Abstract
This study evaluated the response of bat communities, from a taxonomic and functional perspective, to variation in the vegetation and landscape attributes produced by anthropogenic activities. We characterized the following: (1) the community of phyllostomid and mormoopid bats associated with the initial successional stages of a tropical dry forest, (2) the response of these communities to the variation in the attributes of the vegetation and the landscape, and (3) how the seasonality modulates such response. This allowed us to identify potential mechanisms underlying the response of bat communities to human disturbance. Our results showed that the species negatively affected by the anthropoghenic disturbance are those with greater body mass, larger nose-leaves, or a lower wing aspect ratio and relative wing loading, which perform low-speed flights and have high maneuverability and, potentially, a high directionality in their emissions. We also detected a greater sensitivity of bats to changes in the landscape attributes regarding the riparian than the dry forest, and that the effect of anthropic transformation on bats was intensified during the dry season. Then, the continued loss of the original vegetation can lead to a loss of certain groups of bat species in neotropical landscapes, reducing the resilience of the system.
Highlights
The study of faunal communities that occur in anthropic landscapes and, in regenerating sites, merit special attention because they can influence the process of ecological succession that underlies the recovery of ecosystems
The present study focuses on bats of the Noctilionoidea superfamily and, on those belonging to the Phyllostomidae family and their sister taxon Moormopidae, whose distribution is restricted to the Neotropic [33]
We found that the degree of dispersion of the species in the functional space (FRic) responded to the landscape attributes of the riparian forest during the dry season; it was low in sites surrounded by a higher coverage of this forest and increased in sites where it shows high connectivity, which could enable bats’ movement while searching for resources that are limited in this season (Figure 4)
Summary
The study of faunal communities that occur in anthropic landscapes and, in regenerating sites, merit special attention because they can influence the process of ecological succession that underlies the recovery of ecosystems. Animals can have an effect on soil structure, litter decomposition, nutrient recycling, primary productivity, plant community composition and diversity, mycorrhizal dispersal, plant pollination, and seed dispersal [1]. To date, the study of pioneer faunal communities has generally received little scientific attention. The study of early successional communities must be promptly addressed because the present high rates of deforestation of tropical forests and the change of land use in productive areas has caused an accelerated expansion of secondary vegetation, becoming dominant in various regions of the tropics [3]
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