Effects of land‐use change on functional and taxonomic diversity of Neotropical bats

Farneda, F, Meyer, CFJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9958-8913 and Grelle, CEV 2019, 'Effects of land‐use change on functional and taxonomic diversity of Neotropical bats' , Biotropica, 52 (1) , pp. 120-128.

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Abstract

Human land-use changes are particularly extensive in tropical regions, representing one of the greatest threats to terrestrial biodiversity and a key research topic in conservation. However, studies considering the effects of different types of anthropogenic disturbance on the functional dimension of biodiversity in human-modified landscapes are rare. Here, we obtained data through an extensive review of peer-reviewed articles and compared 30 Neotropical bat assemblages in well-preserved primary forest and four different human-disturbed habitats in terms of their functional and taxonomic diversity. We found that disturbed habitats that are structurally less similar to primary forest (pasture, cropland and early-stage secondary forest) were characterized by a lower functional and taxonomic diversity, as well as community level-functional uniqueness. These habitats generally retained fewer species that perform different ecological functions compared to higher-quality landscape matrices, such as agroforestry. According to functional trait composition, different bat ensembles respond differently to landscape change, negatively affecting mainly gleaning insectivorous bats in pasture, narrow-range species in cropland, and heavier animalivorous bats in secondary forest. Although our results highlight the importance of higher-quality matrix habitats to support elevated functional and taxonomic bat diversity, the conservation of bat species that perform different ecological functions in the mosaic of human-modified habitats also depends on the irreplaceable conservation value of well-preserved primary forests. Our study based on a pooled analysis of individual studies provides novel insights into the effects of different human-modified habitats on Neotropical bat assemblages.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	Biotropica
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0006-3606
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
Depositing User:	Dr Christoph Meyer
Date Deposited:	04 Dec 2019 16:12
Last Modified:	07 Feb 2020 12:00
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/53407

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