Foraging ecology and organisation of a desert bat fauna

Abstract

Airframe design parameters related to flight performance, stability and control had tight, functionally appropriate relationships with the foraging niches and echolocation parameters of nine species comprising the bat fauna of the Little Sandy Desert, Australia. The airframe parameters segregated into two near-independent groups, one related to microhabitat use, the other to foraging strategy. The structure of the desert's bat fauna is displayed in these terms, and its organisation is compared with the faunas of surrounding regions. A diversity–productivity model of faunal structure is revealed, with an organisation that conforms with the 'specialisation' hypothesis. Clear family-level relationships between phylogeny and foraging ecology imply that ecological specialisations occurred early in the evolution of bats.