Autecology and the Conservation of Insectivorous Bats on Mt. Makiling, Philippines

Abstract

The diversity and community ecology of an insectivorous bat comma nit y on Mount Makiling, Philippines was studied over the course of 17 months betweenJune 1997 and August 1999. Bats were invento-ried acoustically using a library of call signatures, through roost searches, and captured using mist nets, a harp trap, and a tunnel trap. Foraging behavior with respect to habitat type and resource abundance was deter-mined through both systematic sampling of acoustic bat activity and in-sect abundance along transects, and at resource patches (stream pools) during explicit time intervals in the night. This paper provides a summary of the salient information on habitat use, diet, foraging mode, reproductive timing, and roosting preferences gleaned from these data with respect to 22 species of insectivorous bats encountered on Mount Makiling. Additionally, I consider how coexistence mechanisms which maintain local bat diversity, such as habitat selection and the partition-ing of resource abundance, may break down in the face of habitat disturbance and loss.