Bat species vulnerability to forest fragmentation in the Central Amazon

Tese de mestrado. Biologia (Biologia da Conservação). Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 20131. To understand the ecological trait interspecific variation on the capacity of bat species to persist in fragments and recolonize new patches in the fragmented landscape is fundamental for the creation of conservation effective plans. In this context, the study assesses 26 bat species vulnerability in a forest fragmentation local scale with low fragment-matrix contrast. 2. The study was carried out in Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP), Central Amazon, Brazil. Bats were captured over a 2-year period in 8 forest fragments and 3 control plots of continuous forest, considering the interior, the edge and the matrix at the each local. The ecological traits values were obtained from our capture data and/or literature: (1) abundance in continuous forest, (2) body mass, (3) edge-sensibility, (4) matrix tolerance, (5) trophic level, (6) dietary specialization, (7) vertical stratification, (8) mobility, (9) wing morphology, (10) ecological scaled landscape indices (ESLIs). After phylogenetic correction, these variables were used separately and in combination to assess their association with two indices of fragmentation sensitivity: species prevalence (proportion of fragments occupied) and change in abundance. The correlation between the different traits and the environmental gradients were assessed using the RLQ and fourth-corner analysis. 3. Model selection based on Akaike’s information criterion identified abundance in continuous forest as the best correlate of vulnerability to fragmentation. The main positive relationships found for the RLQ analysis was between abundance in continuous forest and forest fragmentation, and animalivorous bats and continuous forests. Abundance in continuous forest and trophic level also showed positive correlations with the fragmentation according to fourth-corner analysis, as well as edge-sense and matrix tolerance. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our results support that environmental filters and ecological traits consistently shape the bat assemblages in BDFFP fragmented landscape. The fragmented landscape will selectively benefit the most abundant, more matrix tolerant, less edge-sensitive and frugivorous species. The structural and functional connectivity among remnant patches is a main factor allowing persistence and dispersal of the species, mainly of those with low ability to use the matrix and the small fragments (≤ 10 ha). As a practical suggestion to minimize local extinctions, investment in the creation, restoration and maintenance of natural corridors is recommended, as well as the management of the matrix by improving its quality.1. Entender a variação interespecífica das características ecológicas sobre a capacidade das espécies de morcegos de persistir em fragmentos e recolonizar novas áreas na paisagem fragmentada é fundamental para a criação de planos efetivos de conservação. Neste contexto, o estudo avalia a vulnerabilidade de 26 espécies de morcegos em uma escala local de fragmentação florestal com baixo contraste entre fragmentos-matriz. 2. O estudo foi conduzido nas áreas do Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais (PDBFF), Amazônia Central, Brasil. Os morcegos foram capturados ao longo de 2 anos em 8 fragmentos florestais e 3 áreas controle de floresta contínua, considerando o interior, a borda e a matriz de cada local. Os valores das variáveis ecológicas foram obtidos de nossos dados de captura e/ou de literatura: (1) abundância em floresta contínua, (2) tamanho corporal, (3) sensibilidade ao efeito de borda, (4) tolerância à matriz, (5) nível trófico, (6) especialização da dieta, (7) estratificação vertical, (8) mobilidade, (9) morfologia de asa, (10) índices de conectividade funcional (ESLIs). Após uma correção filogenética, as variáveis foram usadas separadamente e em combinação para avaliar sua associação com dois índices de sensibilidade à fragmentação: prevalência das espécies (proporção de fragmentos ocupados) e variação na abundância. As correlações entre diferentes características e gradientes ambientais foram avaliadas utilizando as análises RLQ e fourth-corner. 3. O critério de informação de Akaike identificou abundância em floresta contínua como o melhor modelo para explicar a vulnerabilidade à fragmentação. As principais relações positivas encontradas pela análise RLQ foram entre abundância em floresta contínua e fragmentação florestal, e morcegos animalívoros e florestas contínuas. Abundância em floresta contínua e nível trófico também apresentaram correlações positivas com a fragmentação pela análise fourth-corner, bem como sensibilidade ao efeito de borda e tolerância à matriz. 4. Síntese e predições. Nossos resultados confirmam que os filtros ambientais e as variáveis ecológicas moldam as comunidades de morcegos na paisagem fragmentada do PDBFF. A paisagem fragmentada vem seletivamente beneficiar as espécies mais abundantes, mais tolerantes à matriz, menos sensíveis aos efeitos de borda e frugívoras. A conectividade estrutural e funcional entre fragmentos remanescentes é o principal fator para a persistência e dispersão das espécies, principalmente daquelas com baixa capacidade de usar a matriz e os pequenos fragmentos (≤ 10 ha). Como sugestão prática para minimizar as extinções locais, é recomendando o investimento na criação, restauração e manutenção de corredores naturais, bem como uma gestão da matriz que melhore sua qualidade

