Reproductive Patterns of Bats from Caatingas and Cerrado Biomes in Northeast Brazil

Current ecological hypotheses suggest that annual reproductive patterns in tropical bats are related to rainfall such that individuals avoid weaning their young during the most stressful season of the year. The reproductive status of bats within well delineated populations from Caatingas and Cerrado biomes of Northeast Brazil were monitored over a 20-month period; seven species were captured in sufficient numbers to determine annual reproductive patterns with confidence. Noctilio leporinus exhibited seasonal monestry. Glossophaga soricina, Carollia perspicillata, Vampyrops lineatus, Artibeus jamaicensis, and A. lituratus exhibited seasonal bimodal polyestry. Desmodus rotundus exhibited asynchronous polyestry. Major differences were not detected between Caatingas and Cerrado populations of any species, even though the predictability and total amount of precipitation was different in the two biomes. Most species (N. leporinus, V. lineatus, A. jamaicensis, A. lituratus, C. perspicillata) wean their young primarily during the wet season, whereas G. soricina weans its first litter during the dry season and its second litter during the wet season.