ePrints@IIScePrints@IISc Home | About | Browse | Latest Additions | Advanced Search | Contact | Help

Species and acoustic diversity of bats in a palaeotropical wet evergreen forest in southern India

Raghuram, H and Jain, M and Balakrishnan, R (2014) Species and acoustic diversity of bats in a palaeotropical wet evergreen forest in southern India. In: CURRENT SCIENCE, 107 (4). pp. 631-641.

[img]
Preview
PDF
cur_sci_107-4_631_2014.pdf - Published Version

Download (10MB) | Preview
Official URL: http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/107/04/063...

Abstract

The Western Ghats of India is among the top 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world. About 43% of the reported 117 bat species in India are found in this region, but few quantitative studies of bat echolocation calls and diversity have been carried out here thus far. A quantitative study of bat diversity was therefore conducted using standard techniques, including mist-netting, acoustical and roost surveys in the wet evergreen forests of Kudremukh National Park in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. A total of 106 bats were caught over 108 sampling nights, representing 17 species, 3 belonging to Megachiroptera and 14 to Microchiroptera. Acoustical and roost surveys added three more species, two from Microchiroptera and one from Megachiroptera. Of these 20 species, 4 belonged to the family Pteropodidae, 10 to Vespertilionidae, 3 to Rhinolophidae, 2 to Megadermatidae and 1 to Hipposideridae. We recorded the echolocation calls of 13 of the 16 microchiropteran species, of which the calls of 4 species (Pipistrellus coromandra, Pipistrellus affinis, Pipistrellus ceylonicus and Harpiocephalus harpia) have been recorded for the first time. Discriminant function analyses of the calls of 11 species provided 91.7% correct classification of individuals to their respective species, indicating that the echolocation calls could be used successfully for non-invasive acoustic surveys and monitoring of bat species in the future.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: CURRENT SCIENCE
Publisher: INDIAN ACAD SCIENCES
Additional Information: Copyright for this article belongs to the author
Keywords: Bats; echolocation; species diversity; wet evergreen forest
Department/Centre: Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited: 12 Jan 2015 06:47
Last Modified: 12 Jan 2015 06:47
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/50600

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item