Description: The species richness of bats is exceeded among mammals only by the rodents. The systematics, biogeography and anatomy of bats have been widely studied, as have some aspects of their behavior, physiology and ecology. Much of the resulting information suggests that they are long-lived, slowly reproducing animals adapted to relatively stable environments. As such they might be expected to exist in communities heavily influenced by biotic interactions. Do bats, indeed, fulfil this expectation? This book begins with an overview of bat biology as it provides insight into the usefulness of bats as a subject for the community ecologist. Included is a synopsis of bat systematic diversity, and a review of methodological problems in bat research. A sampler of bat communities surveys local bat studies from the major biogeographic regions. The evidence bearing upon resource limitation and competition in bats is reviewed. Then patterns in species richness, taxonomic, trophic and morphological diversity, packing and biomass, and numerical density are described, and the relevance of these patterns in addressing the nature of bat communities is examined. It is seen that areas of major habitats and their histories provide powerful predictors of important aspects of bat community structure.

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