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Part of Global Climate Change, Habitat Fragmentation and the Lesser Long-nosed Bat: What Next?

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Global Climate Change, Habitat Fragmentation,
and the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat: What next?

Megan Healy

An essay of distinction submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
degree of Masters of Environmental Studies
June 2007

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I Introduction ………………….………………………………………………………1
II Lesser Long-Nosed Bats….………………………………………………………....5
III Columnar Cacti and Agave…...……………………………………………..……10
IV Relationship……………………..…………………………………………………13
V Global Climate Change………………………………………….……………...….15
VI Habitat Fragmentation…………………………………….……………………...21
VII Discussion………………………………………………….……………………...27
VIII References……………………………………………………………………….32

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INTRODUCTION
Many issues confront the human community today. Anthropogenic global climate
change is a matter that is boiling to the top of the scientific agenda as we head into the
twenty-first century. Scholarly reports (IPCC 2001, IPCC 2007) and the media that
follows them warn of the consequences, maintaining that the anticipated climate changes
are nearer in the future than most people would like to believe—that in fact these changes
have begun to manifest already. Yet it is hard to sift through this endless stream of media
without becoming numb to the warnings, and it is even more challenging to discern from
among the noise what information requires the most immediate attention and action.
Unfortunately, global climate change is not the only threat to life on this planet. In
addition to growing interest in and concern for global climate change issues, there is an
increasing body of literature that documents the detrimental effects of habitat
fragmentation on non-human species (Aizen and Feinsinger 1994, Aguilar et al. 2006).
Again, this concern is also anthropogenic. Habitat fragmentation, most frequently as a
result of human activities, often restricts access to feeding grounds, mating grounds or
other areas that are essential to the healthy and successful propagation of a species. The
consequences for both plant and animal life are tremendous since human activity now
touches all corners of the globe. Habitat fragmentation is already known to affect certain
species quite disastrously. In the Chaco Dry Forest of Argentina, tree seed production
number and seed quality of plants degraded as habitat patches became smaller and
smaller (Aizen and Feinsinger 1994). As humans extend their reach farther into the
natural world, habitat fragmentation becomes an increasingly greater problem.

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Additionally, anthropogenic global climate change continues to occur and to affect
humans, plants, animals, and the rest of the natural world alike. However, past research
has focused on these issues individually. It is time for a new approach. Many forces act
on the natural world concurrently, and these forces must be examined as they act in
conjunction with each other. As separate and individual forces, global climate change and
habitat fragmentation can influence the health and well-being of many species. Yet,
dovetailing each other, both habitat fragmentation and global climate change exert
powerful forces upon the natural world as parallel forces may cause changes more
powerful than each of their respective individual threats. This paper will examine the
potential effects of global climate change and habitat fragmentation on a migratory
pollinator, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat (Leptonycteris curasoae); specifically how global
climate change and habitat fragmentation may exacerbate the current situation, as well as
discuss what implications this holds for future conservation efforts.
The most appropriate vehicle for assessing the cumulative effects of global
climate change and habitat fragmentation is Leptonycteris curasoae, commonly known as
the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat. This bat was formerly known as both Leptonycteris sanborni
and Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae but its name has since been changed to
Leptonycteris curasoae. This bat possesses several characteristics that make it ideal for
such a study. To begin with, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat has a wide range of habitat,
stretching from Southwest United States to Southern Mexico. Leptonycteris curasoae is a
migratory mammal. Thus, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat will make an interesting case
analyzing the health and vitality of migratory populations around global climate change

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and how this may be related to the bat’s migratory behaviors. The choice of Leptonycteris
curasoae as a study subject also serves as an ideal demonstration of how climate change
and habitat fragmentation affects a species that had a wide range. In addition, the Lesser
Long-Nosed Bat has some degree of a symbiotic relationship with Agaves and several
species of columnar cacti: Leptonycteris curasoae feeds upon several species of Agaves
and columnar cacti. The reciprocal is true as well—the cacti and agaves depend heavily
on the Lesser Long-Nosed Bats for pollination and seed dispersal, forming a relationship
that is mutualistic in nature; that is, both species benefit from this relationship. Pollinators
are very important in the ecological web; they are the key to reproductive success in
plants and our food supply depends heavily on them. Thus, there may be parallels in the
relationship between the bat and cacti that can be drawn to other pollinators that
ultimately may help us conserve them and their important functions. Bats, generally
speaking, also have other qualities that make their study instrumental in understanding
the impact of global climate change; worldwide, the species richness of bats is exceeded
among mammals only by rodents (Scheel et al. 1996). Therefore, findings surrounding
one species of bat may have global as well as local implications. Last, but certainly not
least, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat is listed as an endangered species (Shull 1988). For this
reason, it is extremely important that the best conservation efforts are made
immediately—time is limited. I have chosen this bat as a study subject and am confident
that it is an appropriate model for the combined effects of climate change and habitat
fragmentation; L. curasoae’s characteristics make it ideal: this bat is a pollinator,
migratory, and endangered, and bats in general are prolific and found ubiquitously around

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the world. The combined effects of habitat and global climate change will present strong
challenges for this bat and for other species. I believe that the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, as
both a pollinator and a migratory species is an exemplary model of these effects, and will
demonstrate, through careful evaluation, the places where this species and many others
will be most profoundly affected. A thorough evaluation will also elucidate important
aims for conservation. Now is the time and the place where it is imperative to take an
active and collaborative stance in protecting our collective futures.

