Landscape changes decrease genetic diversity in the Pallas’ long-tongued bat

Abstract

Species with high mobility may have low genetic differentiation among populations due to historical long-distance dispersal, but recent studies show that bat dispersal may be affected by habitat loss and fragmentation. Here, we analyze the effects of landscape contemporary changes and dynamics in paleodistribution during the Quaternary on genetic diversity and differentiation in the Pallas’ long-tongued bat, Glossophaga soricina. We sampled 18 populations in landscapes with different land cover, and used nine microsatellite loci and the sequence of a fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b (CYB) to obtain genetic data. We performed ecological niche modelling and used general linear mixed models and optimization of multiple resistance surfaces to analyze how landscape structure and climatic suitability affect genetic diversity and differentiation. Our results show that the conversion of natural vegetation, such as forests and savannas, to agriculture, pastures or urban matrices (unsuitable habitats) decreases genetic diversity and increases inbreeding, but has no effect on genetic differentiation among populations, that was likely affected by spatial distance. Our findings point to the importance of maintenance of large areas of natural vegetation remnants to conserve genetic diversity of G. soricina, an important bat pollinator in the Neotropics.