title: Foraging behaviour and landscape utilisation by the endangered golden-crowned flying fox (Acerodon jubatus), the Philippines.
abstract: Species of Old World fruit-bats (family Pteropodidae) have been identified as the natural hosts of a number of novel and highly pathogenic viruses threatening livestock and human health. We used GPS data loggers to record the nocturnal foraging movements of Acerodon jubatus, the Golden-crowned flying fox in the Philippines to better understand the landscape utilisation of this iconic species, with the dual objectives of pre-empting disease emergence and supporting conservation management. Data loggers were deployed on eight of 54 A. jubatus (two males and six females) captured near Subic Bay on the Philippine island of Luzon between 22 November and 2 December 2010. Bodyweight ranged from 730 g to 1002 g, translating to a weight burden of 3-4% of bodyweight. Six of the eight loggers yielded useful data over 2-10 days, showing variability in the nature and range of individual bat movements. The majority of foraging locations were in closed forest and most were remote from evident human activity. Forty-six discrete foraging locations and five previously unrecorded roost locations were identified. Our findings indicate that foraging is not a random event, with the majority of bats exhibiting repetitious foraging movements night-to-night, that apparently intact forest provides the primary foraging resource, and that known roost locations substantially underestimate the true number (and location) of roosts. Our initial findings support policy and decision-making across perspectives including landscape management, species conservation, and potentially disease emergence.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Hume
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: Anson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tagtag
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dechmann
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jayme
authors.forename: Jonathan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Imelda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Davinio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Catbagan
authors.forename: Mundita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benigno
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daszak
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D010679:Philippines