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Abstract Detail


Tropical Biology Section

Lobova, Tatyana A. [1], Geiselman, Cullen K. [2], Mori, Scott A. [3].

Overview and Analysis of Seed Dispersal by Bats Featured in an Upcoming Monograph.

Many studies have previously documented the importance of bats as seed dispersers in the tropical rainforests but there are no recent comprehensive publications gathering and analyzing this information from a botanical perspective. In the last review of bat-plant interactions, Gardner (1977) listed 103 species of 89 genera from 43 plant families in the diet of phyllostomid bats. We summarized and assembled data about bat-mediated seed dispersal in a book entitled “Seed Dispersal by Bats in the Neotropics.” In this book, we present information on all known bat-dispersed plants in New World tropical forests while focusing specifically on the flowering plants and bat fauna of mature rain forests in central French Guiana. We report a total of 549 species in 191 genera from 62 plant families as dispersed by bats in the Neotropics, including 112 species from central French Guiana (CFG) alone. This publication highlights the following main topics: (1) assembly and review of data about seed dispersal by bats in the New World tropics; (2) characteristics of plants in CFG that have been recorded to be dispersed by bats and hypotheses on what other species might be dependant on bats in the flora; (3) tests of the applicability of the chiropterochorous syndrome in CFG and analysis of a set of morphological traits displayed by fruiting plants that may enhance their attraction of bats; (4) comparisons of the diet composition of bats to that of other major frugivorous animals in CFG; (5) comparisons of bat-dispersed species composition in CFG with that of other Neotropical site; (6) characteristics of plant families with many bat-dispersed species; and (7) characteristics of frugivorous bats and their feeding behaviors in the Neotropics and in CFG.


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1 - Old Dominion University, Department of Biological Sciences, 302 Mills Godwin Building / 45th St, Norfolk, VA, 23529-0266, USA
2 - The New York Botanical Garden, Institute of Systematic Botany, 200 St & Kazimiroff Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458-5126, USA
3 - New York Botanical Garden, Institute of Systematic Botany, 200Th Street & Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10458-5126, USA

Keywords:
seed dispersal
chiropterochory
bat-plant interactions
dispersal syndrome
Neotropics
French Guiana.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Ball Room & Party Room/SUB
Date: Monday, July 28th, 2008
Time: 12:30 PM
Number: PTB003
Abstract ID:723


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