You are here: Home :: Area NEM :: Life sciences :: Zoology

Martin Dallimer, Tony King, David Cope, Manuel Borge Jiana

Estimation of population density of Eidolon helvum on the island of Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea / Estimation de densité de population de Eidolon helvum sur l'île de Príncipe, Golfe de Guinée

Keywords: Eidolon helvum, exit count, fruit bat, Gulf of Guinea, population density, Príncipe, roost count, chiroptère phytophile, comptage au dortoir, densité de population, Golfe de Guinée

Eidolon helvum is a widespread African fruit bat. It is migratory and can form colonies of millions of individuals. On Príncipe, in the Gulf of Guinea, there are seemingly large numbers of E. helvum. Here, they have lost their migratory behaviour and rely on the availability of the year-round food resources on the island, which is small (128 km²) but is dominated by both primary rainforest and fruit-tree plantations. We visited the major roost for E. helvum on the island. Exit counts carried out on two consecutive nights showed the roost was used by between 10,539 (SE±67) and 14,160 (SE±324) individuals. Compared to mainland Africa, the colony was small, no doubt constrained by the size of the island. Nonetheless, Príncipe still supports a considerable density of E. helvum of between 82 and 111 bats/km², which is comparable with densities found on mainland Africa.

Mammalia, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 0025-1461
Volume: 70, 02/2006
Pages: 48 - 51

Show full article (external site)

Show all available items of this journal

 

Area NEM