Dietary resource overlap among three species of frugivorous bat in Costa Rica

The maintenance of biodiversity in tropical forests is thought to be dependent on fine-scale mechanisms of niche partitioning that allow species to coexist. This study examined whether three species of short-tailed fruit bat that co-occur at a lowland tropical forest site in Costa Rica (Carollia castanea, C. perspicillata, C. sowelli) avoid inter- and intraspecific competition through dietary specialization on species in the genus Piper. First, dietary composition was examined using faecal samples (n = 210), which yielded three main findings: (1) bat species and sexes vary in overall reliance on fruits of Piper, with a higher percentage of seeds of Piper detected in the diets of C. castanea (98.2%) and females (91.5%); (2) adults and juveniles partition species of Piper by habitat, with a lower percentage of mid- to late-successional species of Piper detected in adults (20.8%); and (3) overall, there is a strong dietary overlap among and within the three species of Carollia. Second, con...热带森林生物多样性的维持，被认为依赖于可促成物种共存的精细尺度生态位分化（niche partitioning）机制。本研究针对哥斯达黎加一处低地热带森林样地中共存的三种短尾果蝠（short-tailed fruit bat）——栗色短尾蝠（Carollia castanea）、美洲短尾蝠（C. perspicillata）、索氏短尾蝠（C. sowelli）——展开研究，旨在明确其是否通过对胡椒属（Piper）物种的食性特化，规避种间与种内竞争。 首先，本研究通过粪便样本（n = 210）分析受试短尾果蝠的食性组成，得到三项核心结论：（1）不同蝠种与雌雄个体对胡椒属果实的整体依赖程度存在差异，栗色短尾蝠（98.2%）与雌性个体（91.5%）的饮食中胡椒属种子占比更高；（2）成体与幼体依据生境分化利用胡椒属物种，成体粪便中检测到的中晚期演替胡椒属物种占比更低（20.8%）；（3）整体而言，三种短尾蝠属（Carollia）物种种间及种内均存在显著的食性重叠。 其次，[原文后续内容未完整提供]