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THE LESSER LONG-NOSED BAT
Leptonycteris curasoae is a cave-dwelling bat which inhabits much of the
Southwestern United States and Mexico. The Lesser Long-Nosed Bat is a member of the
Phyllostimidae family, the leaf-nosed bats, and can live for as long as ten years (Fleming
1988). This bat has a wingspan of approximately 380 mm; it is a large bat with a long
nose, no tail, and is gray to reddish brown in color (Barbour and Davis 1969). Lesser
Long-Nosed Bats (L. curasoae) live in much of Mexico and the southwestern United
States, particularly Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California. Leptonycteris
curasoae associate with several climate types including tropical dry forest, thorn forest,
or desert vegetation in Mexico (Arita and Prado 1999). The Lesser Long-Nosed Bat
depends heavily on caves for maternity roosting and day roosting sites.
The diet of L. curasoae consists of primarily of two plants families; Cactaceae
and Agavaceae; however, the same bats in their tropical and subtropical areas of their
range enjoy a much broader variety of plant families in their diet. (Penalba et al. 2006).
The Cataceae family includes columnar cacti, specifically organ pipe (Stenocereus
thurburi), saguaro (Carneigiea gigantea), and cardon (Pachycereus pringlei), while
Agavaceae includes agave plants such as Palmer’s agave (Agave palmeri). Lesser LongNosed Bats depend almost exclusively on nectar, pollen, and fruit (Gentry 1982) from
these plants. A study done by Ober et al. (2005) concluded that both dead and live
inflorescences (flowering stalks) may function as a visual cue to resource abundance for
bats.

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Availability of agave nectar varies spatially and temporally, which in turn
influences the behavior of nectar-feeding bats (Ober et al. 2005), which will be discussed
in more detail later. They may also feed on ripe cactus fruits at the end of the flowering
season (Arizona Game and Fish 2003). In central Mexico and Venezuela, columnar cacti
provide bats with nectar and pollen from flowers and/or fruits for a period of almost 5 to
7 months. (Valiente-Banuet et al. 1996). Later in the year agaves help maintain bat
populations (Gentry 1982).
Individual bats may land on a panicle of flowers to feed or they may bury their
snout in a flower and rapidly lap up nectar while hovering in front of it. After feeding, the
bats return to their night roosts and groom themselves to remove pollen stuck to their fur.
The ingested pollen provides proteins and other nutrients not obtainable in nectar.
(Arizona Game and Fish 2003).The small size of nectarivorous bats may be related to
energetic constraints associated with their diet and foraging behavior. Most nectarfeeding phyllostomids can hover while feeding on pollen and nectar of flowers—a
behavior that would be energetically too expensive for larger bats (Norberg 1994). Flight
entails a high energetic cost and so these animals must obtain large quantities of food by
either visiting many plants or by efficiently locating plants with high energy rewards
(Heinrich 1975).
The migrational patterns of L. curasoae have been debated in literature. Some
literature concludes that Northern populations have differing migrational patterns from
Southern populations; capture records indicate that populations of Leptonycteris curasoae
may be resident year-round at latitudes below 21°N where resources are available

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through the year and migratory at latitudes above 28°N where resources are seasonally
available (Kearns et al, 1998). Fleming et al. (1993) support this idea further by
demonstrating in their research that some northern populations of Leptonycteris
curasoae migrate south during winter while others are year-round residents in California,
since plants there provide the bats with a temporarily predictable nectar supply. In those
populations that do migrate, the northward migration is thought to follow the sequential
blooming of certain flowers from south to north. (Arizona Game and Fish 2003) Several
studies have argued that if bats such as L. curasoae depend primarily on the food
provided by agaves and cacti, then they are forced to migrate annually following the
flowering of the preferred plants and ultimately co-evolve spatially and temporally with a
complex of flowers from Arizona to Central America (Fleming et al. 1993). Other studies
have demonstrated similar patterns and associations: Penalba et al. (2006) have shown
that L. curasoae is a seasonal resident in the Guayamas area, occupying this area for
about four months. The seasonal occupation coincides with flowering and fruiting times
of three columnar cacti: Carnegiea gigantean, Pachycereus pringlei and Stenocereus
thurberi (Penalba et al. 2006)
August and September is an energetically demanding time in the life cycle of
Leptonycteris curasoae because it falls just before the bats begin their southward
migration in late September (Ober et al. 2005). Population studies done by Penalba et al
(2006) suggest that seasonal occupations by L. curasoae populations in the Guayamas
area are driven by the availability of fruits and flowers in the area. Leptonycteris bats are
thus heavily influenced by the availability of fruit, nectar, and pollen in the columnar

8
cacti and agaves; to the point where they will migrate long distances to ensure food
security.
The availability of food resources, however, is not the only factor that affects
the movement of the Lesser Long-Nosed Bats. In Arizona, female bats arrive pregnant in
early April and join other females in maternity colonies. These maternity colonies may
have up to 1000 bats present. Males also form colonies, but they are separate from the
female colonies and are much smaller in size. One young is born per female for year,
during the month of May. (Arizona Game and Fish 2003). From April through July,
these females are committed to raising their young until July. By late July, Leptonycteris
curasoae is on the move again to higher elevations (Arizona Game and Fish 2003). By
September these same bats have moved on to Mexico where they spend the winter
(Arizona Game and Fish 2003). One of the most striking aspects of the foraging behavior
of this bat are commuting flights on average of 98 kilometers (Horner et al. 1998)
Lesser Long-Nosed Bats were listed as endangered in the United States in 1988
(Shull 1988, USFWS 1995) and there are several aspects of their life histories and niches
that make them especially susceptible to damage. On a global scale, bats are being
threatened by the modification and loss of foraging habitats and roosts (Culver 1986).
Some features of threatened nectar-feeding bats such as migratory behavior and caveroosting make them more susceptible to environmental change and human disturbance
(Penalba et al. 2006). Furthermore, Arita (1999) presented data that indicates that this
species is more widely distributed and locally abundant than ten other species of nectar
feeding bats in Mexico, but it that it remains vulnerable because it is so highly

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aggregated [emphasis mine]—it is only one of two cave roosting species that regularly
occur in colonies of greater than 200 individuals (Nabhan and Fleming 1993).

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COLUMNAR CACTI AND AGAVE
Leptonycteris curasoae has a distinct relationship with several columnar cacti
and agave species in the Sonoran Desert Area: specifically cardon (Pachycereus pringlei)
saguaro (Carnegia gigantean) organ pipe (Stenocereus thurberi) and agave (Agave
palmeri). The Lesser Long-Nosed Bats will also feed on members of other plant families
but the columnar cacti and agaves are the most predominant (Penalba et al. 2006)
Agave palmeri is a monocarpic succulent that takes several decades to mature.
Each flowering agave produces a single inflorescence that can grow up to seven meters
and can remain standing for several years after flowering (Howell and Roth 1981).
Flowers of agave are particularly well structured for producing and containing nectar.
These bats also feed on flowers other than agave, but certain structures of the latter are
notably co-adaptive with bats; e.g. abundance of nectar in a strongly scented mass in
individual cuplets held erect by geotropic flowers. Qualities of the Ditepalae group (to
which A. palmeri belongs) which make this plant particularly hospitable to bats includes
short, tough leathery tepals which are well structured to support clambering bats while
protecting the nectar holding tubes. Such structures and functions in disparate organisms
can develop only over long periods of time and indicate adaptive co-evolution. All of the
Ditepalae are freely seeding outbreeders, several appearing self-sterile and relying little
on vegetative reproduction. Rosettes are generally single, 5-12 dm tall, 10-12 dm broad,
leaves are rigid, thick at the base, pale green to light glaucous (whitened with a waxy

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coating over the epidermis) green or reddish tinges, panicle deep, broad 3-5 meters tall,
and flowers are 45-55 mm long, narrow, pale greenish yellow to waxy white, reddish in
the bud. Agave palmeri and other agaves in the Ditepalae group are characteristic plants
of the oaked woodland and grama grassland communities at altitudes between 3000 and
6000 feet. A smaller form occurs in northern Sonora in somewhat lower elevations on the
rocky brush slows and comprises the west segment of the species. Agave palmeri flowers
in June and July. The sturdy erect flowers are structurally well suited for cooperation
with the bat visitors whose flock landing habits appear to determine in some degree the
scattered colonial nature of the A. palmeri distribution. These plants are found in southern
Arizona, New Mexico as well as Mexico. (Gentry 1982).
Bat-pollinated columnar cacti are the main floristic component of the different
arid and semi-arid vegetation types in Mexico as well as being the dominant component
of Mexican vegetation (Valiente-Banuet et al 1996). The flowers of the columnar cacti
are large and robust in build. They open at night, are light in color, and they produce
generous amounts of pollen (Fleming et al. 1996). Some columnar cacti can produce
seeds when flowers are fertilized with pollen from adjacent branches of the same
individual (MacGregor et al. 1962) but the number of seeds produced in this way is
significantly lower than seeds produced by cross pollination (Valiente-Banuet et al 1996).
The root systems of agave and columnar cacti tend to run very shallow in porous and
sandy soils—this is ideal, as typical light rainfalls that characterize this climate do not
wet the soil deeply. Various columnar cacti (including saguaro) have one or more roots
that penetrate deeper into the soil (Nobel 1994). Carnegiea gigantea (saguaro) has an

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average life-span of 125-175 years and a potential life span of almost 300 years (Pierson
and Turner 1998). Pierson and Turner (1998) found that Saguaro populations in Tucson,
Arizona experience multi-decadal fluctuations. Currently the saguaro population is in a
declining state. This study found that better regeneration tends to correspond with
relatively wet conditions, and poor regeneration likewise with dryer conditions.
McGregor et al (1962) demonstrated that saguaro is self-incompatible and that it is
effectively pollinated by Leptonycteris bats.

