Jafet M. Nassar

ÁREAS Y SITIOS DE IMPORTANCIA PARA LA CONSERVACIÓN DE LOS MURCIÉLAGOS EN LATINOAMÉRICA Y EL CARIBE.

Este libro es el corolario de muchos años de trabajo y dedicación de los miembros de la RELCOM (Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe para la Conservación de los Murciélagos), cuyo objetivo es poner a disposición de la comunidad los resultados de una actividad de carácter regional, que se viene realizando de manera ininterrumpida desde 2011, cuando el primer AICOM fue reconocido. En 2009, la RELCOM elaboró una “Estrategia para la conservación de los murciélagos en Latinoamérica y el Caribe”, donde se identificaron las amenazas que sufren los murciélagos de la región. Esto despertó la necesidad de crear una figura como grupo para proteger a los murciélagos a través de una propuesta regional. Y es así que surgen las Áreas y Sitios de Importancia para la Conservación de los Murciélagos (AICOMs-SICOMs), inspiradas en las AICAs (Áreas de Importancia para la Conservación de las Aves). El reconocimiento de AICOMs y SICOMs surge como una herramienta para que, de algún modo, pueda ser utilizada por los diferentes países que conforman la red, para orientar los planes de conservación en localidades donde especies y poblaciones de murciélagos se encuentren amenazadas. Si bien no es un instrumento legal, sienta bases para el desarrollo de políticas nacionales y regionales que avancen en ese sentido.

Date
2022
Data type
Book
Theme
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten

Bat Inventories at Caves and Mines on the Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, and Proposed Conservation Actions

Abstract

Bats play key ecological roles on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao (ABC islands), Caribbean Netherlands; however, most bat species on these islands are either threatened or their conservation status is unknown. We investigated the use of roosts by cave-dwelling bats in this insular system to propose conservation measures aimed at their protection. We conducted bi-monthly species inventories of cave-dwelling bats in 13 of the best-known caves and mines used as day and maternity roosts on the ABC islands. Bats were captured with mist nets and a harp trap (only one cave) placed either inside or at the entrance of the roosts during the first hours (3 to 5 hrs) after sunset. For Aruba and Curaçao, bat monitoring comprised two years of sampling. In the case of Bonaire, depending on the cave, bat monitoring involved one, two or four years of sampling. We identified six species of cave-dwelling bats associated with these roosts, Mormoops megalophylla, Pteronotus davyi, Natalus tumidirostris, Myotis nesopolus, Glossophaga longirostris and Leptonycteris curasoae. All the examined caves and mines were occupied year-round. The two abandoned mines were inhabited exclusively by the nectar-feeding G. longirostris and L. curasoae, whereas caves containing hot chambers were occupied by up to five species of bats, including insect-feeding M. megalophylla, P. davyi, M. nesopolus and N. tumidirostris, and migratory L. curasoae. Nursery roosts occupied by insect-feeding bats were Quadirikiri on Aruba; Orizjan, Pos di watapana and Pos di Antoin on Bonaire; and Raton and Noordkant on Curaçao. Nectar-feeding bats used all the caves and mines examined as day roosts, nursery roosts or both. All the cave-dwelling bats studied had a single annual reproductive period. In the case of insectivorous bats, pregnancy and lactation occurred mainly between July and December, overlapping with the rainy season. For nectar-feeding bats, pregnancy and lactation took place between March and September, overlapping with the flowering and fruiting seasons of chiropterophilous cacti. Most of the examined bat roosts require protection due to one or more of the following conditions: (1) the presence of multiple species dependent on hot chambers, (2) their use as nursery roosts, and (3) the presence of large colonies of L. curasoae.

 

Full text available here: Bat Inventories at Caves and Mines on the Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, and Proposed Conservation Actions (bioone.org)

Date
2022
Data type
Scientific article
Theme
Research and monitoring
Tags
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao