Title
Relations between topography, feeding sites, and foraging behavior of the vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus
Date Issued
21 February 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Rocha F.
Rabaquim V.C.V.
Fadil P.
Pompei J.C.
Brandão P.E.
Dias R.A.
Ortega J.
University of Sao Paulo
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
The vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) plays a crucial role in the maintenance and transmission of the rabies virus to humans and livestock, impacting public health and economic production. Its importance lies not only in its capacity to transmit the virus but also in its ability to adapt to anthropic changes, as expressed in its wide geographic distribution in Latin America. Deforestation, livestock intensification, and other human activities have reduced the abundance of its wild prey but have also provided new and abundant shelter and foraging resources for the vampire bats. We used radiotelemetry to evaluate relations between topography, feeding site choice, and foraging behavior in southeastern Brazil, where three occupied D. rotundus roosts, out of 11 possible, were systematically monitored throughout a 1-year period once every 2 months. Sixty-two vampire bats were captured; biometric data were collected and 44 radiotransmitters were installed in adult individuals, producing telemetry data that were recorded in VHF receptors installed in the farms. Elevation of the roosts was related to the farms attacked by the vampire bats. Understanding the use of the environment and resources by vampire bats is critical to improving rabies control aiming at the reduction of disease impacts. From the perspective of the official veterinary service, telemetry would be ineffective as a rabies surveillance system due to the costs and limitations of the available technology. However, livestock rabies control measures would be greatly improved if ecological characteristics of the vampire bat were considered.
Start page
164
End page
171
Volume
101
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ecología
Zoología, Ornitología, Entomología, ciencias biológicas del comportamiento
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85082091306
Source
Journal of Mammalogy
ISSN of the container
00222372
Sponsor(s)
and March Thanks to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for financial support (process number 458546/2014
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus