This report describes the results of bat inventory fieldwork at Paracou, a lowland rainforest locality in northern French Guiana.
Working within a 3-km radius over the course of 168 sampling days from 1991 to 1994, we captured 3126 bats, of which about 78% were taken in ground-level mistnets, 10% in mistnets suspended above ground level, and 12% at roosts. We identified a total of 78 species, including 10 emballonurids, 2 noctilionids, 1 mormoopid, 49 phyllostomids, 1 furipterid, 1 thyropterid, 5 vespertilionids, and 9 molossids.

Among our taxonomic results, we describe a new species of Micronycteris (sensu stricto) to honor André Brosset, pioneering monographer of rainforest bat faunas in India, Africa, and South America.

In addition, we report the first records of eight other species from French Guiana: Centronycteris maximiliani, Peropteryx kappleri, Saccopteryx gymnura, Micronycteris homezi, Micronycteris schmidtorum, Molossops paranus, Molossus sinaloae, and Promops centralis. (lire la suite…)

Dans le cadre du programme d’étude global mené par l’ONCFS et divers partenaires en Guyane française sur la chasse et son impact sur les populations animales, un réseau de sites plus ou moins soumis à pression de chasse est prospecté pour quantifier et comparer les abondances respectives des principales espèces rencontrées. (lire la suite…)

This article examines the utility of particular bird species and guilds as bioindicators in a complex habitat mosaic, namely that of the tropical city of Cayenne (French Guyana).

For this purpose, an urbanization gradient was divided up into nine classes based on 576 standard bird counts (using the point-count method) conducted in and around Cayenne between 1992 and 1995. Each point-count location was characterized by 10 habitat variables.

A multiple correspondence analysis of this data set, followed by a cluster analysis, was used to establish a classification of eight habitats, according to level of anthropogenic disturbance and diversity of vegetation. (lire la suite…)

A serologic survey for Mayaro virus (Alphavirus, Togaviridae) in 28 wild nonflying forest mammal species in French Guiana showed a prevalence ranging from 0% to 52% and increasing with age.

Species active during the day and those who spent time in trees were significantly more infected, results consistent with transmission implicating diurnal mosquitoes and continuous infectious pressure. (lire la suite…)

Cecropia (Cecropiaceae) is a Neotropical genus of pioneer plants. A review of bat/plant dispersal interactions revealed that 15 species of Cecropia are consumed by 32 species of bats. In French Guiana, bats were captured in primary and secondary forests, yielding 936 fecal samples with diaspores, among which 162 contained fruits of C. obtusa, C. palmata, and C. sciadophylla.

A comparative morphological and anatomical study of fruits and seeds taken directly from herbarium specimens, bat feces, and an experimental soil seed bank was made. (lire la suite…)