The Ecology of Urban Plant-Visiting Bats

Many species of bats, including insectivores and those that visit flowers or eat fruit, live in urban environments. In this chapter, I discuss the ecology of urban plant-visitors (PVs) that belong to two families: the New World Phyllostomidae (American leaf-nosed bats) and the Old World Pteropodidae (flying foxes and their relatives). Topics that I discuss include the extent to which city environments act as filters regarding which PV bat species actually live in them, where they roost, and what they eat. In both families, foliage-roosting and fruit-eating PV bats are most likely to live in urban areas. Their diets often include a mixture of native and exotic plant species. I discuss in detail how four PV bat species live in cities, including the Australian Grey-headed flying fox that now lives in two cities outside the range of its native food plants. Many bats, including some PV species, harbor viruses that can be transmitted to humans. Having these bats living in urban areas, therefore, can pose a health risk to humans, especially in Old World tropical areas where bats are often hunted and eaten.