DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6bg67
title: Data from: Foraging strategies of generalist and specialist Old World nectar bats in response to temporally variable floral resources

description: Foraging theory predicts that generalist foragers should switch resources
 more readily, while specialist foragers should remain constant to
 preferred food resources. Plant-pollinator interactions provide a
 convenient system to test such predictions because floral resources are
 often temporally patchy, thus requiring long-lived pollinators to switch
 resources seasonally. Furthermore, flowering phenologies range from
 ‘steady-state’ (low-rewarding but highly reliable) to ‘big-bang’
 (high-rewarding but ephemeral) plant species. We assessed how
 nectarivorous Old World bats respond to this temporally variable floral
 environment by examining their diets throughout the year. Over 15 months
 of fieldwork in southern Thailand, we simultaneously: (1) recorded the
 flowering phenologies of six bat-pollinated plant taxa; and (2) assessed
 the diets of seven common flower-visiting bat species. As predicted, the
 generalist nectarivore (Eonycteris spelaea) frequently switched diets and
 utilized both big-bang and steady-state resources, while the specialist
 nectarivores (Macroglossus minimus and M. sobrinus) foraged on one or two
 steady-state plant species year-round. Our results suggest that larger and
 faster bat species are able to fly longer distances in search of big-bang
 resources, while smaller bat species rely on highly predictable food
 resources. This study supports the theory that generalist foragers have
 flexible diets, while specialist species restrict foraging to preferred
 floral resources even when other floral resources are more abundant.
 Moreover, these findings demonstrate how plant flowering phenology and
 pollinator diet breadth can shape the frequency and constancy of
 pollinator visits; we further discuss how such interactions can influence
 the potential extent of gene flow within a patchy floral environment.
description: Pollen carried by nectar
 batsThis file contains data
 about species and number of pollen grains carried by flower-visiting bat
 species in southern Thailand. DATE: date that bat was caught and pollen
 collected; LOCATION: the park at which the bat was caught (KBT- Khao
 Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary, KPKY- Khao Pu Khao Ya National Park, TB- Thale
 Ban National Park, TNC- Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary); TIME: time that
 the bat was caught and pollen collected; ID2: unique identifier given to
 each bat; DIET: whether the bat is strictly nectarivorous
 ("nectar") or also consumes fruit ("fruit"); GENUS:
 genus of the bat individual; SPECIES: species of the bat individual; SEX:
 sex of the bat individual; REPRO: reproductive status of the bat
 individual; MASS: mass of the bat (g); FA: forearm length of the bat (cm);
 aCeiba: number of Ceiba pentandra pollen grains collected from the bat;
 aDurio: number of Durio zibethinus pollen grains collected from the bat;
 aMusa: number of Musa acuminata pollen grains collected from the bat;
 aOroxylum: number of Oroxylum indicum pollen grains collected from the
 bat; aParkia: number of Parkia pollen grains collected from the bat;
 aSonneratia: number of Sonneratia pollen grains collected from the
 bat;BatDiet.csvFlowering phenology of bat-pollinated plants in ThailandThis file contains phenological data of common bat-pollinated plant species in southern Thailand. DATE: date the data was collected; PARK: location where the data was collected (KBT- Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary, KPKY- Khao Pu Khao Ya National Park, TB- Thale Ban National Park, TNC- Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary); SPECIES: plant species (C.pentandra- Ceiba pentandra, D.zibethinus- Durio zibethinus, M.acuminata- Musa acuminata, O.indicum- Oroxylum indicum, P.speciosa- Parkia speciosa, P.timoriana- Parkia timoriana, S.alba- Sonneratia alba, S.caseolaris- Sonneratia caseolaris, S.griffithi- Sonneratia griffithi, S.ovata- Sonneratia ovata); FL: number of trees with flowers, out of 10 randomly selected trees; FR: number of trees with fruits, out of the 10 randomly selected trees; B: number of trees with both fruits and flowers, out of the 10 randomly selected trees; N: number of trees with neither fruits nor flowers, out of the 10 randomly selected trees.FloweringPhenology.csv