Sothearen, T., N. M. Furey and J. A. Jurgens. 2014. Effect of bat guano on the growth of five economically important plant species. Journal of Tropical Agriculture 52 (2): 169-173.

Author for correspondence: sothearenthi at yahoo dot com

The full article is available at: http://www.jtropag.in/index.php/ojs/issue/view/28

The Vietnam Bat Research Roadshow!! Ho Chi Minh City, Tan Phu District, Cat Tien National Park

December brought the SEABCRU to southern Vietnam for the last of our “Network Gap” Workshops. Northern Vietnam has been a center for bat research for the past 10 years, but little is known of the ecology of bats in the south of the country where there are no bat research experts. This is a concern, because bats in Southern Vietnam have experienced the greatest loss of habitat in the entire country, and are hunted for food and traditional medicine. Southern Vietnam was therefore identified as a “network gap” lacking bat researchers by the SEABCRU steering committee in 2012. The objective of the SEABCRU workshop is to build capacity in southern Vietnam to fill this gap in expertise. The workshop was based in Dinh Quan province which has a nationally-unique set of lava-tube caves, that is home to several bat species, and one of the few remaining areas of lowland forest in Indochina – Cat Tien National Park. After an opening morning in Ho Chi Minh City, the workshop was split with 2.5 days of activities at the lava tubes and two days in the National Park.

The workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Tropical Biology, with a local organizing team comprising Nguyễn Trần Vỹ, Nguyễn Đăng Hoàng Vũ, and Nguyễn Ngọc Tuấn. The workshop included 23 participants—two students from Cambodia, and the remainder from Vietnam, including representatives from two universities, the Forestry Protection Department, staff from four National Parks, and the Saigon Zoo. Reporters from Nong nghiep Newspaper (Agriculture), Tuổi trẻ Newspaper (Youth), and Vnexpress news covered the SEABCRU workshop. Tan Phu local TV station VTV9 (HCMC branch of national channel) were also present. The Youth Newspaper is among the largest national papers and published an article on the second page on 4th December. This was picked up by domestic press agencies and republished in, among others the Forestry Protection Department’s online news.

Aims and Objectives:

i) To equip biodiversity practitioners in southern Vietnam with the skills to design and implement surveys of the diversity and abundance of bats in caves and forests. This will be the foundation for regional biodiversity assessments, long-term monitoring and conservation priority-setting.

ii) To integrate biodiversity practitioners in southern Vietnam into the SEABCRU network as part of our regional commitment to bat conservation research.
By the end of the workshop participants were able to design and implement surveys of cave and forest-roosting bats. Specifically they were able to:

• Safely and humanely handle bats and gather basic morphometric data and assess reproductive condition
• Capture bats in mist-nets and harp traps
• Identify bats to species using existing taxonomic keys
• Record data accurately and in a standardized format. Integrate field data into Darwin core format and SEABCRU dbase.
• Assess the abundance of bats in cave colonies
• Assess indications of disturbance at caves
• Survey characteristics of caves
• Design and implement interviews of local people about cave and bat use and disturbance
• Assess bat diversity in forested environments
• Develop outreach materials to support environmental education of local communities and authorities.

Cave Bat Survey Methods

Leads: Dr. Neil Furey and Dr. Jodi Sedlock. Facilitators: Kendra Phelps, Nurul Ain Elias, Sigit Wiantoro

Objectives:

• Increase participants’ understanding of karst areas, cave bats, and threats to caves and bats in Vietnam
• Provide guidelines for cave ecotourism development
• Learn basic cave mapping skills
• Design cave-specific bat survey protocols
• Assess the abundance of bats in cave colonies
• Assess indications of disturbance at caves
• Design and implement interviews of local people about cave and bat use and disturbance

What we did:

Eighteen participants were trained in cave bat survey methods.
• Three lectures on cave bats, including “Vietnamese cave bats: conservation status”, “Cave bat survey methods”, and “Responsible cave tourism practices: conserving cave bats while promoting education”
• Participants completed an interactive cave mapping activity in which they learned how to systematically document information on bats, human activity and cave dimensions.
• In small groups, participants walked through Hang Dai Km 122 cave in Dong Nai Province and documented the presence of bats, guano, stain, signs of human disturbance and other cave organisms. They learned how to use basic measurement tools to collect data on cave dimensions, temperature, humidity and wind speed. Participants also set up harp traps and nets in front of the two cave openings to capture bats upon emergence.
• At three different caves, participants captured emerging bats using harp traps and mist nets. At one cave, we demonstrated the use of IR-sensitive video combined with an IR spotlight to record and estimate cave bat population size.

