Small Tent‐Roosting Bats Promote Dispersal of Large‐Seeded Plants in a Neotropical Forest

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn Neotropical regions, fruit bats are among the most important components of the remaining fauna in disturbed landscapes. These relatively small‐bodied bats are well‐known dispersal agents for many small‐seeded plant species, but are assumed to play a negligible role in the dispersal of large‐seeded plants. We investigated the importance of the small tent‐roosting bat Artibeus watsoni for dispersal of large seeds in the Sarapiquí Basin, Costa Rica. We registered at least 43 seed species > 8 mm beneath bat roosts, but a species accumulation curve suggests that this number would increase with further sampling. Samples collected beneath bat feeding roosts had, on average, 10 times more seeds and species than samples collected 5 m away from bat feeding roosts. This difference was generally smaller in small, disturbed forest patches. Species‐specific abundance of seeds found beneath bat roosts was positively correlated with abundance of seedlings, suggesting that bat dispersal may influence seedling recruitment. Our study demonstrates a greater role of small frugivorous bats as dispersers of large seeds than previously thought, particularly in regions where populations of large‐bodied seed dispersers have been reduced or extirpated by hunting.