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Island Bats

Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation

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. 


560 pages | 17 color plates, 47 halftones, 49 line drawings, 46 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2010

Biological Sciences: Anatomy, Behavioral Biology, Biology--Systematics, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology

Table of Contents

1 An Introduction to Island Bats

Theodore H. Fleming and Paul A. Racey

PART 1. EVOLUTION OF ISLAND BATS

2 New Perspectives on the Long-Term Biogeographic Dynamics and Conservation of Philippine Fruit Bats

Lawrence R. Heaney and Trina E. Roberts

3 Crossing the Line: The Impact of Contemporary and Historical Sea Barriers on the Population Structure of Bats in Southern Wallacea

Lincoln H. Schmitt, Susan Hisheh, Agustinus Suyanto, Maharadatunkamsi, Christopher N. Newbound, Darrell J. Kitchener, and Richard A. How

4 Earth History and the Evolution of Caribbean Bats

Liliana M. Dávalos

5 Phylogeography and Genetic Structure of Three Evolutionary Lineages of West Indian Phyllostomid Bats

Theodore H. Fleming, Kevin L. Murray, and Bryan Carstens

PART 2. ECOLOGY OF ISLAND BATS

6 Physiological Adaptation of Bats and Birds to Island Life

Brian K. McNab

7 The Role of Pteropodid Bats in Reestablishing Tropical Forests on Krakatau

Louise A. Shilton and Robert J. Whittaker

8 Macroecology of Caribbean Bats: Effects of Area, Elevation, Latitude, and Hurricane-Induced Disturbance

Michael R. Willig, Steven J. Presley, Christopher P. Bloch, and Hugh H. Genoways

9 Bat Assemblages in the West Indies: The Role of Caves

Armando Rodríguez-Durán

10 Island in the Storm: Disturbance Ecology of Plant-Visiting Bats on the Hurricane-Prone Island of Puerto Rico

Michael R. Gannon and Michael R. Willig

11 Bats of Montserrat: Population Fluctuation and Response to Hurricanes and Volcanoes, 1978–2005

Scott C. Pedersen, Gary G. Kwiecinski, Peter A. Larsen, Mathew N. Morton, Rick A. Adams, Hugh H. Genoways, and Vicki J. Swier

12 Flying Fox Consumption and Human Neurodegenerative Disease in Guam

Sandra Anne Banack, Paul Alan Cox, and Susan J. Murch

PART 3. CONSERVATION OF ISLAND BATS

13 The Ecology and Conservation of Malagasy Bats

Paul A. Racey, Steven M. Goodman, and Richard K. B. Jenkins

14 Conservation Threats to Bats in the Tropical Pacific Islands and Insular

Southeast Asia

Gary J. Wiles and Anne P. Brooke

15 The Ecology and Conservation of New Zealand Bats

Colin F. J. O’Donnell

16 Global Overview of the Conservation of Island Bats: Importance,

Challenges, and Opportunities

Kate E. Jones, Simon P. Mickleburgh, Wes Sechrest, and Allyson L. Walsh

List of Contributors
Subject Index
Species Index
Color gallery

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