COMUNIDADE DE FORMIGAS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) NA ÁREA URBANA DO MUNICÍPIO DE PINHALZINHO, SANTA CATARINA, BRASIL.

Devido à importância das formigas nos mais diversos ecossistemas terrestres, incluindo o potencial de se tornarem pragas urbanas e possíveis transmissores de microorganismos patogênicos, realizou-se um inventário da fauna de formigas no perímetro urbano de Pinhalzinho. Este estudo teve como objetivos, avaliar a estrutura da comunidade de formigas, assim como a diversidade e a presença das mesmas em ambientes comerciais e residenciais. As coletas foram realizadas em quatro subregiões da cidade, durante o período de dezembro de 2005 a novembro de 2006, utilizando-se armadilhas do tipo iscas de sardinha e coletas manuais. Caracterizouse a fauna encontrada através dos parâmetros faunísticos da abundância, constância, dominância, freqüência, índices de diversidade (Shannon e Weavers) e eqüitabilidade. Foi realizado um total de 1.998 registros e identificadas 60 espécies, 21 gêneros e seis subfamílias. Os gêneros que mais se destacaram em número de espécies foram Pheidole com nove, Camponotus com oito, Crematogaster com sete, Solenopsis com cinco e Pseudomyrmex com quatro. O índice de diversidade encontrado foi 3,09 e o de eqüitabilidade 0,81, representando uma mirmecofauna considerável com pouca diferenciação na dominância de espécies. Os dados sugerem que houve pouca diferenciação na dominância de espécies, quando correlacionada com o grau de antropização da área. Palavras chave: Pheidole; entomofauna; diversidade; pragas urbanas ABSTRACT Ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the urban area of Pinhalzinho, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Because of the importance of ants in various earth ecosystems, including the possibility of becoming urban curses and possible transmitters of damage microorganisms, a study of the ant fauna was done in the urban limits of Pinhalzinho. The objective of this study was to evaluate the structures of the communities of ants, such as their diversity and presence in commercial environment and houses. The collections occurred in four subregions of the city between December 2005 and November 2006, using sardine baits and active manual collection. We distinguished the fauna found through the indexes of constancy, dominance, abundance, frequency, diversity (Shannon and Weavers) and equitability. An average of 1.998 records and identification of 60 species, 21 generas, and six subfamilies was done. The generas with the biggest highlight in number of species were Pheidole with nine, Camponotus with eight, Crematogaster with seven, Solenopsis with five and Pseudomyrmex with four. The indexes of diversity found were 3.09 and of equitably 0.81, representing a fauna of ants considerable with little dominance of species. The information suggested that there is a little difference in the dominance of species, associated with the degree the human impact on the area. Keywords: Pheidole, entomofauna, diversity, urbans curse

A global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

The use of functional information in the form of species traits plays an important role in explaining biodiversity patterns and responses to environmental changes. Although relationships between species composition, their traits, and the environment have been extensively studied on a case-by-case basis, results are variable, and it remains unclear how generalizable these relationships are across ecosystems, taxa and spatial scales. To address this gap, we collated 80 datasets from trait-based studies into a global database for metaCommunity Ecology: Species, Traits, Environment and Space; “CESTES”. Each dataset includes four matrices: species community abundances or presences/absences across multiple sites, species trait information, environmental variables and spatial coordinates of the sampling sites. The CESTES database is a live database: it will be maintained and expanded in the future as new datasets become available. By its harmonized structure, and the diversity of ecosystem types, taxonomic groups, and spatial scales it covers, the CESTES database provides an important opportunity for synthetic trait-based research in community ecology

BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene.

MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community-led open-source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL

Consequences of a large-scale fragmentation experiment for Neotropical bats : disentangling the relative importance of local and landscape-scale effects

Context Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation are widespread drivers of biodiversity decline. Understanding how habitat quality interacts with landscape context, and how they jointly affect species in human-modified landscapes, is of great importance for informing conservation and management. Objectives We used a whole-ecosystem manipulation experiment in the Brazilian Amazon to investigate the relative roles of local and landscape attributes in affecting bat assemblages at an interior-edge-matrix disturbance gradient. Methods We surveyed bats in 39 sites, comprising continuous forest (CF), fragments, forest edges and intervening secondary regrowth. For each site, we assessed vegetation structure (local-scale variable) and, for five focal scales, quantified habitat amount and four landscape configuration metrics. Results Smaller fragments, edges and regrowth sites had fewer species and higher levels of dominance than CF. Regardless of the landscape scale analysed, species richness and evenness were mostly related to the amount of forest cover. Vegetation structure and configurational metrics were important predictors of abundance, whereby the magnitude and direction of response to configurational metrics were scale-dependent. Responses were ensemble-specific with local-scale vegetation structure being more important for frugivorous than for gleaning animalivorous bats. Conclusions Our study indicates that scale-sensitive measures of landscape structure are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of fragmentation on tropical biota. Although forest fragments and regrowth habitats can be of conservation significance for tropical bats our results further emphasize that primary forest is of irreplaceable value, underlining that their conservation can only be achieved by the preservation of large expanses of pristine habitat

Forest area predicts all dimensions of small mammal and lizard diversity in Amazonian insular forest fragments

Context: Although hydropower development is one of the primary drivers of habitat loss and insular fragmentation, its impacts on species identity and their functional and phylogenetic roles have often been overlooked. Objectives: Here we use an integrative approach, considering taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic dimensions at multiple scales, to understand the processes underlying species (dis)assembly of two taxa exhibiting relatively low dispersal ability: small mammals and lizards. Methods: We surveyed 26 islands within the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir, and adjacent continuous forest, in Central Amazonia. Each dimension of diversity was related to spatial and habitat variables. We also examined functional composition using community-weighted mean trait values, and community redundancy using functional uniqueness. β-diversity was partitioned into their richness (βrich) and replacement (βrepl) components. Results: Functional and phylogenetic α-diversities of both taxa mirrored the taxonomic dimension, all of which increased with forest area. Individual small mammal (body mass and matrix tolerance), and lizard traits (body length, heliothermic mode and habitat type) were also predicted by forest area. For both groups, functional uniqueness decreased with forest area, and all dimensions of β-diversity were predominantly partitioned in βrich. Conclusions: The environmental filter created by forest area resulted in the low conservation value associated with small forest islands, only occupied by a small set of species comprised by generalist lizards and matrix-tolerant small mammals. On the other side, large forest sites ensured ecosystem resilience to disturbance. To maintain ecosystem integrity, creating myriad small islands over large expanses of floodwaters should be avoided in future hydropower development

Reproductive phenologies of phyllostomid bats in the Central Amazon

Mammals tend to align their most energetically demanding phenological events with periods of peak resource availability. Their reproductive phenology is influenced by local resource availability, potentially leading to geographical variation in their breeding strategy. Although the Amazon is the world’s epicenter of bat diversity, the reproductive phenology of Amazonian bats remains poorly known. Seasonality induces fluctuations in resource availability and most phyllostomid species, crucial agents of seed dispersal, pollination and arthropod suppression in the Neotropics, have been described to exhibit seasonal bimodal polyestry. However, current understanding of phyllostomid reproductive phenology is impaired by the paucity of comparative examinations of the phenologies of sympatric species, using consistent classification schemes based on the number and timing of annual peaks in pregnancy and lactation. Using a multi-year dataset from Central Amazonia, we examined the reproductive phenology of nine bat species (Artibeus concolor, A. obscurus, A. lituratus, Carollia brevicauda, C. perspicillata, Gardnerycteris crenulatum, Lophostoma silvicolum, Rhinophylla pumilio, and Trachops cirrhosus), as well as two feeding ensembles (i.e., frugivores and gleaning animalivores). Only three of the nine species exhibited a bimodal reproductive phenology. Six species and the frugivore ensemble showed unimodal reproductive phenology, while gleaning animalivores displayed an amodal pregnancy pattern. All species except L. silvicolum had their primary pregnancy peak during the mid-dry season. A reproductive peak during the early wet season, or local variation in the duration of the fruiting season may explain the deviation of our observations from the expected bimodal polyestry

