Abstract
Shade coffee has shown great promise in providing crucial habitats for biodiversity outside formal protected areas. Insectivorous bats have been understudied in coffee, although they may provide pest control services. We investigated the influence of local and landscape-level features of coffee farms on aerial insectivorous bats in Chikmagalur district in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. Bats were monitored in 20 farm sites using ultrasound detectors, and the response of bat species richness and activity to changes in tree density, proportion of built-up area in the neighborhood, and distance of farm from forest areas quantified. We examined if models built to explain the species richness and activity could also predict them in nine additional sites. We detected nine phonic types/species in the study area. The quantified predictors had no effect on assemblage-level species richness and activity of bats. Responses of edge-space and cluttered-space forager guilds mirrored those of the overall assemblage, but some species vulnerable to forest conversion like Rhinolophus beddomei were detected rarely. Best models explained up to 20% and 15% variation in assemblage-level species richness and activity respectively, and were poor predictors of both response variables. We conclude that coffee farms in our study area offer an important commuting space for insectivorous bats across a gradient of shade management. Further research should include species-specific responses to management decisions for at-risk species and quantification of ecosystem services like natural pest control to inform biodiversity conservation initiatives in the Western Ghats coffee landscapes.
Highlights
Agricultural landscapes, which occupy almost 40% of the planet’s ice-free land area [1] are much more geographically extensive than protected areas
Tree density in sites ranged from 163 trees/ha to 969 trees/ha, while the proportion of built up area around sites ranged from 0.006 to 0.1, with the largest value being at a site at very close proximity to a town
Our study shows no response of species richness and activity of a Paleotropical bats at both assemblage and ensemble-level to current local shade management practices and landscape-level factors in a coffee agroforestry system
Summary
Agricultural landscapes, which occupy almost 40% of the planet’s ice-free land area [1] are much more geographically extensive than protected areas. Coffee and insectivorous bats during the study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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