Forest Bat Survey Methods

Leads: Dr. Matthew Struebig. Facilitators: Joe Chun-Chia Huang, Juliana Senawi, Ben Lee

Objectives:

• Increase participants’ understanding of forest bats, and threats to forests and bats in Vietnam
• Learn how to implement a forest bat survey using harp traps, and the type of forest bat research questions that can be implemented in Vietnam.
• Handle, measure and understand the main external characteristics of bats, and use a dichotomous key to identify to species.

What we did:

Eighteen participants were trained in forest bat survey methods. Four lectures on forest bats, including “Vietnamese forest bats: conservation status,” “Bat diversity studies in Southeast Asia: how to catch bats”, “Age determination and reproductive condition in bats”, “Bat echolocation sound demonstration”.
• In small groups, participants walked the crocodile lake trail at Cat Tien National Park and set harp traps across the trail in the forest understory on each of two nights.
• Participants learned how to take external measurements of bats for species identification, including forearm length, weight and tibia length. The team captured 56 individual bats of five species, so each participant had the opportunity to handle several bats.
• They also learnt how to collect bat survey data in a systematic way to enable estimates of species diversity, abundance and assemblage structure. This was undertaken using datasheets prepared in a format to facilitate data sharing amongst the SEABCRU network.
• We demonstrated the use of acoustic equipment to record the echolocation call of bats in the hand, which can also be used to aid identification

Participants all learned how to set harp traps and mist nets in forests and caves

and gather data about the bats….

During the days we had a series of lectures on the bat research techniques and conservation

Outreach and Education

Lead: Tigga Kingston. Facilitators: Angela Como, Juliana Senawi, Nurul Ain Elias, Kendra Phelps.

The lava tube caves are not protected and are mostly on private land. Several land-owners have blocked access to the caves, restricting the use by bats. Moreover, reports from local people indicated migration of bats to the area in the wet season, with bats using local homes as night-roosts. While some people utilize the guano this influx provides, many do not like the bats and deter them for roosting. The workshop therefore aimed to provide participants with methods to reach out to the local community and educate them on the bats of their caves. Several caves have been blocked by the landowners.

Objectives:

• To introduce participants to the principles of environmental education
• To learn how to use existing materials for bat environmental education
• To learn how to obtain information about public interactions with bats

What we did:

Eighteen participants were introduced to outreach materials available on the SEABCRU website. We began with the lecture “Environmental Education” which detailed the 5-yr program developed by the Malaysian Bat Conservation Research Unit (MBCRU), illustrating key principles in the development of a program. The MBCRU activity “Compare yourself to a bat” was adapted for Vietnamese species.
• Participants all completed the “Compare yourself to a bat” activity
• Participants interviewed the owner of Xuan Son Cafe where guano produced by a large colony of molossid bats roosting high in a rock crevice is harvested and used as fertilizer on fruit trees. From the informal interview, they found out the following:

• Bats emerge around 6 pm
• The emergence lasts around 45 minutes
• Bats were known by the owner to eat insects
• The café owner actively prevents local people from hunting the bats
• No tourists come to see the bats; the owners do not have permission for tourism
• Café was opened in 1953 and the bats were already there
• They collect guano during the rainy season and use it as fertilizer for their own trees
• They have sold it for 2-3000 VND/kilo

Data Management

Lead: Marina Fisher-Phelps

Objectives:

• Participants understand the importance of data management
• Participants understand what is occurrence data
• Participants understand what the SEABCRU database is and why it is important to contribute data
• Participants able to collect field data using a standardized format – the SEABCRU Bat Data Sheet (provided for participants and available on the website)
• Participants able to convert existing research data into SEABCRU Darwin Core format
• Participants able to use SEABCRU Darwin Core data collection format in their future research initiatives
• Participants able to instruct others in the use of SEABCRU Darwin Core format

What we did:

Eighteen participants were trained in the use of the SEABCRU Bat Data Sheet and conversion of field data to Darwin Core Format. The Data Management portion of the Vietnam workshop consisted of an instructional presentation by the instructor and a hands-on activity for the participants. The instructor defined occurrence data for the participants and explained its uses in research. The participants were instructed in the benefits of having a data management plan and using it in their future research. Participants also learned about the development of the Darwin Core format and how it is used by SEABCRU in data collection and sharing

• Participants were trained to enter data gathered in the field directly into the Bat Data Sheet.
• All participants converted hand-written field data they had collected into the field into Darwin Core Format using the SEABCRU’s controlled-field spread sheet.

Of course we caught bats! Here are a few….

 

Global Outputs

By the end of the workshop all participants had achieved the workshop aims and were able to set nets, harp traps, handle, measure, and identify bats. They could assess reproductive status and age, and record all data in field sheets and convert field data to Darwin Core Format. They were able to survey caves for key features, implement outreach activities and interview local people for information about bat colonies, and the use of guano, on their property.

The workshop closed with a discussion of possible projects, and the participants demonstrated their achievement of the project aims by suggesting the following research:

• Diversity of bats in Saigon Zoo, basis for environmental education for children visiting the zoo and Zoo’s outreach program.
• Diversity of bats in the Bu Gia Map National Park (borders with Cambodia)
• Biodiversity of bats in the Cat Tien National Park (29 species listed, but probably more!)
• Importance of bats as pollinators and seed dispersers in Mekong Delta fruit orchards.
• Diversity of parasites on bats
• Diversity of bats in the Dinh Quan lava tubes – potential for ecotourism and sustainable guano extraction.

Of course, one of the core aims of the workshop was to integrate researchers from southern Vietnam into the SEABCRU and this was most definitely achieved:

Studying bats and making friends and of course, because we are in southern Vietnam, singing!

With thanks to all the facilitators, the local hosts and of course the participants for a fantastic time.

A snappy habit — Eonycteris spelaea (photo T. Kingston)

In 1988, Ed Gould reported wing clapping (also described as the sound of rain drops falling) by Eonycteris spelaea roosting in total darkness in Batu caves near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which ceased when the cave was illuminated. Bats living in a lighter part of the cave produced no sound. Gould painted one wing and showed that wings touched in flight. He also reported a whistling sound associate with wing clapping. However bats with plugged ears did not blunder into obstacles so Gould found it impossible to conclude definitively that wind clapping was a primitive sort of echolocation and he speculated that it may be associated with deceleration.

Arjan Boonman, Sara Bumrungsri and Yossi Yovel have extended  Gould’s work to show that E.spelaea and Cynopterus brachyotis  use wing clapping to detect and discriminate objects, although it does not allow them to estimate distance . Similar wing-clapping is reported in the bare-backed bat (Dobsonia moluccensis) and in Lucas’s dusky fruit bat (Panthetor lucasii) which also roosts in dark caves (Churchill 2008, T. Kingston pers. comm. respectively). Can any SEABCRU members extend these observations to other species?

Boonman, A.,  Bumrungsri, S. and Y. Yovel  (2014) Nonecholocating fruit bats produce biosonar clicks with their wings. Current Biology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.077

Churchill SK (2008). Australian bats. Allen and Unwin, Sydney

Gould E (1988) Wing-clapping sounds of Eonycteris spelaea (Pteropodidae) in Malaysia. J Mammal 69:378–379

Distribution of the poster ‘Cave-dwelling bats of Pisan Caves, Kabacan, Cotabato, Philippines’ with the village chieftain and co-official. The local government have agreed to have a meeting and consultation on the status and conservation management plan for bat caves in the area

Despite of this noteworthy result, continuous anthropogenic activities imperils bat population in caves. Hunting and unregulated tourism and cave entry were among the pressures to cave and bats. Community discussion revealed that bats were hunted for food and trade in local households. Hunters prefer to harvest large roosting bat species such Rousettus amplexicaudatus, Eonycteris spelaea and Hipposideros diadema because they are abundant and their meat are then sold at a very low-price compared to known price in other areas. All caves were visited for tourism and other leisure activities such as spelunking and camping. Unregulated tourism in caves contributes to the pressures in cave sites. Presence of extensive vandalism in walls, damaged structures, and lighting use inside caves were evidence of bat cave mismanagement. The vulnerability of caves to encroachment is associated with the accessibility to cave where sites with large openings and near human settlements are heavily exploited. Another factor contributing to this mismanagement was the poor community understanding of the presence of cave bats and the ecological services they provide. A series of conservation education programs in the community and training of students for future cave bat studies was spearheaded in cooperation of the conservation group of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mindanao with the hope to escalate cave bat understanding and appreciation that will lead to their protection.