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RELATIONSHIP
It is of fundamental importance to understand the relationship that has developed
between Leptonycteris curasoae and the columnar cacti and agaves. This relationship is
best classified as mutualistic—both the columnar cacti, agaves, and the Lesser LongNosed Bat ultimately benefit as a result of the interaction. The cacti and agaves provide
food for this bat: L. curasoae is both a nectarivorous (nectar-feeding) and frugivorous
(fruit-eating) bat. Nectarivorous bat species play two important ecological roles for cacti:
seed dispersal and pollination (Valiente-Banuet et al. 1996). The bat inadvertently
pollinates the cacti as a result of eating off of the flowers or fruit. The bats drop many
seeds under their tree roosts to as they feed, thus bat feeding behavior may ultimately
assist seedling recruitment (Godinez-Alvarez and Valiente-Banuet 2000). In Baho Kino,
Sonora, Mexico, Fleming et al. (1996) demonstrated that bats are the most important
pollinators of cardon cacti. Leptonycteris bats are likely to be more effective pollinators
on a per-visit basis than most species of birds and bees because of the way that bats
plunge their faces deeply into the flower as they feed; they become heavily dusted with
pollen in a single visit. The morphology of Leptonycteris curasoae bats is specialized
and this makes this bat a highly effective pollinator which ultimately is important in the
greater ecosystem—the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat is profoundly affecting the reproductive
success of any plant upon which it feeds. The cacti on the other hand are specialized to
bats in that the flowers are open at all night, giving the bats an advantage as a primary
night time feeder. This relationship demonstrates that both the bats and cacti/agave plants
require the presence of the other species to subsist and maintain healthy populations

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(Fleming et al. 1993). In addition to night time flowering, the cacti have adapted to the
bats in another way that promotes effective pollination of the cacti flowers and yet limits
competition between the different varieties of cacti. In Baho Kino, Sonora, the flowering
peaks of the three species of cacti are displaced from one another; Pachycereus pringlei
is the earliest blooming species and Stenocereus thurberi is the latest. Flowering peaks of
these two species coincide with peak number of migrant bats (Fleming 1993). The
natural history knowledge of pollination gained over the last several centuries shows that
animal-mediated pollination is essential for the sexual reproduction of most higher plants
(Kearns et al. 1998).

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GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ANALYSIS

Anthropogenic global climate change is not just a threat anymore—it’s a
reality. Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) working group
II concluded that recent warming is strongly affecting terrestrial biological systems,
including such changes as earlier timing of spring events, such as leaf-unfolding, bird
migration and egg-laying (2007). Also predicted were poleward and upward shifts in
ranges of plant and animal species. Furthermore, the IPCC studies show that projected
impacts of climate change can vary greatly due to other factors, such as differences in
regional populations, income and technological developments, all of which strongly
determine the level of vulnerability to climate change (2007). Analysis of a new set of
regional temperature data from the Sonoran Desert show widespread warming trends
during winter and spring, decreased frequency of freezing temperatures, lengthening of
the freeze-free season, and increased minimum temperature per winter year in the
Sonoran Desert. These changes are attributed more to human-induced global warming
attributed than other influences such as local land use or multi-decadal modes of
fluctuation in the global climate system. Given that freezing temperatures strongly
influence Sonoran Desert vegetation and that human dominated global warming is
expected to continue at a faster rate throughout the 21st century, these results suggest that
the overall boundary of the Sonoran Desert may contract in the south-east and expand
northward, eastward and upward in elevation. Changes to distributions of plant species

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within and other characteristics of Sonoran Desert ecosystems are also predicted.
Potential trajectories of vegetation change in the Sonoran Desert region will be affected
by changes in warm season precipitation and fire regimes, both of which are uncertain
(Weiss et al. 2005). As cacti, agaves and Lesser Long-Nosed Bats all occupy the
Sonoran Desert, this is sure to have an effect on these species. The timing and
occurrence of extreme storm and precipitation events may be difficult to predict, but it is
not difficult to foresee how these events will affect the cacti. In 1982, strong winds
(>100mph), preceded by heavy rains, toppled more than 140 saguaros within a 15-ha area
resulting in a dramatic mortality event (Pierson and Turner 1998). The rains lessened the
plants ability to hold ground (Pierson and Turner 1998) and the plants were lost. This
demonstrates that the cacti are indeed very vulnerable to extreme weather events, which
could be caused by and is predicted to occur as part of global climate change.
Bats are sure to be affected by anthropogenic climate change, regardless of the
particular climate that they may inhabit. For example, changes in population structure due
to climate change have already been documented in certain bat species in the Monteverde
Cloud Forest (MCF) in Costa Rica. In the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Pounds et al. (1999)
found that the frequency of MCF dry season mist had decreased, average altitude base of
the orographic cloud bank had risen and mean minimum temperatures have increase
about 2 °C from the 1970s to present. Also, a 2°C due to climate change in Monteverde
Cloud Forest is roughly equivalent to the temperature change resulting from a 400m
difference in elevation. Low-land bat species are thus able to colonize higher elevations
because the small change in climate now allows them to do so effectively, while

