Undergraduate scholars receive grants to study flying fox diet
Two undergraduate students in Dr Raina Plowright’s lab, Dale Hansen and Brooklin Hunt, have just been awarded grants from the Undergraduate Scholars Program (USP) to complete year-long research projects on flying fox diet composition. USP is a Montana State University program that specializes in supporting undergraduate students as they pursue hands-on educational experiences such as research. The program supports students from all disciplines by providing funding, training, and public presentation opportunities, and by encouraging collaboration with faculty mentors.
Understanding the factors which contribute to disease shedding, especially in the context of the forces that drive bats to move to more urban areas is fundamental to predicting and managing the spillover of Hendra virus (HeV). Although evidence of HeV infection has been found in multiple bat species, Pteropus alecto is the only species which sheds HeV to a significant degree. Nutritional stress during food shortages, potentially as a result of different dietary preferences, may explain why P. alecto is more prone to shedding HeV than other Australian pteropid bats. Additionally, a preference for nonnative diet resources like urban fruit orchards compared to other species may lead to more contact between horses and P. alecto, and thus more spillover events.
The purpose of Dale’s study is to examine the diets of co-roosting P. alecto (black flying foxes) and P. poliocephalus (grey-headed flying foxes) across a gradient of landscape types ranging from rural to urban areas to see if the two species exhibit different dietary preferences when they have access to the same food resources. Dale’s study will not only provide much needed comparative information regarding the dietary preferences of the two species, but will also clarify the relationship between food resource scarcity, the planting of non-native fruits, and HeV risk.
Brooklin will also be working on a research project on flying fox diet composition. Her work will determine whether black flying foxes in urban roosts consume greater proportions of nonnative plants and fruits than those in rural roosts. Additionally, she will evaluate seasonal changes in the species’ consumption of nonnative fruits and plants. Because the diet of black flying foxes has not been well-characterized in the past, information obtained from Brooklin’s study will fill informational gaps that may help researchers understand the relationship between Hendra virus spillover risk and flying fox diet.