Responses of Phyllostomid Bats to Traditional Agriculture in Neotropical Montane Forests of Southern Mexico

摘要

Bat communities’ responses to land use change in neotropical montane forests havescarcely been studied. We hypothesized that, like in lowland forests, a montaneagricultural area will have a lower species richness, abundance, diversity and speciescomposition of understory phyllostomid bats than a native forest (montane cloud forest andpine-oak forest). Monthly surveys over the course of a year gave an overall low speciesrichness and abundance (167 captures corresponding to nine species). We found a slightloss of species richness in agricultural areas with respect to the montane cloud forest(one species) and pine-oak forest (two species). However, differences in abundance werenoteworthy: 45% and 73% fewer captures in agricultural areas than in the montane cloudforest and pine-oak forest, respectively. Species diversity was higher in the montanecloud forest than the pine-oak forest, but the diversity of agricultural areas did notdiffer between the types. Species and guild compositions did not differ between crops andforests. At least for the understory phyllostomid bats, and at the spatial scale studied,traditional management of agricultural areas in the study area and the surrounding matrixcould explain the similarity in species richness, composition, and diversity between theagricultural area and native montane forests; however, other indicator groups should beevaluated to understand the effects of habitat loss on montane forests