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Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts(c) Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 31, Number 1, March 2001, pp 43-57
Advances in New Zealand mammalogy 1990-2000: Long-tailed batC. F. J. O'Donnell** Science & Research Unit, Department of Conservation, Private Bag, Christchurch, New Zealand. Email: codonnell@doc.govt.nzORDER CHIROPTERAThe 1990s saw a huge increase in the amount of research on New Zealand bats. Advances in technology have made study of these cryptic nocturnal animals both feasible and accessible. Small portable bat detectors, which record the ultrasonic sounds emitted by bats, are now used widely throughout the country (O'Donnell & Sedgeley 1994; Parsons 1996). Their use has led to a considerable increase in our knowledge of distribution and habitat use. Radio transmitters, now weighing 0.4-0.7 g, are small enough to attach to < 15 g bats and are providing a wealth of information on home range, movements, use of roosts, and social structure for periods of up to a month at a time. Specialised harp traps for catching bats are also now used, enabling systematic capture programmes, including long-term banding studies of Chalinolobus tuberculatus (Sedgeley & O'Donnell 1996). Infrared, time lapse video technology has also advanced. Low-cost, miniature video cameras and their portable recorders enable monitoring of behaviour, population sizes and activity of bats at roosts in remote locations. Maintenance of New Zealand bats in captivity is becoming routine (Sedgeley 1995; Sedgeley & Anderson 1998). The Department of Conservation now has an active bat recovery programme (Molloy 1995). It aims to ensure the perpetuation of all extant bat species and subspecies throughout their present ranges, and where feasible, establish new populations within their historical range. The objectives of the current Recovery Plan are to (1) undertake or promote research on bats, which will assist in their management; (2) evaluate the status of both short-tailed and long-tailed bats; (3) establish populations of short-tailed bats on suitable islands; (4) select, protect and monitor populations of short-tailed and long-tailed bats throughout their geographic range; and (5) raise public awareness of bats and involve the public in bat conservation. Since the publishing of the Recovery Plan, researchers, conservation managers, and members of the public have been involved in following up reports, identifying populations, recording distribution, and locating and monitoring roost sites. New Zealand research provides a contrast to the growing literature on bats from temperate coniferous and deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere. New Zealand bats fit general predictions from wing ecomorphology and echolocation call structure, but in other ways may be different from many Microchiroptera. The results summarised in the following reviews raise questions as to what extent these unusual behaviours are typical of temperate rainforest bats, or how much they are a product of evolution within relatively simple southern rainforests, and as part of a depauperate bat community. The burgeoning of bat research in New Zealand raises more questions and opens new avenues of research every day. The knowledge attained in recent years is providing a solid base against which to test more general theories of bat behaviour, particularly population structure in bats, bats in rainforests, the significance of the tree roosting environment, use of torpor, and reasons for roost site lability. Suborder Microchiroptera In the last ten years only one more species has been recorded New Zealand. An Australian little forest bat (Vespadelus vulturnus) was accidentally imported in a crate of aircraft parts. It was found dead on arrival (O'Donnell 1998). 9. NEW ZEALAND LONG-TAILED BAT Chalinolobus tuberculatus Forster, 1844
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