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Bat Fauna (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Fazenda
Tamanduá:
survey and monitoring in the Caatinga do Sertão region of
the State of Paraíba |
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Since May 2011, the researchers Edson Silva Barbosa Leal (a
biologist and specialist in zoology who is studying for a
masters degree in ecology), Paulo Barros de Passos Filho (a
biologist who is studying for a masters degree in ecology, and
Environmental Manager of the Fazenda Tamanduá Institute), and
Priscila Fernanda da Silva (a first degree student of the course
in biological sciences) of the Federal Rural University of
Pernambuco (UFRPE), “Dois Irmãos” Campus, in the city of Recife,
Pernambuco – under the orientation of the professors and
researchers Dr. Wallace Rodrigues Telino-Júnior (UAG/UFRPE), Dr.
Rachel Maria de Lyra Neves (UAG/UFRPE), Dr. Geraldo Barbosa de
Moura (UFRPE/Main Campus) and Dr. Deoclécio de Queiroz Guerra
(Dept. of Zoology, CCB, UFPE) – have been making an inventory of
the bat fauna of the Caatinga area in Fazenda Tamanduá,
comprising 3,073 hectares, of which about 1,000 are a protected
area (350 ha of Private Nature Reserve and 614 ha of Legal
Reserve). |
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Also counting on the indispensible support of the farm’s owner,
Dr. Pierre Landolt, the researchers have already recorded and
catalogued so far – seven months after beginning the work in the
area – 16 species of bats, belonging to four families:
Phyllostomidae (11), Molossidae (2), Vespertilionidae (2) and
Emballonuridae (1) and five trophic guilds (insectivorous,
frugivorous, nectarivorous, hematophagous, and carnivorous).
Using the methodology of capturing with the use of mist-nets and
actively seeking bat shelters during the day, two first
registers of the species that occur have already been carried
out for the Caatinga portion of morpho-climatic domain in
the State of Paraíba; the corresponding articles have been
written and submitted to scientific magazines, and are presently
in the processing phase. |
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Diphylla ecaudata
– bat that feeds on the blood of birds |
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Desmodus rotundus
– bat that feeds on the blood of mammals |
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With exceptional diversity – which may increase substantially
after the confirmation of further observations made recently –
the chiropter fauna of Fazenda Tamanduá is not yet fully known,
as the species accumulation curve has not yet reached an
asymptote, which shows that other species may be recorded as the
work progresses.
In
addition, from January 2012 on, the present study will start
following a different path, with the beginning of the work of
monitoring the bat populations that exist at FT, especially that
of the hematophagous species Desmodus rotundus (E.
Geoffroy, 1810), commonly known as the common vampire bat, as
this species can potentially be directly involved, when
infected, in the transmission of herbivores’ rabies (lethal
acute encephalomyelitis) to farm animals (cattle, goats, hogs
and sheep). |
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Fazenda Tamanduá has been nationally recognized for practicing
sustainability for more than 30 years. Besides safeguarding the health
of the herds it owns, the farm wishes to show publicly that – in
addition to periodically vaccinating the animals it raises (whose milk
is the basis for several dairy products) against this disease, which can
jeopardize the image of any farmer’s products – it is also concerned to
research and monitor the bat community that it shelters, avoiding the
circulation of the rabies virus (genus Lyssavirus; Family
Rhabdoviridae) not only among the populations of hematophagous bats, but
also those that are not hematophagous. |
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This is because at present non-hematophagous bats have taken on
great importance in rabies epidemiology in Brazil, being the
main transmitters of this illness to human beings in the
country. Therefore, the managers of the property, expressing
their interest to the researcher Edson Leal, who is responsible
for the work and has studied these winged mammals since the
middle of 2006, have decided to make this one of the most
important actions that the Fazenda Tamanduá Institute will carry
out as from next year.
The monitoring work will probably last four years, with monthly
8-day visits to the area, and will involve tagging the animals,
which will make it possible to estimate the size of the
populations, reproductive standards and periods of the different
species of bats (including the determination of the phase of
recruiting the offspring), and gender ratios. Also, some samples
will be retained and sent to the National Agricultural
Laboratory (“LANAGRO”), Pernambuco section, in Recife, in order
to carry out laboratory exams for rabies, by means of the joint
techniques of Direct Immune Fluorescence (DIF) and Intracerebral
Inoculation in Mice, biological proof (it take 45 days per
sample delivered to issue a safe diagnosis, because in wild
animals the virus presents an incubation period of over 21
days). |
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Priscila taking note of bionomic data (age, gender,
reproductive phase) and biometric data (external
measurements) gathered by Edson. |
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Other activities will be to determine the distance covered from the
shelters found during nocturnal activity flights; and finally, to
compose a visual map of the dynamics of the bat community in the area,
in order to find out how these animals use and adapt to the space. (It
is worth pointing out that they compose the largest part of the
mammalian fauna in surveys of mammals, and stand out for performing
environmental services of the highest importance, acting as agents that
pollinate, and disperse the seeds of, countless vegetable species;
controlling the populations of many animals, especially nocturnal flying
insects, including plantation pests and disease vectors; and serving as
sources of food for other animals). An additional aim will be to control
the possible threat of the rabies virus circulating among the bat
populations of the local community. |
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By Edson Silva Barbosa Leal
Biologist, CRBio 67.015/05-D
E-mail: edsonsbl@yahoo.com.br |
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Fazenda
Tamanduá
Caixa Postal 65 - Patos / Paraíba - CEP 58700-970 - Brasil
Tel.(83)3422-7070
Fax(83)3422-7071 |
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