Asaf Tsoar

Mechanisms of long-distance seed dispersal

Growing recognition of the importance of long-distance dispersal (LDD) of plant seeds for various ecological and evolutionary processes has led to an upsurge of research into the mechanisms underlying LDD. We summarize these findings by formulating six generalizations stating that LDD is generally more common in open terrestrial landscapes, and is typically driven by large and migratory animals, extreme meteorological phenomena, ocean currents and human transportation, each transporting a variety of seed morphologies. LDD is often associated with unusual behavior of the standard vector inferred from plant dispersal morphology, or mediated by nonstandard vectors. To advance our understanding of LDD, we advocate a vector-based research approach that identifies the significant LDD vectors and quantifies how environmental conditions modify their actions.

Dynamics of jamming avoidance in echolocating bats.

Animals using active sensing systems such as echolocation or electrolocation may experience interference from the signals of neighbouring conspecifics, which can be offset by a jamming avoidance response (JAR). Here, we report JAR in one echolocating bat (Tadarida teniotis: Molossidae) but not in another (Taphozous perforatus: Emballonuridae) when both flew and foraged with conspecifics. In T. teniotis, JAR consisted of shifts in the dominant frequencies of echolocation calls, enhancing differences among individuals. Larger spectral overlap of signals elicited stronger JAR. Tadarida teniotis showed two types of JAR: (i) for distant conspecifics: a symmetric JAR, with lower– and higher–frequency bats shifting their frequencies downwards and upwards, respectively, on average by the same amount; and (ii) for closer conspecifics: an asymmetric JAR, with only the upper–frequency bat shifting its frequency upwards. In comparison, ‘wave–type’ weakly electric fishes also shift frequencies of discharges in a JAR, but unlike T. teniotis, the shifts are either symmetric in some species or asymmetric in others. We hypothesize that symmetric JAR in T. teniotis serves to avoid jamming and improve echolocation, whereas asymmetric JAR may aid communication by helping to identify and locate conspecifics, thus minimizing chances of mid–air collisions.

Large-scale navigational map in a mammal

Navigation, the ability to reach desired goal locations, is critical for animals and humans. Animal navigation has been studied extensively in birds, insects, and some marine vertebrates and invertebrates, yet we are still far from elucidating the underlying mechanisms in other taxonomic groups, especially mammals. Here we report a systematic study of the mechanisms of long-range mammalian navigation. High-resolution global positioning system tracking of bats was conducted here, which revealed high, fast, and very straight commuting flights of Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) from their cave to remote fruit trees. Bats returned to the same individual trees night after night. When displaced 44 km south, bats homed directly to one of two goal locations—familiar fruit tree or cave—ruling out beaconing, route-following, or path-integration mechanisms. Bats released 84 km south, within a deep natural crater, were initially disoriented (but eventually left the crater toward the home direction and homed successfully), whereas bats released at the crater-edge top homed directly, suggesting navigation guided primarily by distal visual landmarks. Taken together, these results provide evidence for a large-scale “cognitive map” that enables navigation of a mammal within its visually familiar area, and they also demonstrate the ability to home back when translocated outside the visually familiar area.

Data, Sample Sizes and Statistics Affect the Recognition of Species of Bats by Their Echolocation Calls

Identification of bat species based on analysis of echolocation calls can be affected by the way data are manipulated, the diversity of species, and call variability. We document the effects of sample sizes and a priori assignment of calls by species on the outcome of discriminant function analysis (DFA) and multinomial logistic regression (MLR) of features of echolocation calls, and determine which features of calls are most useful for identification. We used recorded echolocation calls of eight species readily distinguishable by call features, including molossids, emballonurids and a moormopid recorded at sites in Belize, Brazil, and Mexico. On individual calls, we measured four features: frequency with most energy, highest and lowest frequencies and call durations obtained from sequences consisting of 10 calls. Cluster analysis and multiple analyses of variance indicated significant differences between the calls of different species. Outcomes of DFA and MLR were affected by both sample sizes (numbers of calls, numbers of sequences) and the subjective approach that researchers take to their data (i.e., categorizing calls or sequences of calls by species). Levels of variation in calls of some species in our sample often precluded the use of single calls in making call-based identifications. Accurate documentation of variability in echolocation behavior of sympatric bats is a prerequisite for an effective sound-based bat survey.