Effects of land use on bat diversity in a complex plantation-forest landscape in northeastern Brazil

Author(s)

Heer, Katrin ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Helbig-Bonitz, Maria ^[1] ; Fernandes, Renato G. ^[4] ; Mello, Marco A. R. ^{[5, 1]} ; Kalko, Elisabeth K. V. ^{[6, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Ulm, Inst Expt Ecol, D-89069 Ulm - Germany

^[2] Univ Marburg, Conservat Biol, D-35043 Marburg - Germany

^[3] Univ Marburg, Dept Ecol, D-35043 Marburg - Germany

^[4] Univ Fed Mato Grosso, Ctr Ciencias Biol Saude, Dept Biol, BR-79070900 Campo Grande, MS - Brazil

^[5] Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Inst Ciencias Biol, Dept Biol Geral, BR-31270901 Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[6] Smithsonian Trop Res Inst, Balboa - Panama

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY; v. 96, n. 4, p. 720-731, AUG 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 14

Abstract

In fragmented areas, the persistence of different species depends on their ability to use the surrounding matrix either as a corridor or as a foraging habitat. We assessed how species richness and abundance of Neotropical bats differ among forest fragments and rubber plantations under different management regimes. Our study site was located in a heterogeneous agricultural area in the Atlantic Forest of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. By combining mist netting and acoustic monitoring as complementary techniques, we caught 28 phyllostomid species and recorded 21 aerial insectivorous species, which either forage in open space or close to forests. Open space species were equally abundant and diverse in all land use types. In contrast, assemblages of phyllostomid and aerial insectivorous forest species differed significantly among habitats, with the highest species richness recorded in forest fragments. We identified a number of forest specialists in forest fragments, which indicates a relatively intact bat fauna. In intensively used rubber-cacao plantation, we found surprisingly high bat abundance and diversity, despite the shortage of resources for bats. Our results also indicate that patches of secondary vegetation around rubber plantations are important landscape features for bats and might contribute to the persistence of highly diverse bat assemblages. We suggest that bats do not perceive plantations as a hostile matrix, but probably use them as corridors between forest fragments and patches of secondary vegetation. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 05/00587-5 - Mesh (graph) modeling and techniques of pattern recognition: structure, dynamics and applications
• Grantee: Roberto Marcondes Cesar Junior
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants