Two caves in western Honduras are important for bat conservation: first checklist of bats in Santa Bárbara

Abstract

Caves are important reservoirs for species, including bats, but in Honduras there is little known information about these biodiverse ecosystems. We describe the importance of two caves in Ceguaca in western Honduras, based on the species richness of each cave. From December 2015 to May 2016, we used three mist-nets in seven journeys (74.27 mist-net/hours). We captured 139 bats belonging to 23 species of four families. We recorded 10 species in the crop of Quita Sueño, 10 in the cave of El Peñón, and 12 in the cave of Monte Grueso. In overall, 17% of the bats were captured in the crops of Quita Sueño, 62% in the cave of Monte Grueso, and 21% in the cave of El Peñón. About 9% of bat species of the total account for Honduras could be found in the cave of El Peñón, and 10% in the cave of Monte Grueso. If we consider the number of the species that have been recorded since 1979, between 20.9 and 49.2% of the expected species are still unrecorded, this suggests that despite low sampling effort there is a high diversity. However, the diversity of bats species using these caves embraced on the Tropical Dry Forest of Ceguaca is threatened by the fragmentation of the ecosystem due to the following reasons: intentional fires in the caves, extensive cattle raising, replacement of native plants with extensions of crops, and human-vampire conflicts (Desmodusrotundus).