Synchronous abortion events in the grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)
Matthew Mo
A * , Jessica Meade B , Janina Price C , Jacquie Maisey C and Justin A. Welbergen B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Biodiversity, Conservation and Science, Saving our Species program, 4 Parramatta Square, 12 Darcy Street, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia.
B Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Richmond, NSW 2751, Australia.
C Northern Tablelands Wildlife Carers, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
Pacific Conservation Biology 29(2) 110-118 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21060
Submitted: 16 September 2021 Accepted: 20 December 2021 Published: 20 January 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Context: The grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) is a vulnerable species endemic to eastern and south-eastern Australia. Environmental stressors are important contributors to physiological stress, leading to synchronous abortions.
Aims: We investigate the possibilities of weather conditions and anthropogenic disturbances contributing to synchronous abortion events in a grey-headed flying-fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) roost.
Methods: We recorded observations of two synchronous abortion events in a flying-fox roost in Tamworth, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, during October 2017 and August 2019.
Key results: Roost searches found ∼200 (October 2017) and 41 (August 2019) foetuses, equating to ∼0.5% and >0.1% of adults present at the time, respectively. Neither event was associated with significantly colder than average temperatures nor hot extremes (>42°C). Synchronous abortions cannot be easily attributed to unusually cold or hot site conditions. However, the surrounding region suffered from rainfall deficiencies, known to cause failure of flowering in diet plants, in the 6 months preceding both abortion events. Notably, no rainfall deficiency occurred in 6 months preceding August 2015 when colony size was also large, and no synchronous abortions occurred.
Conclusions: Natural background rates of abortions are unlikely to explain the abortion events. The 2017 abortion event coincided with intense harassment of flying-foxes using noise agents; thus, it is possible that physiological stress was a contributor. The 2019 abortion event was associated with harassment of lesser intensity but coincided with a severe food shortage throughout surrounding regions.
Implications: While it is not possible to attribute the synchronous abortion events conclusively to a single factor, the results suggest that the combination of chronic physiological stress from food shortage and acute stress from anthropogenic disturbance may have precipitated both synchronous abortion events.
Keywords: abortion, anthropogenic disturbance, bats, environmental stressors, flying-fox roost, foetal loss, Pteropodidae, reproductive failure.
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