The lesser short-nosed bat, Cynopterus brachyotis, is the most common bat in Peninsular Malaysia and can be found in natural and logged forests, plantations, farms, villages, cities, and towns. Lesser short-nosed bats feed mainly on fruit, but which fruit they prefer remains largely unknown due to difficulties in identifying the digested plant remains of fruit in bats' faeces. Unfortunately, it is often believed that lesser short-nosed bats feed on farm-grown fruits, and thus are killed as crop pests.
To debunk the misconception of lesser short-nosed bats being crop pests, a research team from University of Malaya, Queen Mary University of London and China Agricultural University used DNA barcoding to identify the digested fruit pulp and seeds in faeces of lesser short-nosed bats in Peninsular Malaysia.
The team discovered that lesser short-nosed bats feed mostly on figs particularly Ficus fistulosa. They found a large number of fig seeds in bats' faeces suggested that lesser short-nosed bats play an important role in carrying and dispersing fig seeds between different places. Fig trees are native and pioneer species in Malaysia, and are able to quickly establish themselves in barren land. Therefore, the lesser short-nosed bats are dispersing native pioneer plants which aids in forest regeneration. As figs are not commercially-grown, the feeding habit of lesser short-nosed bats on fig fruits does not cause significant damage to commercial crops and financial loss to farmers.
The low detection of several exotic plants grown by humans in the lesser short-nosed bats' faeces also suggested that the bats can adapt to changing environments and exploit exotic plants as their novel food sources. The diverse diet of lesser short-nosed bats at oil palm plantation revealed that the bats are not predominantly feeding on oil palm fruits but other plants which are grown near the plantation. Yet this finding suggested that the lesser short-nosed bats also disperse exotic plants which potentially facilitates species invasions.
Overall, the study demonstrated the usefulness of DNA barcoding in feeding habits of fruit bats and the potential of lesser short-nosed bats in adapting to human activities.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-habit-malaysian-fruit.html
The low detection of several exotic plants grown by humans in the lesser short-nosed bats' faeces also suggested that the bats can adapt to changing environments and exploit exotic plants as their novel food sources. The diverse diet of lesser short-nosed bats at oil palm plantation revealed that the bats are not predominantly feeding on oil palm fruits but other plants which are grown near the plantation. Yet this finding suggested that the lesser short-nosed bats also disperse exotic plants which potentially facilitates species invasions.
Overall, the study demonstrated the usefulness of DNA barcoding in feeding habits of fruit bats and the potential of lesser short-nosed bats in adapting to human activities.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-habit-malaysian-fruit.html
The expansion of cities and agricultural plantations have unpredictable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet some species are capable of tolerating anthropogenic impacts and continue to provide ecological services in highly disturbed landscapes. The objective of this study was to use DNA barcoding to identify digested plant materials and seeds in the faeces of frugivorous bats (Cynopterus brachyotis) and investigate whether (1) C. brachyotis in urban and agricultural areas exploit cultivated and exotic plants as a novel food resource and as a consequence, potentially facilitate the invasion of cultivated and exotic plants, or whether (2) C. brachyotis exploit native plants and as a consequence, potentially promote forest regeneration. A native species, Ficus fistulosa, was the most frequently detected plant and the seeds were found in bat faeces from all sampling sites suggesting the potential of fruit bats in dispersing seeds. However, we also detected several exotic plants in the faeces of C. brachyotis which suggests that the fruit bats exploit novel food resources at all sites. We recorded a diverse diet of C. brachyotis at an oil palm plantation which indicated that the fruit bats are not predominantly feeding on oil palm fruits. By using DNA barcoding, we detected plants that have not been reported in previous studies of the diet of C. brachyotis, although we could not identify which part of the plant was being consumed by the fruit bats. Given the varied diet of C. brachyotis, the potential of this bat to adapt to changing landscapes is high and they are likely dispersing seeds of native pioneer plants (Ficus).
COMMENTS