17
remaining within their temperature and climate boundaries, creating an area in the higher
elevations with increased species richness (LaVal 2004). This could be beneficial for the
time being, but it is possible that over time too many species will lead to competition for
resources and overcrowding. Scheel et al (1996) predicted that bats in Texas would
respond to changes in climate and vegetation with movement and changes in the
geographic extent of species ranges, much like the research of LaVal (2004). However,
Scheel et al (1996) notes that in the face of movement of suitable vegetation away from
geographically fixed roosts, as well as climate induced shifts in roost microclimate,
cavity-roosting bats—particularly hibernating bats, may be adversely affected by climate
change (Scheel et al, 1996).
It has been demonstrated thus far that bats can be affected by climate change
directly, such as with an upward move in elevation (LaVal 2004), but bats can also be
affected more indirectly, by way of vegetation and other notable features of their habitats.
Any climate change that affects the vegetation that is the food source of bats will push the
bats to change with their food source, or change food sources—but they must adapt in
some way shape or form. Because of the dependence of some bats on vegetation for
roosts, this may be particularly true if the physiognomy of vegetation changes (Scheel et
al, 1996). As previously noted though, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat also depends on this
vegetation for food resources. In a study comparing recruitment and various climate
factors, Pierson and Turner (1998) also found that low recruitment in one area of study
may be caused by large seasonal temperature and moisture extremes. Pierson and Turner
(1998) concluded that saguaro recruitment surges do not always coincide with favorably

18
wet climatic conditions which suggests that there are other climatic conditions affecting
recruitment success. High rainfall intensity (i.e. notable flood years) may be one factor.
Subsequent droughts and severe winters may further decouple regeneration and
moisture conditions. High mortality rates among seedlings, which are extremely drought
and frost sensitive, may mask high recruitment rates for many years both preceding and
following such events (Pierson and Turner 1998). The effects of global climate change
may indeed be more subtle and complex than they appear at first glance. Highly variable
and extreme conditions may exacerbate conditions so that seedling recruitment cannot
effectively take place.
Another way in which vegetation may be affected by global climate change is by
way of changing fire regimes. Johnson (2001) studied the effects of burning on plots with
A. palmeri. Her results indicate that one year past fire, mortality was low in all treatments
and recruitment was higher on augmented and burned plots than on unburned plots.
However, two years post fire, mortality of small A. palmeri was associated more strongly
with rainfall than with fire treatment, while mortality of larger height classes exhibited a
delayed response to fires; increasing numbers of large A. palmeri were found dead on
burned and fuel augmented plots. Environmental factors played a role in the survivorship
of new recruits. This could be abnormally high or low seasonal temperature, decrease in
yearly precipitation or an increase in parasites. (Johnson 2001). Apparently, post-fire
recovery of A. palmeri populations and survivorship of recruits depends on
environmental conditions following fires. Johnson (2001) also indicated that greater fuel
amount near A. palmeri can cause greater mortality in all height classes.

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In Texas, predicted climate change by itself does not appear to present a great
threat to species richness of bats in Texas. Species richness may in fact increase
substantially through expansion of species ranged both with Texas and into Texas from
Mexico. Sufficient bat populations, caves, forest stands and other roost types must remain
available however, to allow bats to respond to their changing world (Scheel et al. 1996—
emphasis mine). Bats that depend on fixed roosts for hibernacula or maternity shelters
may be particularly sensitive to climate change that shifts foraging habitat (vegetation
associations) away from these roosts; cave roosting bats face a particular difficulty
because preferred vegetation moves, whereas roosts remain fixed (Scheel et al 1996). In
desert areas many plants and animals already live at their tolerance limits, and may be
unable to survive under hotter conditions (US EPA Arizona Report). Therefore, any
drastic changes to the life patterns of the bat may be changes that the Lesser Long-Nosed
bat is unable to accommodate because it is already living quite close to a threshold.
In a recent study addressing heterospecific pollination due to early flowering,
Fleming (2006) found that early flowering should be selected against because it is
detrimental to the reproductive success of the cacti: most populations do not regularly
experience heterospecific pollination but when organ pipe, for example, are pollinated in
this manner they produce fruits that are sterile. Because most of its geographic range in
Sonora, Mexico, and southern Arizona occurs outside of the range of cardon, however,
may populations of organ pipe probably do not regularly experience heterospecific
pollination and early flowering will not necessarily be selected against (Fleming 2006) If
global climate change alters when the flowers open, so that several species may be

20
opening concurrently, the chances for higher rates of interspecific pollination, and
ultimately sterile seed production are possible. This would be detrimental to the columnar
cacti and its reproductive advantage.

