The effects of Hurricane Hugo on bats of the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico

Data on demographic parameters of three commom phyllostomid bats (Artibeus jamaicensis, Stenoderma rufum, Monophyllus redmani) were examined for three years prior and three years after the hurricane. Populations of A. jamaicensis and M. redmani returned to predisturbance levels within two years; levels of S. rufum declined to c30% of prehurricane levels and did not recover after three years. Foraging and home range size expanded to encompass an area approximately five times larger than its prehurricane size. The cost of foraging, in terms of time and energy, may be considerably elevated over prehurricane scenarios. A significant change in the age structure of the population (juvenile individuals have been absent from the population since Hurricane Hugo) as well as significant decline in the percent of reproductively active females indicate a failure to reproduce in the posthurricane environment. -from Authors