ResumoO presente estudo registrou as espécies de morcegos que ocorrem na Fazenda Santo Antônio dos Ipês, Jaú, SP, Brasil, com a inalidade de identiicar os itens alimentares consumidos por esses animais e avaliar a presença do vírus rábico. Vinte e uma noites de captura, distribuídas em cinco áreas da fazenda, foram realizadas utilizando-se redes de neblina entre novembro de 2009 e julho de 2011. Após um esforço de captura de 18217,5 m 2 .h, 580 morcegos de 16 espécies foram capturados. Sturnira lilium (n = 184), Artibeus lituratus (n = 134) e Carollia perspicillata (n = 126) foram as espécies mais abundantes. Dois indivíduos de Lasiurus ega foram adicionados ao inventário por meio de observação em abrigo, totalizando assim 17 espécies amostradas. Os itens alimentares mais consumidos foram os frutos de Solanaceae e de Piperaceae, e os frutos de Muntingia calabura, os menos consumidos. Nenhum dos 132 indivíduos analisados para o vírus rábico apresentou resultado positivo. A Fazenda Santo Antônio dos Ipês é uma importante área, pois abriga a Reserva Ecológica Amadeu Botelho (uma Unidade de Conservação), que é o último resquício de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual da região de Jaú e que serve como refúgio para animais silvestres incluindo morcegos.
IntroductionBats are critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems and many species are threatened primarily due to global habitat loss. Bats are also important hosts of a range of viruses, several of which have had significant impacts on global public health. The emergence of these viruses has been associated with land-use change and decreased host species richness. Yet, few studies have assessed how bat communities and the viruses they host alter with land-use change, particularly in highly biodiverse sites.MethodsIn this study, we investigate the effects of deforestation on bat host species richness and diversity, and viral prevalence and richness across five forested sites and three nearby deforested sites in the interior Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil. Nested-PCR and qPCR were used to amplify and detect viral genetic sequence from six viral families (corona-, adeno-, herpes-, hanta-, paramyxo-, and astro-viridae) in 944 blood, saliva and rectal samples collected from 335 bats.ResultsWe found that deforested sites had a less diverse bat community than forested sites, but higher viral prevalence and richness after controlling for confounding factors. Viral detection was more likely in juvenile males located in deforested sites. Interestingly, we also found a significant effect of host bat species on viral prevalence indicating that viral taxa were detected more frequently in some species than others. In particular, viruses from the Coronaviridae family were detected more frequently in generalist species compared to specialist species.DiscussionOur findings suggest that deforestation may drive changes in the ecosystem which reduce bat host diversity while increasing the abundance of generalist species which host a wider range of viruses.
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