title: Can survival analyses detect hunting pressure in a highly connected species? Lessons from straw-coloured fruit bats.
abstract: Animal behaviour, social structure and population dynamics affect community structure, interspecific interactions, and a species' resilience to harvesting. Building on new life history information for the straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) from multiple localities across Africa, we used survival analyses based on tooth-cementum annuli data to test alternative hypotheses relating to hunting pressure, demography and population connectivity. The estimated annual survival probability across Africa was high (≥ 0.64), but was greatest in colonies with the highest proportion of males. This difference in sex survival, along with age and sex capture biases and out-of-phase breeding across the species' distribution, leads us to hypothesize thatE. helvumhas a complex social structure. We found no evidence for additive mortality in heavily hunted populations, with most colonies having high survival with constant risk of mortality despite different hunting pressure. GivenE. helvum's slow life history strategy, similar survival patterns and rate among colonies suggest that local movement and regional migration may compensate for local excess hunting, but these were also not clearly detected. Our study suggests that spatio-temporal data are necessary to appropriately assess the population dynamics and conservation status of this and other species with similar traits.
authors: Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory, Hopkirk Research Institute, Massey University, Private Bag, 11 222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.
authors: David T S
authors: DT
authors: Hayman
authors: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK; Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK; Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia.
authors: Alison J
authors: AJ
authors: Peel
keywords: Bayesian population analyses; Demography; Eidolon helvum; Hunting; Survival analyses