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Consequences of fragmentation for Neotropical bats: The importance of the matrix

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Abstract

  • Deforestation and the conversion of forests to agricultural areas lead to habitat loss and often create highly fragmented landscapes. Permeability and quality of the surrounding matrix determine the connectivity of remaining forest remnants. For mobile species, such as bats, the matrix is not necessarily an entirely insurmountable obstacle. We studied the effects of fragmentation on New-World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae), a highly diverse keystone taxon in the Neotropics. Bats were assessed in two highly fragmented systems varying in matrix quality: Forested islands surrounded by the water (I) and forest fragments embedded in a matrix of small-scale agriculture (A) together with a continuous forest as control (C). In total, we recorded over 2 years 5176 captures. Observed species richness was highest in continuous forest. Fragmentation reduced in both fragmented landscapes the bat diversity and led to characteristic changes in the bat assemblage, with gleaning animalivorous phyllostomids being most affected. The responses of bats to fragmentation were found to be not only guild but also species-specific within the guild, a fact easily overlooked or misinterpreted when focussing solely on diversity indices or the response of bat guilds alone. Forest remnants can support a relatively speciose bat fauna, due to the heterogeneity of the inter-fragment matrix. On forested islands, however, isolation processes lead to a decline in bat diversity, resulting in strongly impoverished bat assemblages favouring highly mobile species and habitat generalists. Conservation of the full local bat community of phyllostomids, including the vulnerable gleaning animalivorous phyllostomids, however, requires the protection of old-growth forests.

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  • 2020

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