The Data
The Database
catalogs accounts of the interactions of bats with other organisms worldwide that are published in peer-reviewed literature. For each interaction
we include the taxonomic information (family, genus, and species) of each
member of the interaction, the type of interaction (pollination, visitation,
consumption, host, etc.), the details of the
location (country, habitat type, elevation, GPS), and citation (authors, title,
journal, year). See Conceptual Data Map below. The number of
interactions in the database will continue to grow as we make every effort to
keep this information up-to-date.
How to Use
Users can browse, sort, and filter interaction data on the Database Search Page, available at the 'Database' menu tab. It has been built to provide the most flexibility for filtering and sorting the interaction data. There are tips for building creative searches and finding specific data available on the page. Search by the following attributes and more.
- Taxa
- Locations
- Source
- Interaction Types
- Habitat Types
How to Cite
If you use search results, or data, from this site in a publication, as part of any other printed media, or in online content, please cite them as follows:
Geiselman, Cullen K. & Sarah Younger. 2020. Bat Eco-Interactions Database. www.batbase.org, version (date accessed).
See our Terms of Use for more details.
How to Contribute
Bat Eco-Interactions heavily depends on user's participation, either by suggesting publications that have not been included on the database, and/or by entering new data (see below New Data Flow diagram). We invite you to click here to review the list of articles we are currently adding to the database. If you have suggestions for additional publications, please send the relevant information and a PDF to info@batbase.org.
For more information on how to contribute, visit our Participate page.
New Data Entry
Expert users will be able to directly contribute bat interaction data that has not been included on the database and has been published in peer-reviewed literature. We encourage the inclusion of world-wide publications, regardless of their original language and publication source.
Once a new interaction has been submitted by a contributor, this data goes through a strict internal quality control process where it is evaluated for accuracy in data fields and formatting (see below New Data Flow diagram). We are committed to provide a scientifically and technically robust platform where rigorous processes are followed to guarantee a database with the highest quality standards for the long term.
Taxon Groups
| Group | Taxon Roots | Group | Taxon Roots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amphibians | Class Amphibia | Arthropods | Phylum Arthropoda |
| Bacteria | Domain Bacteria | Bats | Order Chiroptera |
| Birds | Class Aves | Fish | Class Actinopterygii |
| Fungi | Kingdom Fungi | Plants | Kingdom Plantae |
| Reptiles | Class Reptilia | Viruses | Realm Viria |
| Mammals |
Order Artiodactyla - Even-toed ungulates; hoofed animals- sheep, pigs, cows Order Carnivora - Civets, weasels, dogs Order Perissodactyla - Odd-toed ungulates; hoofed animals- horses, tapirs Order Pholidota - Pangolins Order Rodentia - Rodents |
||
| Parasites |
Kingdom Protozoa - Fungi-like, taxonomy unclear Kingdom Chromista - Protists & plasmodium (ie. malaria) Phylum Acanthocephala - Spiny-headed worms Phylum Nematoda - Nematodes; roundworms Phylum Platyhelminthes - Flatworms |
||
Caveats
- This database contains accounts of bats interacting with other organisms, not hypotheses that they might (e.g. a flower has chiropterophilous features).
- The database reports interactions that have been published in peer-reviewed journals or theses/dissertations. It does not include unpublished data or personal observations that have not been published.
- In assigning interaction types, we do not assume that every visit to a flower results in pollination or that every fruit eaten results in seed dispersal (see list of interaction types for details). We do assume that every object that is “consumed” is destroyed in the process.
- The database does not determine the “quality” of the service provided by bats. For example, it does not report how far bats are moving seeds, if the seeds are mature when dispersed, or if seeds are dropped at location suitable for germination.
- It should not be assumed that a report of a bat interaction with an organism in one region of the world means that this bat (or another bat species) will have the same or any interaction with the organism in another region.
- Taxonomy: The scientific names of the bats are updated periodically to the current standard following www.batnames.org. Plant species are assigned to family using taxonomy on www.tropicos.org and some antiquated bat genus/species names have been updated. For both bats and plants, the name as originally published, if different from the currently accepted name, is noted in the Comments field. Scientific names and taxonomy of other organisms follow that found in the original publication.
- There is no correlation between the number of times a unique interaction is reported in the database and the strength of the interaction. For example, if Carollia perspicillata has been reported dispersing the seeds of Piper amalago in 10 publications, this does not mean that there is a stronger relationship between this bat and this plant than others, only that it has been witnessed and published more often.
- We try to incorporate only publications that report their own data and, in the limited instances where the data were taken from other studies, we note that these interactions were reported from a “secondary” source (Secondary tag) so as not to overpopulate the database by repeating interactions that have already been reported by their primary source. If this is important to the user, we suggest checking the individual publications to determine if the data have been reported in other studies by the same authors.