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HABITAT FRAGMENTATION

Habitat fragmentation is another serious threat to many species, the Lesser LongNosed Bat being no exception to this. Habitat fragmentation has two salient features to it:
reduction in total habitat area (which primarily affects population sizes and thus
extinction rates) and the redistribution of the remaining area into smaller isolated
fragments (which primarily affects dispersal and thus immigration rates) (Wilcove, et al.
1986). Habitat fragmentation can lead to extinction, as clarified by Wilcove et al. (1986);
mechanisms of extinction include home range size (too small), loss of habitat
heterogeneity (individual fragments may lack the full range of habitats found in the
original block, fragmentation limits species ability to move between habitats), effects of
habitats surrounding fragments (new species, nest predation), edge effects (considering
the width of such edge effects), and secondary extinctions (fragmentation affects one
population which has an effect on another population that species one may regulate, for
example). Of a particular concern is an Allee effect—a threshold density, population size,
or combination thereof, below which pollinators no longer visit flowers (Kearns 1998).
As human populations grow and expand, habitat fragmentation is a problem that
affects many different species. Columnar cacti and agave are no such exceptions to this
phenomenon and are being affected by habitat fragmentation in ways that not only
compromise the health and vitality of the plants, but also the pollinators, such as L.
curasoae, that depend on them. When there are fewer available flowering plants and
more space between those plants to feed the bats, they must spend more time foraging

22
and less time resting. Moreover a greater number of bats may need to feed at each plant,
potentially reducing resources. One study found that bats experienced increased energetic
demands the year food abundance was relatively low (Ober et al 2005). The converse is
also true: Because areas rich in food resources one night are likely to be rich the
following night, bats that located a sufficient food source eliminated the energy
expenditure that searching for new plants would require by returning to the same area on
subsequent nights (Ober et al. 2005). The availability of food not only affects the day to
day survival of the species but also influences its ability to migrate. A lack of food would
make migration very strenuous for the bats; a continual supply of blooming plants (a
nectar trail) must occur along the migratory path to guarantee viability of bats (Fleming
1996) and any local change in the environmental that affects flowering of plants could
disrupt the entire process. Additionally, migratory movements are related to reproductive
activity in long-nosed bats. In Lesser Long-Nosed Bats, pregnant females travel to give
birth in caves in Sonora and Arizona (Cockrum 1991). Thus not only are the migratory
patterns disrupted, but this in turn affects the reproductive processes of the bats, which
easily could affect the reproductive success of the bats.
Another consequence of habitat fragmentation from development is the
introduction of invasive plant species, some of which can take root in disturbed areas
more easily. Invasive exotic species transform the natural fire regime to one of periodic
fires with higher intensities that many native plant species cannot survive (Weiss et al.
2005). Additionally, Alford (2001) found an upward trend in the number of fires had
occurred in the past 45 years in the Sonoran Desert, consistent with an increase in

23
population of Maricopa County and an increase in traffic along major Sonoran Desert
highways within Tonto National Forest; he also found that traffic and three winter’s
precipitation had the strongest coefficients in predicting the number of fires in the
Sonoran Desert because precipitation and temperature govern the amount of vegetation
that is produced and the moisture content of the fuels. Herbaceous vegetation that grows
after heavier winter precipitation will cure with hot and dry conditions during the late
spring and will form dense stands that extend from shoulders of highways into the native
plant communities (Alford 2001). Highways provide an ignition source from sparks
created by vehicles and fire often spreads from roads into the Sonoran Desert (Alford
2001). Also very important to note is that native Sonoran Desert plants lack fire adapted
characteristics indicating that recurring fires were not significant in the long term
ecological history of the Sonoran Desert (Humphrey 1974). What this means is that the
Sonoran Desert native plant community is not adapted to fires naturally, and may not fare
well if fires become an increased occurrence in the Sonoran Desert ecosystem.
Another threat for the Lesser Long-Nosed Bats surrounds their cave roosting
behavior. Most Mexican nectar feeding bats roost in caves and cave-dwelling bats face
particular hazards associated with their roosting sites that do not affect species that use
other types of roosts (Culver 1986). Ecological attributes of glossophagines suggest that
species in this tribe might be more susceptible to extinction than other neo-tropical bats.
Specialists tend to be more vulnerable to extinction than generalists. Leptonycteris bats
are effective pollinators of the three species of Sonoran desert columnar cacti: cardon and
organ pipe species, the two most bat dependant species, are falling below their

24
reproductive potential possibly as a result of bat scarcity (Fleming et al. 1996). If the
isolation of fragmented populations became greater than the foraging range of pollinators,
if the local pollinator population becomes small enough or if wide ranging pollinators
avoid small populations, the outcome may be reduced pollination services (Kearns 1998).
Such apparent declines in fruit set of bat-pollinated plants may not immediately affect the
population structure of long-lived cactus and agave species, for which recruitment occurs
only a few years per century from less than one in ten thousand seeds produced. But, it is
clear that local (and possible temporary) reductions in the abundance of nectar-feeding
bats can strongly affect seed set in coevolved plants. While Leptonycteris curasoae and
its food plants may not be globally endangered, this mutualism provides and excellent
model for refining methodologies that can help monitor and conserve other perhaps more
vulnerable mutualistic relations as well. (Fleming and Nabhan 1993).
Research done by Queseda et al (2004) studied several species of bats and
associate trees in the Bombacaceae family. Using three species from the Bombacaceae
family found in Pacific Mexico, Queseda et al (2004) recorded bat activity around these
plants in both forested and fragmented areas. What they found was indeed very revealing:
Leptonycteris curasoae visited one species of Bombacaceous flower significantly more
frequently in fragmented habitat that in forested habitat. In another Bombacaceous
species, the opposite was true; Leptonycteris curasoae visited the forested habitat flowers
significantly more than those in the fragmented patches. In the third species, it was near
the same. At first glance, it appears that the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat is not adversely
affected by habitat fragmentation in these fragmentation observations. However, although

