Bats Survey In Guangdong And Macau With Diet Composition Of Cynopterus Sphinx And The Analysis Of Sugar Types In Its Foraging Fruits

Bats(Chiroptera),the only nocturnal flying mammal,play an important role in the ecosystem,while its diversities of species and diet are both high in the animal.In recent years,researches on bats in China have been blossomed,however fundamental scientific researches are insufficient and research areas are limited.We hope that comprehensive analysis on bats in different aspects,different scales,and different areas can upgrade basic database in China and even all over the world,thus better protecting bat diversity.Based on several years accumulated data of our team members,1)we analyze the species diversity of bats in Guangdong Province and Macao,and then analyze the distribution pattern of bat species diversity in Guangdong,2)analyze the feeding habits of Cynopterus sphinx in Macao,as well as sugar content and proportion of different fruits eaten by Cynopterus sphinx.Firstly,we conducted field investigations of bats in Guangdong Province based on the roost surveying,nest capturing,and echolocation call recording.At the same time,the indefinite species were identified by DNA barcoding.The method of DNA barcoding to identify species has many advantages,such as simple and convenient,accurate,and no damage,so it is good for bat diversity protection.The results found that there are 60 bat species in Guangdong,belonged to seven families and 24 genus.In these 60 bat species,there are 6 endemic and 5 semi-endemic species of China,and one new record to China(Hypsugo cadornae)and 6 new records to Guangdong.The bat species diversity of Guangdong Province ranks the second in China.We firstly analyzed the distribution pattern of bat species diversity in Guangdong,the results indicated that the bat species diversity in north Guangdong is high,and that in east Guangdong is relative low.The distribution pattern of bat species diversity along the elevational gradient presented high diversity in low elevation,and lower bat diversity in higher elevation.According the results,we found that the distribution pattern of bats in Guangdong is different to other mammals.The reasons might come from several aspects.The niche of bats is more special,and the flight ability of bats is more excellent,also their roost might be far away to their foraging area.So,we should analyze the diversity distribution pattern of bats from different dimensions,such as phylogenetic and functional diversity.Secondly,we conducted field investigation in Macao bats through field observation.The results showed that there are 15 bats species in Macao,which belong to 6 families and 11 genus.We added 5 new records for Macao in these surveys.Although the area of Macao is relative small,the bat species diversity and populations are both relative rich.The relationship between the bats and human is very close.Dealing with the relationship between the conservation of bats and the health of localpeople should be the important work in the future during the reaserch and popular science education.There are two fruit bats(Cynopterus sphinx,Rousettus leschenaultii)in Macao.In order to effectively carry out the protective work to Cynopterus sphinx,and also provide constructive suggestion to replantation in Macao basing on the diet,we analyze the diet composition and seasonal variation of Cynopterus sphinx through the following methods: morphological identifying to the residue in diet,seed in fecal comparing to the specimen,and DNA barcoding.The results showed that Cynopterus sphinx in Macao feeds 23 fruit species and 2 leaves species,and some un-identifying species.The diet of Cynopterus sphinx presents seasonal variation,the leaves were eaten more in their lactation period.Comparing with other areas,the bats of Cynopterus sphinx from near distance have high overlap in their diet composition.The reason to this difference might be the accessibility and quality of the food.The nutritional structure of food might affect importantly to the productive activity of Cynopterus sphinx.Finally,we analyze the sugar composition of fruit eaten by Cynopterus sphinx.The sugar,as main energy substances,plays an important role in the preferring selection during their feeding.Our previous research has showed that Cynopterus sphinx preferred sucrose during the behavioral experiment.In order to test the hypothesis of coevolution between plant eating animals and plant,we analyze the sugar composition of fruit eaten by Cynopterus sphinx.We suppose that the main composition in the fruits should be consistent to the prefere sugar by Cynopterus sphinx,and then guess the main composition should be sucrose.We employed blood glucose meter and spectrophotometer to analyze concentration of different sugar including glucose,fructose and sucrose.Through analysis of sugar concentration of 18 species of fruits,the results indicate that most fruits are mainly monosaccharides(mean value: glucose 3.8g per 100 g,fructose 1.1g per 100g),while disaccharide(sucrose 0.9g per 100g)is relatively low.Statistics analyze indicate that the content of glucose is higher than those of other two sugar,while those of fructose and sucrose in order are not significantly different.These results do not consist to our privous hypothesis.The reason might be that the fruit samples were collected in wrong period,or might be closely tied with high glucose demand in flight.