◽  
Marcelo Awade ◽  
Leonardo Miranda ◽  
Leonardo Trevelin ◽  
Carlos Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
The Body ◽  
Frugivorous Birds ◽  
Basic Premise

Understanding the role that species play in their environment is a fundamental goal of biodiversity research, bringing knowledge on ecosystem maintenance and in provision of ecosystem services. Different types of interaction that different species establish with their partners regulate the functioning of ecosystems (McCann 2007). Interactions between plants and pollinators (Potts et al. 2016) and between plants and seed dispersers (Wang and Smith 2002) are examples of mutualism, crucial to the maintenance of the floristic composition and overall biodiversity in different biomes. They also illustrate well the nature's contribution to people, supporting ecosystem services with key economic consequences, such as pollination of agricultural crops (Klein et al. 2007) and seed dispersal of natural or assisted restoration of degraded areas (Wunderle 1997). Interactions are mediated by different functional traits (morphological and/or behavioral characteristics of organisms that influence their performance) (Ball et al. 2015). As the zoochorous transfer of pollen grains and seeds usually involves contact, the success of pollination and seed dispersal depends to a large extend on the relationship of size and morphology between flower/fruit and their respective pollinator/seed disperser. Selected over a long history of shared evolutionary history, it is feasible to rely on the predictive potential these traits may have to determine if a certain animal is able to transfer pollen grains and/or seeds of specific plants in the landscape (Howe 2016). Biodiversity is facing constant negative impacts, especially related to climate and habitat changes. They are threatening the provision of ecosystem services, jeopardizing the basic premise of sustainable development, which is to guarantee resources for future generations. The novel landscapes that result from these impacts will certainly be dependent of these ecosystem services, but will they persist in face of extinctions and invasive competitors? Ultimately, will these services be predicable by functional traits, in landscapes where shared evolutionary history is reduced? Strategies that help our understanding of the interactions and their role in the provision of services are urgent (Corlett 2011). Given this context, our objective here is to present the type of data that, if made available, could assist in determining the role of species in terms of the interactions they make and the provision of ecosystem services. Moreover, we aimed to elucidate how this role can be associated with functional traits. The current work focuses on the following groups: plants, birds, bats and bees (Fig. 1). Of particular interest are interactions involving: pollination, which is carried out predominantly by bees, but also by nectarivorous birds and bats; and seed dispersal, mainly carried out by frugivorous birds and bats. These interactions are mediated by key traits. In plants, common flower traits are the aperture, color, odor strength and type, shape orientation, size and symmetry, nectar guide and sexual organ, and reward. Fruit or seed traits, such as fleshy nutrient, chemical attractant and clinging structures, are also relevant for seed dispersal. In animals the most common traits are the body size (for bees, the intertegular distance; for bats, forearm length; and for birds, the weight), gape-width for birds and the feeding habit (nectarivorous, frugivorous, omnivorous) for bats and birds. Providing standardized data on traits involving interactions between fauna and flora is important to fill knowledge gaps, which could help in the decision making processes aiming conservation, restoration and management programs for protecting ecosystem services based on biodiversity.

scholarly journals Long-distance seed dispersal by straw-coloured fruit bats varies by season and landscape

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 12-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Abedi-Lartey ◽  
Dina K.N. Dechmann ◽  
Martin Wikelski ◽  
Anne K. Scharf ◽  
Jakob Fahr
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fruit Bats ◽  
Long Distance

Seed Dispersal in the Dark: Shedding Light on the Role of Fruit Bats in Africa

Biotropica ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 450-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie E. Seltzer ◽  
Henry J. Ndangalasi ◽  
Norbert J. Cordeiro
Keyword(s):  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Fruit Bats

scholarly journals Ecosystem services provided by Neotropical birds

The Condor ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L Michel ◽  
Christopher J Whelan ◽  
Gregory M Verutes
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ◽  
Neotropical Birds ◽  
Cultural Services ◽  
Control Seed ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Services ◽  
Agricultural Plants ◽  
Meat And Eggs

Abstract The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment described 4 classes of services or functions that ecosystems and their component parts deliver to the benefit of humans: provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. Birds, including Neotropical birds, provide a diverse array of services in all 4 classes. We review the literature describing ecosystem services provided by Neotropical birds, draw inference from studies of avian services in other regions when Neotropical studies are limited, and identify key information gaps. Neotropical birds provide provisioning services in the form of meat and eggs for food, and feathers for down and ornamentation. Regulating services are among the most valuable services provided by Neotropical birds, including pollination, pest control, seed dispersal, and scavenging. Neotropical birds also provide supporting services in the form of nutrient cycling, such as through the deposition of guano on offshore islands. Finally, Neotropical birds provide cultural services as pets (caged birds), sources of recreation (e.g., birdwatching, hunting), as well as by inspiring art, photography, and religious customs. Much remains to be learned about the ecology and natural history of many Neotropical birds before we can fully assign value—monetary, nonmaterial, or otherwise—to the services they provide. However, what we have learned to date makes it clear that humans benefit from birds through multiple services, including but not limited to pest reduction, pollination of some agricultural plants, and seed dispersal.

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