With the information on hand, strengthening the started efforts and forging partnership with various stakeholders is an essential next-step forward to conserve the threatened population of cave bats in south central Mindanao. Coordination and presentation of results and conservation concerns in caves were steered among the local government unit and the environmental office of the village. Recently, with the new leadership of the village chieftain, we agreed to meet various stakeholders of the village that includes the tourism officers, ethnic indigenous groups, farmers, cavers, and communities residing near the caves to discuss the wealth (bats), conservation concerns, and management plan to create a sustainable cave system that will benefit the bats, the ecosystem and the people.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE POSTER FROM OUR PHILIPPINE OUTREACH PAGE

Krizler C. Tanalgo was a grantee of the SEABCRU Small Grant for Southeast Asian Students 2012

Sedlock, J. L., R. P. Jose, J. M. Vogt, L. M. J. Paguntalan, and A. B. Carino. (2014) A survey of bats in a karst landscape in the central Philippines. Acta Chiropterologica 16(1): 197-211.

For a copy of this paper, please contact Jodi –sedlockj(at)lawrence(dot)edu

A fishing net inside the cave shows a common capture methods (photo: J. Sedlock

Many signs of past cave disturbance

Despite the fear-filled talk of cave-dwelling aswang, people apparently have boldly entered caves and exploited cave resources on the island for a very long time.   While many caves rarely had human visitors, evidence of past visits was obvious.  In some caves all resources worth extracting had been taken years ago—stalactites, phosphate, guano and the bats that produced the guano.  Many caves had chambers reminiscent of vast, abandoned and dust-covered mansions in horror movies—eerie and rich with untold stories of more lively days.  The wall of one cave declared: “guano discovered here in 1970.”

I give a full account of our findings in the attached report below, but overall the news was not good. For now can I just hope that there remain some undiscovered caves providing refuge for Siquijor’s bats.

Siquijor caves Sedlock

Carpenter, E.-S., R. Gomez, D.L. Waldien & R.E. Sherwin  (2014). Photographic estimation of roosting density of Geoffroy’s Rousette Fruit Bat Rousettus amplexicaudatus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) at Monfort Bat Cave, Philippines. Journal of Threatened Taxa 6(6): 5838–5844; Download here

One, two, lots! Rousettus amplexicaudatus at Monfort Cave

Guano harvesting guidelines can be downloaded from the IUCN here, and they are attached for download below

Guano Harvesting Guidelines

The Wrinkle-Lipped Bat — Hungry for ‘ Hoppers!

With an ever-increasing human population size in Asia, the need to identify sustainable practices to ensure food security is a priority. An article published by Wanger et. al. demonstrates that a single cave-roosting bat species, Chaerephon plicatus (the Wrinkled-Lipped Bat), substantially contributes to the suppression of a major rice pest in Thailand, the white-backed planthopper. Through complex extrapolations, the authors report that the population of eight million C. plicatus could prevent an annual loss of nearly 3,000 tons of rice in Thailand alone, with a monetary value of over $1.2 million USD. Through the prevention of crop loss by white-backed planthoppers, this single bat species likely protects food for 26,000 people ever year. Furthermore, the authors advocate for the protection of common yet functionally significant species, such as C. plicatus, rather than simply focusing conservation efforts on rare or threatened species.

Wanger, T.C., K. Darras, S. Bumrungsri, T. Tscharntke, and A-M. Klein. 2014. Bat pest control contributes to food security in Thailand. Biological Conservation 171: 220-223.

Notes from Tigga: Congratulations to SEABCRU steering committee member Sara Bumrungsri on this inspiring article – the power of ecosystem service evaluations such as this can’t be underestimated.  Also, we have followed another Steering Committee member, Nancy Simmons, in referring to this species as Chaerephon plicatus rather than Tadarida plicata — but its the same critter!  This paper also highlights the importance of conserving caves able to support these huge aggregations.

After the competition in 2011, this team was disbanded. Two years later, in 2013, they decided to show the video again as one of their activities in the Young Voices for Conservation competition organized by Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES) in partnership with AFFINBANK . Their team the Eco-Preneurs, Young Voices for Conservation, won a Special Merit Award in the competition for their work in bat conservation in their school.

At the same time Ching Ching and Shan Shan made another video about bats for the Green Film Competition 2013. They won the Grand Prize. Their video SOB (Save our Bats) can be watched at this link http://www.anugerahhijau.my/ or here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ksc0ba28M.

Recently, the team was given a small grant to carry out an innovation related to the conservation of bats in their school. A newly formed team has set out to design a new bat house which simulates the attic. They have fixed a web cam to the bat house to monitor it for the duration of six months. So far no bats have yet to enter the house.

It is never an easy route for Madam Chan and the students of SMK King George V in making their school a bat and eco-friendly environment, as well as spreading the love of nature among the local society.  Their determination, passion, enthusiasm and creativity on this goal have turn the impossible to possible, and created a sustainable future for the local society. Their quest in the conservation of bats has become a passion and more students will join in the effort in the years to come.