Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó, Laboratório de Ecologia e Química, Servidão Anjo da Guarda, 295-D, 89809-900 Chapecó, SC, Brazil.
Herbário UNO, Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó, Servidão Anjo da Guarda, 295-D, 89809-900 Chapecó, SC, Brazil.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2024 May 10;96(2):e20220830. doi: 10.1590/0001-3765202420220830. eCollection 2024.
Frugivore bats are important seed dispersers in forests and their abundance are associated with the presence of zoochoric plants. In this context, the aim of our study was to investigate the association of the frugivore bat S. lilium with the diaspores of the zoochoric plant S. mauritianum, a common arboreal species present in forest fragments of southern Brazil. We also investigated the diet of the species based on seed content present in feces of individuals. Bats were mist-netted from November 2017 to April 2018 in a fragment of Atlantic Forest. The proportion of immature and mature diaspores of S. mauritianum was estimated in the same area where bats were sampled, and feces were sampled from captured individuals. In total, 61 individuals of S. lilium were captured, and 795 seeds were sampled from their feces. The abundance of S. lilium was significantly associated with the proportion of immature diaspores of S. mauritianum. We identified seeds of two botanical families: Solanaceae (89%) and Moraceae (11%) in the fecal samples. Our findings support the view that S. lilium is a legitimate disperser of S. mauritianum, and that its ecological function is probably a result of co-adaptation.
食果蝙蝠是森林中重要的种子传播者，它们的丰富度与动物传播植物的存在有关。在这种情况下，我们研究的目的是调查食果蝙蝠 S. lilium 与动物传播植物 S. mauritianum 的种籽之间的联系，S. mauritianum 是一种常见的树栖物种，存在于巴西南部的森林碎片中。我们还根据个体粪便中存在的种子内容来研究该物种的饮食。我们于 2017 年 11 月至 2018 年 4 月在一个大西洋森林的碎片中用网捕法捕获蝙蝠。在与蝙蝠采样相同的区域估计了 S. mauritianum 的未成熟和成熟种籽的比例，并从捕获的个体中采集了粪便。共捕获了 61 只 S. lilium 个体，从它们的粪便中采集了 795 颗种子。S. lilium 的丰富度与 S. mauritianum 的未成熟种籽比例显著相关。我们在粪便样本中鉴定出了两种植物科的种子：茄科（89%）和桑科（11%）。我们的发现支持了 S. lilium 是 S. mauritianum 的合法传播者的观点，并且它的生态功能可能是共同适应的结果。