Echolocation and stratum preference : key trait correlates of vulnerability of insectivorous bats to tropical forest fragmentation

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Habitat loss and fragmentation rank high amongst the most pressing threats to biodiversity. Understanding how variation in functional traits is associated with species vulnerability in fragmented landscapes is central to the design of effective conservation strategies. Here, we used a whole-ecosystem ecological experiment in the Central Amazon to investigate which functional traits of aerial-hawking insectivorous bats best predict their sensitivity to forest fragmentation. During 2014, bats were surveyed using passive bat recorders in six continuous forest sites, eight forest fragments, eight fragment edges, and eight forest clearings. The interaction between functional traits, environmental characteristics, and species distribution was investigated using a combination of RLQ and fourth-corner analyses. Our results showed that echolocation call structure, vertical stratification, and wing aspect ratio were the strongest predictors of sensitivity to forest fragmentation. Frequency of maximum energy, body mass, and relative wing loading did not show any correlation with the environmental variables. Bat species with constant-frequency calls were associated with high vegetation density, being more susceptible to forest fragmentation than species with frequency-modulated calls. Vertical stratum preference was also correlated with vegetation structure, indicating that understory species were more sensitive to forest loss than canopy species. Finally, species with high aspect ratio wings were linked to forest edges and clearings. Our findings suggest that species functional traits determine the vulnerability of aerial-hawking insectivorous bats toward fragmentation and, similarly, environmental conditions determine if a species is likely to become locally extinct due to fragmentation. Preserving structurally complex forests will be crucial to ensure the long-term persistence of the most sensitive and vulnerable species of this bat ensemble in fragmented landscapes across the Neotropics

Functional recovery of Amazonian bat assemblages following secondary forest succession

Regenerating forests occupy large areas in the tropics, mostly as a result of deforestation for livestock and agriculture, followed by land abandonment. Despite the importance of regenerating secondary forests for tropical biodiversity conservation, studies of temporal effects of matrix regeneration on species responses in fragmented landscapes are scarce. Here, we used an Amazonian whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment to investigate how changes in matrix quality over time through secondary forest regeneration affect bat assemblages from a functional perspective. We found that forest regeneration in the matrix positively affected functional α diversity, as well as species- and community-level functional uniqueness, reflecting an increase of species that perform different ecological functions in secondary forest over time. According to functional trait composition, animalivorous species showed the clearest signs of recovery associated with matrix regeneration. Consequently, between-period differences in functional β-diversity were highest in secondary forest compared to fragments and continuous forest, determined mainly by trait gains. However, ~ 30 years of secondary forest regeneration were not sufficient for the functional recovery of bat assemblages to levels observed in continuous forest. Restoring degraded habitats while protecting primary forest will be an important strategy for safeguarding high functional diversity of bats and their vital contributions to ecosystem functioning in fragmented tropical landscapes. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Rocha et al - Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape_data.xlsx

<p>Abundance data of bat species sampled at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Central Amazon, Brazil, ~15 years (1996-2002) and ~30 years (2011-2013) after forest clearing. Data is organized as used for the joint species distribution model of the publication “Rocha, R., Ovaskainen, O., Lopez-Baucells, A., Farneda, F., Sampaio, E., Bobrowiec, P., Cabeza, M., Palmeirim, J. and Meyer, C.F.J., 2018. Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape. <i>Scientific Reports</i>. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-21999-2”. Data includes:</p> <p><br></p><p>Matrix Y: Abundance data of bat species captured during a given mist-netting session.</p> <p><br></p><p>Matrix X: Covariates used for the joint species distribution model. These variables were: i) habitat type (coded as continuous_forest, fragment_interior or secondary_forest); ii) survey period (1996-2002 (coded as 1) or 2011-13 (coded as 2); iii) percentage of secondary forest cover within a radius of 500 m from each site; and iv) survey effort given as mist-net hours [1 mist-net hour (mnh) equals one 12-m net open for 1 h].</p> <p><br></p><p>Matrix T: Habitat affinity classification of the species present in the matrix Y.</p> <p><br></p><p>Matrix C: Phylogenetic correlation matrix of the species present in the matrix Y.</p