Island Bats: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation

✍ Scribed by Theodore H. Fleming, Paul A. Racey

• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 568
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The second largest order of mammals, Chiroptera comprises more than one thousand species of bats. Because of their mobility, bats are often the only native mammals on isolated oceanic islands, where more than half of all bat species live. These island bats represent an evolutionarily distinctive and ecologically significant part of the earth’s biological diversity. Island Bats is the first book to focus solely on the evolution, ecology, and conservation of bats living in the world’s island ecosystems. Among other topics, the contributors to this volume examine how the earth’s history has affected the evolution of island bats, investigate how bat populations are affected by volcanic eruptions and hurricanes, and explore the threat of extinction from human disturbance. Geographically diverse, the volume includes studies of the islands of the Caribbean, the Western Indian Ocean, Micronesia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Zealand. With its wealth of information from long-term studies, Island Bats provides timely and valuable information about how this fauna has evolved and how it can be conserved. 

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 6
1. An Introduction to Island Bats......Page 8
Part 1. Evolution of Island Bats......Page 22
2. New Perspectives on the Long-Term Biogeographic Dynamics and Conservation of Philippine Fruit Bats......Page 24
3. Crossing the Line: The Impact of Contemporary and Historical Sea Barriers on the Population Structure of Bats in Southern Wallacea......Page 66
4. Earth History and the Evolution of Caribbean Bats......Page 103
5. Phylogeography and Genetic Structure of Three Evolutionary Lineages of West Indian Phyllostomid Bats......Page 123
Part 2. Ecology of Island Bats
......Page 158
6. Physiological Adaptation of Bats and Birds to Island Life......Page 160
7. The Role of Pteropodid Bats in Reestablishing Tropical Forests on Krakatau......Page 183
8. Macroecology of Caribbean Bats: Effects of Area, Elevation, Latitude, and Hurricane-Induced Disturbance......Page 223
9. Bat Assemblages in the West Indies: The Role of Caves......Page 272
10. Island in the Storm: Disturbance Ecology of Plant-Visiting Bats on the Hurricane-Prone Island of Puerto Rico......Page 288
11. Bats of Montserrat: Population Fluctuation and Response to Hurricanes and Volcanoes, 1978–2005......Page 309
12. Flying Fox Consumption and Human Neurodegenerative Disease in Guam......Page 360
Part 3. Conversation of Island Bats......Page 386
13. The Ecology and Conservation of Malagasy Bats......Page 388
14. Conservation Threats to Bats in the Tropical Pacific Islands and InsularSoutheast Asia......Page 424
15. The Ecology and Conservation of New Zealand Bats......Page 479
16. Global Overview of the Conservation of Island Bats: Importance,Challenges, and Opportunities......Page 515
List of Contributors......Page 550
Subject Index......Page 554
Species Index......Page 558
Color gallery follows page 314......Page 322