03311naa a2200217 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000180006024501210007826000090019930000110020852025840021965000100280365000120281365000200282565300240284570000200286970000250288970000200291477301590293413118752007-02-22       2004    bl ---       0--  u    #d1 aMIKICH, S. B.  aThe use of the essential oil of chiropterochoric fruits for the attraction of fruit-eating bats and forest recovery.  c2004  ap. 29.  aBased on previous studies which demonstrated that fruit-eating bats can be attracted by the essential oils of mature chiropterochoric fruits, we believe that essential oils can be used to attract seed dispersing bats to degraded land, improving seed rain and forest recovery. To test this hypothesis field tests were performed in an agricultural matrix that surrounds a 354 ha Semideciduous Seasonal Forest remnant previously studied1 in southern Brazil. Ten mist-nets (12 x 2,5 m), divided in two sets of five nets, were set 50 m apart from the forest and parallel to its edge. The sets were 50 m apart from each other and were used to test if the essential oils would produce a significant difference in bat capture when applied exclusively to one set, considering that both sets held mimetic fruits made of floriculture foam. Essential oils of mature fruits were extracted through hydrodistillation, using a modified Clevenger, for 4 hours and stored with water in vials kept refrigerated. We performed six trials, with two days and 6 hours each, in July, August, September and November 2002, and January and April 2003 using essential oils of Piper gaudichaudianum (three trials), P. crassinervium - Piperaceae (1 trial) and Ficus insipida - Moraceae (two trials). By the end of the study, 115 frugivorous bats were captured, being 102 Artibeus lituratus, two A. jamaicensis and two A. fimbriatus, specialists in the consumption of Ficus spp., three Sturnira lilium, specialist in Solanum spp. - Solanaceae, and one Chiroderma villosum a supposed predator of Ficus seeds. A. jamaicensis, A. fimbriatus and C. villosum were captured mainly or exclusively in nets with the oil of F. insipida. A. lituratus was significantly attracted to nets with F. insipida, as expected, but also to nets with P. gaudichaudianum. We believe the pepper attractiveness was caused by the absence of fruits in the habitat sampled, since when the same species was tested inside the forest remnant, where fruits of several species were available, A. lituratus was not attracted to its oil. Even though the experiment was performed very close to the forest remnant, we believe the reported results are valid for larger distances, since bats can fly huge distances in a single night and in the fragmented landscape studied we observed bats flying in and out forest remnants all the time. We conclude that the essential oils of mature chiropterochoric fruit can be used to attract frugivorous bats to specific places in very disturbed habitats, potentially improving seed rain and habitat restoration.  aFruta  aMorcego  aÓleo Essencial  aAtrativo frugívoro1 aBIANCONI, G. V.1 aMAIA, B. H. L. N. S.1 aTEIXEIRA, S. D.  tIn: WORKSHOP ON SEED DISPERSAL & FRUGIVORY IN ASIA, 2004, Xishuangbanna, Beijing. Workshop... Beijing: National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2004.