Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Seasonal trends and population status of the highly threatened Pteropus livingstonii in the Comoros archipelago |
| Authors: |
Isabella Mandl, Amelaid Houmadi, Ishaka Said, Badrane Ben Ali Abdou, Nastazia Mohamed, Abdoulkader Fardane, Samirou Soulaïmana, Misbahou Mohamed, Ben Anthoy M., Hugh Doulton |
| Source: |
BMC Ecology and Evolution, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2024) |
| Publisher Information: |
BMC, 2024. |
| Publication Year: |
2024 |
| Collection: |
LCC:Ecology
LCC:Evolution |
| Subject Terms: |
Flying foxes, Monitoring, Seasonality, Population status, Deforestation, Ecology, QH540-549.5, Evolution, QH359-425 |
| More Details: |
Abstract Flying foxes of the genus Pteropus, especially those inhabiting islands, face increasing pressure from anthropogenic threats. A first step to implementing effective conservation actions is to establish monitoring projects to understand a species’ population status and trend. Pteropus species are highly affected by seasonality which further requires regular, repeated, and long-term data to understand population trends, and reactions to severe weather events. In the present case study, a regular, bi-annual population census was implemented on Comoros between 2016 and 2023 for the highly threatened Livingstone’s fruit bat, Pteropus livingstonii, and compared the results of standardized monitoring to historical population data. Seasonality had a large impact on the number of bats found at roost sites, with more bats present in the wet season, but the data over the past eight years revealed no significant in- or decrease in the number of bats counted on the island Anjouan. We estimated around 1,200–1,500 bats on Anjouan and 300–400 bats on Mohéli, and found that landcover type has no measurable effect on population distribution at roost sites. Our study highlights the need for long-term surveys to understand past population trends and that single counts are not sufficient to draw final conclusions of a species’ status. |
| Document Type: |
article |
| File Description: |
electronic resource |
| Language: |
English |
| ISSN: |
2730-7182 |
| Relation: |
https://doaj.org/toc/2730-7182 |
| DOI: |
10.1186/s12862-024-02255-w |
| Access URL: |
https://doaj.org/article/add18c2c3edc4f02ba6a3bdd0a8b3881 |
| Accession Number: |
edsdoj.18c2c3edc4f02ba6a3bdd0a8b3881 |
| Database: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
