The influence of sex and reproductive status on foraging behavior and seed dispersal by Uroderma convexum (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

Uroderma convexum construct and occupy tents. Tents serve as day shelters and reproductive sites, but also frequently are used as night feeding roosts. We observed and radio-tagged U. convexum occupying tents at Sarapiquí, Costa Rica. Social groups of U. convexum were composed of one adult male, reproductive females, and immature bats apparently forming a polygynous harem organization. We report spatial information (core-use, foraging range, habitat coverage use) and seed dispersal behavior for seven radio-tagged bats. Bats spend much of their foraging time in the riparian habitats; however, they also forage in mature and secondary forest and several anthropogenic habitats, dispersing at least eleven species of plants of different life forms. Bats establish night feeding roosts up to 1800 m from their day roost. Feeding roosts are in foliage close to plants producing ripe fruits and both feeding roosts and resource plants vary in space over time. Most of the time, adult males restrict movements to fruiting plants within 100 m of their tents and frequently return within the foraging period of the night, thus males disperse a large proportion of the seeds they handle exclusively within perturbed areas associated with the tents. In contrast to males, adult females usually do not return to a tent until near dawn and move over greater distances, frequently dispersing seeds into multiple habitats. Social organization, sex, and reproductive status appear to influence the outcomes of foraging behavior and seed dispersal of the bats.