Preliminary Research On The Behavioral Ecology Of Hipposideros Armiger Based On Infrared Monitoring Technology

Behavioral ecology is a new discipline formed by the intersection of ethology and ecology,which mainly concentrates on the ecological and evolutionary significances of animal behaviors,the relationship between animal behaviors and environments,and the behavioral patterns and mechanisms of animal evolutionary adaptation.Chiropterans,commonly called bats,are the second largest group of Mammalia,most of which prey on insects and play an important role in maintaining the natural ecological balance.However,bats are nocturnal creatures that spend most of their lives in the darkness,which brings abundant difficulties for field study.Therefore,there are few literatures on bats'behavioral ecology in China and abroad.In this study,Hipposideros armiger,the largest,most widely distributed and most abundant bat in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Nationalities Autonomous Prefecture and even in the Wuling Mountain Area was selected as the research object.And its ethogram,time budget of each behavior in different periods,and the relationship between activity rhythm and environmental factors were systematically studied by combining Direct Observation Mothed and Infrared Monitoring Technology.The aim was to add new contents to the behavioral ecology of Chiroptera and to provide basic data for the further study of bat's behavior diversity evolution and resources conservation.Hence,the main results are as follows:?1?The behaviors of Hipposideros armiger were divided into 9 types,including feeding behavior,Egestion and excrete behavior,thermo-regulatory behavior,nursing behavior,conflict behavior,communication behavior,aggregation behavior,resting behavior and locomotive behavior.Taking the postures-acts-environments?PAE?as a whole concept,we distinguished and coded 11 kinds of postures,30 actions and 14environments of Hipposideros armiger,and then the 9 types of behaviors were divided into 46 kinds of behaviors.Based on the observation and record of the occurrence of these 46 behaviors,the behavior spectrum of Hipposideros armige based on PAE coding system was initially constructed.?2?The behaviors of Hipposideros armiger were mainly resting behavior,with the non-hibernation average resting time accounting for 39.8%of the total time,followed by locomotive behavior?23.3%?,thermo-regulatory behavior?15.7%?,nursing behavior?11.1%?and other behaviors?10.1%?.In addition,there was a certain difference toward the time allocation of behaviors in different periods,of which was mainly manifested in the parental period,in which the nursing behavior reached 35.8%,followed by the resting behavior?22.3%?,locomotive behavior?17.1%?,thermo-regulatory behavior?12.8%?,and other behaviors?12.0%?.Besides,there was significant difference between resting and locomotive behavior during entering with leaving and habitat in cave periods?P<0.05?,while there was no significant difference in the time allocation of thermo-regulatory behavior,nursing behavior and other behaviors.In a word,there were no significant differences among the behaviors in different periods except for a few behaviors.?3?During the preparation period before breeding and hibernation,there was a rush hour of Hipposideros armiger to leave the cave in the evening and enter the cave at dawn,which were 19:00?20:20 and 4:50?6:20 respectively.However,the rush hour changed during the young-raising period.There were four peak times of entering and leaving the cave,which were 19:30?20:20,21:30?22:30,4:40?5:20,and 6:30?6:30,respectively.In fact,the rush hours of Hipposideros armiger entering and leaving the cave were different through the months.There was no significant difference of leaving between April and July,while there was significant difference between other months.At the same time,there was no significant difference of entering between July and September,no significant difference between April,May,and June,and significant difference between the rest.?4?The cave-out time of the first Hipposideros armiger individual was significantly correlated to the time of the sunset and darkness?P<0.05?,while the first individual's cave-entry time was not significantly correlated to the time of the sunrise and daylight.Furthermore,there was no significant correlation between the number of Hipposideros armiger individual flying out and the air temperature,relative humidity,atmospheric pressure,as well as the concentration of CO₂whether inside or outside the cave during the cave-out time,Simultaneously,there was significant negative correlation between the cave-entry time and the light intensity outside the cave?P<0.05?,but there were significant differences in air temperature,relative humidity,atmospheric pressure,carbon dioxide concentration and light intensity between inside and outside the cave.while significant positive correlation between the daily average number of Hipposideros armiger individual flying out each month and the average air temperature?P<0.05?.