The Effects of Hurricane Hugo on Bats of the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Natural disturbances can have large effects on ecosystem structure and function depending on their scale, and frequency. On 18 September 1989 Hurricane Hugo struck Puerto Rico, with the eye of the hurrica within 10 km of the Luquillo Experimental Forest. This provided a rare opportunity to evaluate the eff infrequent but large scale and high intensity disturbance on tropical bat species. Data on demographic p of three common phyllostomid bats (Artibeusjamaicensis, Stenoderma rufum, and Monophyllus redmani) wer for three years prior and three years after the hurricane. Population levels as estimated by captures per ne all three species were affected by Hurricane Hugo. Populations of A. jamaicensis and M. redmani retu predisturbance levels within two years. In contrast, population levels of S. rufum declined to about 30 prehurricane levels and have not recovered after three years. Moreover, telemetry data indicate that fora home range size expanded to encompass an area approximately five times larger than its prehurricane size of foraging, in terms of time and energy, may be considerably elevated over prehurricane scenarios. In fact, a s change in the age structure of the population (juvenile individuals have been absent from the popula Hurricane Hugo) as well as significant decline in the percent of reproductively active females indicate a fa reproduce in the posthurricane environment.