Seasonal Influence on Roosting Ecology of Short-Nosed Fruit Bat, Cynopterus sphinx

The current study was conducted to determine the potential impact of microclimate on the roosting ecology of short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx, between plants and building roosts in the Lucknow region. The microclimatic parameters, population, roost preference and roost shifting in both the roosting habitats at regular intervals were analysed. The roost preference was severely affected by extreme summer (46.70 °C) and the average population of plant-roosting bats declined from 46.8 in April to 29.4 in June. The building roosting bat population remained unaffected by the same weather conditions from April (11.1) to June (13.6). However, the population of building-roosting bats increased due to newborn pups. The extreme summer temperature forced the tent-roosting bats to vacate and shift to safer locations such as abandoned buildings/heat-tolerant plant roosts that were not normally inhabited by this species. Thus, C. sphinx is likely to respond to climate changes at plant roosts by migrating to more suitable areas. Therefore, the current study identified the habitat risks associated with roost selection of C. sphinx at high temperatures, and this study suggests further research is required on fruit-bat roost management.