The Ecology of Bats and Elephants: Commensalism at Work?

Mutualisms and commensalisms involving birds and megaherbivores
have long been noted by ecologists. Documentation of similar relationships
between aerial nocturnal gleaners and herbivores that are active at night, on
the other hand, is absent from the biological literature. To determine if such a
relationship is present between bats and elephants, we compared bat activity in
the Kruger National Park first in the presence of elephants and then in their
absence, controlling for habitat and time of day. The activity of clutterfeeding
bats, along with feeding success, was significantly higher than other
functional groups, suggesting that such a commensalism exists. If this is the
case, this pioneering study has significant implications on conservation,
especially with respect to how elephant management strategies will affect
local clutter-feeding bat populations.