Aspects of the ecology of Noack’s roundleaf bat (Hipposideros Aff. Ruber) in Ghana
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Date
2014-07-27
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Abstract
The roost of bats in five caves in the central parts of Ghana were investigated. A
total of 10,226 bats belonging to nine species were mist-netted within two years.
There was a significant difference in species composition of the caves. The Noacks’s
roundleaf bat, Hipposideros aff. ruber was found to be the most dominant species
roosting inside the cave and some aspects of its ecology were further investigated.
The flight activity of Hipposideros aff. ruber was limited to certain periods of the
night at Kwamang cave one while it was uniform at Kwamang cave two. The
estimated mean home range size of this species using radio-tracking was thirty-six
hectares with a foraging range of 1.2 km. There was no significant difference in the
home range sizes of the males and females. Hipposideros aff. ruber used 50% of its
home range as the foraging area and 2% as the core area. Pregnant females had
smaller home ranges and foraged not more than 0.2 km away from the roost cave.
Hipposideros aff. ruber used all available habitats around its roost but strongly
preferred to forage in fallow lands ahead of other habitats. This bat used tree farms
such as cocoa as flight paths to commute between roost caves and foraging areas and
exhibited a trimodal activity pattern foraging at dusk, midnight and dawn.
Hipposideros aff. ruber is a strong flyer commuting over longer distances. A three
kilometre radius around its roost should be included in the protection of its home
range. In highly impacted agricultural landscapes, fallow lands are recommended as
conservation units to support this bat. In such landscapes, provision of canopy trees
as flight paths is recommended to allow them to commute between roost and habitats
that support higher prey densities.
Description
Thesis submitted to the Graduate School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (WILDLIFE AND RANGE MANAGEMENT). 2014