Relationship between the bat Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758)(Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) and plants of the genus Piper (Linnaeus, 1737)(Piperales: Piperaceae) in the Atlantic Forest

摘要: In the Neotropics and especially in the Atlantic Forest, an almost vanished ecosystem, bats interact with many animal and plant species, earning the role of keymutualists, crucial to the maintenance of several ecological processes. Within this universe of natural processes, the bat-plant interactions are very important. The two interaction syndromes between these groups are the chiropterophylly, related to pollination, and chiropterocory, related to seed dispersal. Regarding chiropterocory, the present study aimed to fulfill some gaps in the knowledge of the relationship between the bat Carollia perspicillata and plants of the genus Piper. These plants are the main food resource of this bat in almost all studied localities. On the other side, these plants rely on Carollia as their main seed dispersers. I studied some aspects of the ecology of both groups: reproductive seasonality, spatial distribution, and diet of bats (Piper …