Activity levels of bats and katydids in relation to the lunar cycle
Activity levels of bats and katydids in relation to the lunar cycle
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s00442-005-0131-3
复制
发表时间：
2006-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Dechmann, DKN
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lang, AB;Kalko, EKV;Dechmann, DKN
动物面临着许多相互冲突的生态压力，其中一种的影响往往会掩盖另一种的影响。一个可能的例子是所谓的“月亮恐惧症”，即蝙蝠在满月期间活动减少。恐月的主要原因被认为是蝙蝠为了躲避捕食者而调整自己的活动。然而，蝙蝠可以成为猎物，但许多蝙蝠是肉食性的，因此它们自己也是捕食者。因此，它们很可能受到猎物可获得性和捕食风险的影响。我们研究了栖息性捕食性食虫蝙蝠及其主要猎物--食虫蝙蝠的活动模式，以评估前者在月亮周期的不同阶段对采集食虫蝙蝠的影响。为了避免采样偏差，我们对蝙蝠使用了录音和两种不同的捕获方法，并对蝙蝠进行了视频监控和无线电遥测。与满月周围的明亮时期相比，蝙蝠和麒麟在与新月相关的黑暗时期都明显更加活跃。我们的结论是，林蛙的觅食活动可能在很大程度上受到猎物可获得性的影响，并认为通常情况下，引起月球恐惧症的原因是物种特有的。
Animals are exposed to many conflicting ecological pressures, and the effect of one may often obscure that of another. A likely example of this is the so-called "lunar phobia" or reduced activity of bats during full moon. The main reason for lunar phobia was thought to be that bats adjust their activity to avoid predators. However, bats can be prey, but many are carnivorous and therefore predators themselves. Thus, they are likely to be influenced by prey availability as well as predation risk. We investigated the activity patterns of the perch-hunting Lophostoma silvicolum and one of its main types of prey, katydids, to assess the influence of the former during different phases of the lunar cycle on a gleaning insectivorous bat. To avoid sampling bias, we used sound recordings and two different capture methods for the katydids, as well as video monitoring and radio-telemetry for the bats. Both, bats and katydids were significantly more active during the dark periods associated with new moon compared to bright periods around the full moon. We conclude that foraging activity of L. silvicolum is probably influenced by prey availability to a large extent and argue that generally the causes of lunar phobia are species-specific.