Effects of Habitat and Fruit Scent on the Interactions between Short-tailed Fruit Bats and Plants.

is a mega-diverse genus of pioneer plants that contributes to the maintenance and regeneration of tropical forests. In the Neotropics, bats use olfaction to forage for fruit and are a main disperser of seeds via consumption and subsequent defecation during flight. In return, fruits provide essential nutrients for year-round. There is evidence that the types and diversity of frugivores are influenced by the primary habitat type of different species (forest and gap), with forest depending more on bats for seed dispersal; however, this pattern has not been tested broadly. We aimed to characterize and compare the interactions between and across forested and gap habitats, and further investigate whether differences in fruit traits relevant to bat foraging (i.e., scent) could underlie differences in interactions. We collected nightly acoustic ultrasonic recordings and 24 h camera trap data in La Selva, Costa Rica across 12 species of (six forest, six gap) and integrated this information with data on diet and fruit scent. Merging biomonitoring modalities allowed us to characterize ecological interactions in a hierarchical manner: from general activity and presence of bats, to visitations and inspections of plants, to acquisition and consumption of fruits. We found significant differences in interactions between forested and gap habitats; however, the type of biomonitoring modality (camera trap, acoustics, diet) influenced our ability to detect these differences. Forest were exclusively visited by bats, whereas gap had a more diverse suite of frugivores; the annual diet of , however, is dominated by gap since these plants produce fruit year-round. We found evidence that fruit scent composition significantly differs between forest and gap , which highlights the possibility that bats could be using chemical cues to differentially forage for gap vs. forest . By integrating studies of fruit scent, plant visitation patterns, and diet composition, we paint a clearer picture of the ecological interactions between and , and plant-animal mutualisms more generally.