Dieta de las especies dominantes del ensamblaje de murciélagos frugívoros en un bosque seco tropical (Colombia)

Bat frugivory is one of the most important feeding habits for the regeneration processes of Neotropical forests. Its importance in the habitat is determined by the variety of the consumption of the dominant species in the frugivorous bat assemblage. This is particularly important in transformed environments, where seed dispersal in the forest edge and through the matrix is mediated mainly by bats. We characterized the diets of Artibeus planirostris, A. lituratus, Uroderma bilobatum and Carollia perspicillata in a dry forest fragment of northern Colombia, through fecal analyses. These species represent more than 80% of the total individuals captured. We identified 15 morphospecies of fruits consumed by bats (six for Ficus, two for Vismia one for Cecropia, one for Piper and six unknown morphs). Bat species fed on different items in different proportions. Uroderma bilobatum had the widest niche breath, followed by C. perspicillata, A. planirostris and A. lituratus; C. perspicillata fed with the greater variety of plant genera, and A. planirostris had the largest diet overlap with U. bilobatum and A. lituratus. Diet overlap between A. lituratus and C. perspicillata was the lowest. Medium and low overlaps were present among these bat species due to the consumption of numerous species of the genus Ficus.