25
bats visited C. aesculfolia more frequently in fragmented habitat than in continuous
forest, they may not be moving pollen between fragments as well as in forests, given that
trees in fragments are spatially isolated (Queseda et al 2004). The reproductive success of
the trees involved in the pollination are most directly affected by the fragments—they are
not getting the same genetic variety and same reproductive potential and success being
isolated from each other, even though they are pollinated often times more frequently by
Leptonycteris curasoae. This has no immediate effect on the bat itself, but in the future
could make food scarcer for the bat, as flowers become increasingly isolated and food
sources become more limited. Additionally, it is likely that the main refuge and resources
for some of the bat species come from the continuous forest and that the elimination of
this forest would negatively reduce the bat pollinators that were observed in the
fragments (Queseda et al 2004).
Aguilar et al. (2006) found that sexual reproduction of flowering plants is
negatively affected by habitat fragmentation. In addition, this outcome occurred
regardless of the type of habitat, ecological or life history trait involved in the study, with
one exception: whether the flowering species was self-compatible or self-incompatible.
Aguilar et al (2006) also found that the mean effect of habitat fragmentation on selfcompatible species was near zero, whereas the mean effect of on self-incompatible
species was large and negative, due to the need from self-incompatible species to receive
pollen from conspecific individuals which makes them highly dependant on pollinators
for reproductive success.
Pierson and Tuner (1998) noted that land use practices including grazing,

26
woodcutting, and rock removal all damage young seedlings and reduces the number of
germination sites because soil becomes compacted and the number of nurse plants
becomes reduced. Specifically in Saguaro National Park East in Tucson, Arizona,
livestock grazing and woodcutting are believed to be the culprit responsible for a long
decline is saguaro recruitment (Pierson and Turner 1998).
A widespread problem, and one that has no easy answer, is human visitations
to caves. The effect of human visitation on cave faunas ranges from obvious cases where
youth groups amuse themselves by clubbing bats to death in caves, to what appear to be
totally innocuous visits to a cave by a conservation minded caver (Culver 1986). Cave
entrances are vulnerable to closure as land use patterns change. Entrances are bulldozed
shut in housing developments, roads and other construction activities. This is not merely
a question of cutting off access to human visitation; it also profoundly affects the cave
fauna. It is certainly the case for bats. An entrance closure will affect air circulation
patterns and alter temperature patterns (Culver 1986). There is reason to expect that
climate change will affect microclimate in caves and crevices because internal cave
temperature responds to both mean annual surface temperature and seasonal variation in
surface-air temperature (Richter et al 1993). This highly gregarious species is found
principally roosting in caves within undisturbed areas, which makes it vulnerable to
human disturbance (Stoner et al 2003).

27
DISCUSSION
This paper examined the combined outcomes of global climate change and
habitat fragmentation on the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, Leptonycteris curasoae, a
migratory and pollinating bat species found in the Southwestern United States and
Northern Mexico. Using Leptonycteris curasoae as a model for illuminating the
combined effects of global climate change and habitat fragmentation, I concluded that
there are several specific areas in which the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat is exceptionally
vulnerable. Throughout this explanation, it is important to bear in mind the key
relationship between the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat and Columnar cacti and Agaves which
must be recognized as fundamentally important in the reproductive success of both the
bat and the cacti and also that this species of bat is federally listed as endangered (Shull
1988).
Global climate change may change the natural boundaries of Leptonycteris
curasoae’s preferred habitat by altering fire regimes, base temperatures, precipitation
patterns and events, and/or altering phenology of vegetation flowering. Given that habitat
fragmentation already imposes uncomfortable boundaries on the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat
by way of spatial isolation from food resources, increased occurrences of fires,
inadequate pollination of cacti and agave flowers, and human mediated destruction of
cave-roosting areas, all of which ultimately can make migration and reproduction more
challenging and energetically demanding, global climate change induced redistributions
could add strain to this already delicate balance between bats and respective habitats.
Another important finding of this study reveals that changing phenologies of

