English

Luís Paulo Pires,Wilson Uieda,Kleber Del-Claro

doi:10.14393/bj-v31n2a2015-26963

Abstract

Frugivorous animals may use morphological traits of food items such as size, hardness, shape, color and smell as cues that allow them to assess cost-benefit relationship of foraging activity. Fruit size is an important trait that influences feeding behavior of most frugivores, since there is a functional correlation between fruit size and frugivores’ body size. Therefore, size-based preference is fundamental to understand plant-frugivore interactions and seed dispersal. In this sense, we tested the hypothesis of preferential consumption of larger fruits of Piper arboreum by the short-tailed fruit bat Carollia perspicillata in the Brazilian tropical dry forest. Results showed considerable variation in fruit size among and within plants. There was also significant difference in fruit ripening time among plants, which was not related to fruit size. Average size of remaining fruits reduced as they were removed from plants by the bats, which indicates preferential consumption of larger fruits. On the other hand, plant phenology constrained consumption of bigger fruits. Only a small fraction of plant crop was available for consumption each night, regardless of fruit size, which probably coerced bats to feed on smaller fruits as the availability of larger ones decreased. Results suggest that bat preference on fruit size is mediated by plant phenological strategies.

Highlights

According to optimal foraging theory, animals should optimize energetic costs of foraging activities by reducing energy spent in searching, acquiring and processing food (PYKE, 1984)
In PS, P. arboreum fruits did not exhibit evident differences in other morphological traits such as color, shape or accessibility, so it is reasonable to assume that if there is any preference based on fruit characters it would be on fruit size
Fruit size varied per plant (H13 = 14.50; P < 0.001) (Figure 2) and within individuals

Summary

Introduction

According to optimal foraging theory, animals should optimize energetic costs of foraging activities by reducing energy spent in searching, acquiring and processing food (PYKE, 1984). To be able to do this, foragers may use phenotypical traits of food items such as size, hardness, shape, color and smell as cues that allow them to assess costbenefit relationship of resources, which leads to differential consumption of these varying traits (GAUTIER-HION et al, 1985). The ‘syndrome hypothesis’ states that seed dispersers choose fruits based on some particular traits (e.g. morphology, color, smell) and, exert selective pressure on the evolution of fruit characteristics (JANSON, 1983; GAUTIER-HION et al, 1985). Despite the extensive literature on the influence of fruit traits on frugivores foraging behavior, there is considerable debate regarding the ‘syndrome hypothesis’ (CAMARGO et al 2013). A colorful fruit, which is a trait basically associated with visually oriented seed dispersers such as birds, may be consumed by smell-oriented animals as well. Frugivore choices that rely on fruit and plant traits remain an issue that requires further investigation (LOMÁSCOLO; SCHAEFER, 2010)

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Conclusion