TY - JOUR
T1 - Ecological traits of phyllostomid bats associated with sensitivity to tropical forest fragmentation in Los Chimalapas, Mexico
AU - García-García, José Luis
AU - Santos-Moreno, Antonio
AU - Kraker-Castañeda, Cristian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© José Luis García-García, Antonio Santos-Moreno and Cristian Kraker-Castañeda.
PY - 2014/9/1
Y1 - 2014/9/1
N2 - Certain ecological traits of bats may be associated with sensitivity to the fragmentation of their habitat, but the relative importance of this is unclear and has been poorly studied in tropical environments. We evaluated the relationship between six ecological traits of phyllostomid bats (body mass, trophic level, vertical foraging area, natural abundance in continuous forest, wing aspect ratio, and relative wing loading) and three measures of sensitivity to habitat fragmentation (species prevalence, change in abundance index, and nestedness ranking) in a fragmented forest in Los Chimalapas, Mexico. Ecological traits were obtained from 20 bat species for a period of 2 years, and their relationship with measures of sensitivity to fragmentation was analyzed using Generalized Linear Models. The analysis suggests that naturally non-abundant species (e.g., Salvin’s Big-eyed Bat [Chiroderma salvini]) have a greater risk of population decline because of habitat fragmentation. In contrast, abundant species such as Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) will likely be less affected. The identification of these traits in studies of tropical bat conservation is fundamental to determine species-specific decline risk due to habitat fragmentation.
AB - Certain ecological traits of bats may be associated with sensitivity to the fragmentation of their habitat, but the relative importance of this is unclear and has been poorly studied in tropical environments. We evaluated the relationship between six ecological traits of phyllostomid bats (body mass, trophic level, vertical foraging area, natural abundance in continuous forest, wing aspect ratio, and relative wing loading) and three measures of sensitivity to habitat fragmentation (species prevalence, change in abundance index, and nestedness ranking) in a fragmented forest in Los Chimalapas, Mexico. Ecological traits were obtained from 20 bat species for a period of 2 years, and their relationship with measures of sensitivity to fragmentation was analyzed using Generalized Linear Models. The analysis suggests that naturally non-abundant species (e.g., Salvin’s Big-eyed Bat [Chiroderma salvini]) have a greater risk of population decline because of habitat fragmentation. In contrast, abundant species such as Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) will likely be less affected. The identification of these traits in studies of tropical bat conservation is fundamental to determine species-specific decline risk due to habitat fragmentation.
KW - Habitat fragmentation
KW - Los Chimalapas tropical forest
KW - Mexico
KW - Population decline
KW - Tropical bats
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907274555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/194008291400700307
DO - 10.1177/194008291400700307
M3 - Artículo
SN - 1940-0829
VL - 7
SP - 457
EP - 474
JO - Tropical Conservation Science
JF - Tropical Conservation Science
IS - 3
ER -