Abstract
Anthropogenic activities continue to degrade natural montane ecosystems globally. Bats communities are altered by these changes. We analyzed how bats are affected by human-induced habitat changes by comparing the bat species diversity and functional diversity in undisturbed forest habitats and disturbed forest habitats of the Afromontane biome of Cameroon. We recorded 244 individuals from 13 species in the undisturbed forest, while 233 individuals from 16 species were recorded in the disturbed forest. Bat diversity was higher in disturbed habitats (D= 0.84) than undisturbed habitats (D= 0.67). Jackknife 1 species richness estimator suggests 21.53 species for the disturbed forest and 19.30 in the undisturbed forest. Closed-space forager insectivorous bats made up nearly half of the species in the undisturbed forest, but this dropped to 25% in the disturbed forest, meanwhile, edge-space foragers increased in the disturbed forest. Bat community analyses by ordination revealed a distinct bat community composition between the two forest types, demonstrated as a significant difference in diversity between the two forest types. The distribution ofRousettus aegyptiacus, Myonycteris angolensis, Hipposideroscf.ruber, andMicropteropus pusilluscontribute the most to the difference in bat community composition between the two forest types. Edge and open-space species were likely to benefit from additional resources provided by the disturbed area, by expanding their range and distribution. However, this may not compensate for the decline in the population of forest species caused by the loss of pristine forests, thus measures to conserve montane forest remnants should be of utmost significance.
Highlights
The biota of the tropical montane forest is very diverse and varied in endemic species (Gentry, 1995; Kessler and Kluge, 2008)
A total of 477 bats representing 21 species, 15 genera, and five families were recorded in both forest habitat types surveyed (Table 1)
Our study revealed that the disturbed forest supported larger populations and more species than the undisturbed forest sites, the species richness did not differ significantly between the two forest types
Summary
The biota of the tropical montane forest is very diverse and varied in endemic species (Gentry, 1995; Kessler and Kluge, 2008). These ecosystems are amongst the most threatened globally (Hamilton et al, 1994; Doumenge et al, 1995), with the estimated rate of deforestation nearly double the rate of average global deforestation rates in the past few decades (Hamilton et al, 2012). Tropical moist forests are estimated to have reduced by half of their original distribution in the last two decades due to agricultural activities (Myers, 1991; Gibbs et al, 2010). Given the accentuating nature of these threats, tropical forests are a conservation priority globally (Edwards et al, 2019)
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