28
columnar cacti and agaves flowering caused by global climate change will have a
significant impact on the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, both directly and indirectly. First and
foremost, changing phenologies, such as earlier blooming, will spatially alter the course
of Leptonycteris curasoae’s migrational path, as the bats follow a trail of food resources.
Additionally, global climate change may change the boundaries of the Sonoran desert, a
major locale for these bats. If this occurs, cave roosting sites (which are unmovable) may
be located inconveniently to the new boundaries of the vegetation or additionally to their
food resources trail, which may gradually shift with boundary changes. Thus, the Lesser
Long-Nosed Bats may find that the available number of cave roosts has changed—
potentially there could be more available as habitat boundary changes, but it is equally
likely that there will be less available. Changing phenologies may also facilitate another
problem among the cacti. Most of the cacti do not bloom synchronistically so that the
flowers are not always competing for bat pollination (Penalba et al. 2006). Furthermore,
many of the cacti species are self-incompatible—that is they require bats for successful
pollination. An earlier study found that when plants bloomed “out of turn”, multiple
species were being pollinated with pollen form another species, in this case cross
pollination study and fruit sets were formed from this cross pollination but the fruit was
sterile (Fleming 2006). Changing flowering phenology of the desert cacti may cause them
to fruit unsuccessfully and not reproduce properly, ultimately influencing the next
generation of available flower resources for the bats. This may not be an immediate
effect, but a profound one nonetheless.
Another area of extreme impact is habitat fires. The frequency of habitat fires

29
has increased as a result of habitat fragmentation and additionally these fires are
predicted to increase with frequency because of the buildup of fuel from increased
precipitation due to global climate change. A change in fire regimes could be detrimental
for the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat as it may irreversibly damage the cacti and agaves on
which this bat depends.
This analysis leaves us with a clearer sense of conservation aims. As the only
flying mammals, bats may have more flexibility than other mammalian taxa to relocate as
a response to climate change (Scheel et al., 1996). However, the Lesser Long-Nosed bat
was federally listed as endangered (Shull 1988) and this infers that the bat population was
already struggling substantially. Some features associated with their mutualistic
interaction such as dietary specialization, association with dry tropical areas, small body
size and dependence on caves as roosts make nectar-feeding bats more vulnerable to
extinction than other chiropteran species (Arita and Santos del Prado 1999). These bats
would then be increasingly likely be impacted immediately and severely by global
climate change in addition to habitat fragmentation. Given that bats are a geographically
abundant mammal, the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat may serve as a model for the conservation
of other bat species and illustrating the fundamental importance of the plant-pollinator
relationship that is often undervalued in conservation efforts.
Conservation for bats typically provides detailed plans for the protection of
roost structures but leaves out strategies for protecting food resources; a plan that
encompasses relationships between foraging areas and roost sites will increase the overall
efficacy of the conservation plan (Ober et al. 2005). The Lesser Long-Nosed Bat

30
Recovery Plan from the USFWS points out that maternity roosts and other roosts are
under protection in Arizona and Mexico, but food plants such as columnar cacti and
Agave are under some protection in Arizona but not in Mexico (Fleming 1994).
Moreover, abundance of food resources and presence of night roosts were important
determinants of space use for Lesser Long-Nosed Bats suggesting that both of these
resources as well and their spatial arrangement need to be considered when developing
management strategies for this endangered species (Ober et al. 2005). Penalba et al
(2006) also stress the importance of protecting the availability of food resources in
migratory paths as necessary for conservation. It is not only essential to protect food
resources, and roosting sites, but to understand their spatial arrangement as well.
Potential negative consequences for substandard food availability of A. palmeri, for
example, could increase energy demands of bats, forcing them to commute farther for
food resources, or to roost in substandard roosts, or to induce a higher level of
competition between bats at remaining plants (Ober et al. 2005). Ober et al. (2005) goes
as far to say that human uses of lands should be restricted when flowering rates fall below
a certain threshold to ensure bat success. Kearns et al. (1998) emphasizes this point
further to say that the best conservation strategy requires information about the plant,
pollinator and interaction web; we must abandon the perspective that to lose plant species
is to lose one animal species via linked extinction. Fleming and Nabhan emphasize a
similar idea: most mutualisms are not necessarily between obligate symbionts, but are
loose associations between multiple organisms so that the effect of decline of one
organism may be more subtle and complex than typically thought (1993). Indeed,

31
extinction would affect more that merely the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat or its associated
vegetation. Research has shown that is not clear if there is a threshold level of resource
availability that determines the arrival of nectar-feeding bats in the region and this issue
needs to be explored in the future (Penalba et al. 2006). Most importantly though, more
time and awareness need to go towards the management of fire in areas that support
Leptonycteris curasoae, agaves and cacti. Global climate change and habitat
fragmentation may indeed be inescapable, but at least an understanding of where
potential problems will likely arise will help for better management and ideally
preservation or conservation of wildlife.
Ultimately, there are some serious issues that surround the Lesser Long-Nosed
Bat, columnars, and agaves in Southwest United States and Mexico. If bats disappeared
from the Tehuacan Valley, pollination of the most common and abundant plant would
fail, and perhaps no recruitment would occur, ultimately leading to its extinction; as the
dominant species in the Tehuacan Valley, its extinction could produce major changes in
the structure and composition of the desert community. (Valiene-Banuet et al., 1996).
Although there is still much research to be done in the way of Lesser Long-Nosed Bats,
columnar cacti and agaves and their interactions, it is clear that habitat fragmentation is
affecting this group of organisms, and that global climate change is exacerbating the
already fragile system. Global climate change has been occurring, and so it is our
responsibility, as humans, to mitigate these anthropogenic changes as best as possible to
ensure a healthy future for the plant and all that lives on it.

32
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