Bats in the Ghats: Agricultural intensification reduces functional diversity and increases trait filtering in a biodiversity hotspot in India

Wordley, Claire F. R.; Sankaran, Mahesh; Mudappa, Divya; Altringham, John D.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.03.026

Cited by 46 publications

(50 citation statements)

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“…We found that Rhinolophus beddomei and Rhinolophus rouxii were both significantly more abundant in protected forests than in coffee or forest fragments (Tables and ); which is expected as they are typical “forest adapted” bats (Wordley et al., ). More surprisingly, Miniopterus pusillus , which has the long narrow wings and flexible echolocation calls seen in open air foragers (Wordley et al., ), was more frequently recorded in protected forest than in forest fragments. This may be because it can forage within the open understorey of protected area forests more easily than in the dense understorey of forest fragments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…() identified a need for more work on the ecological requirements of forest dependent bats and the response of forest assemblages to different land uses in Asia. Many bat species across South and South‐East Asia, particularly bats in the families Hipposideridae, Rhinolophidae, and the vespertilionid subfamilies Murininae and Kerivoulinae, have wing morphologies and echolocation call types that enable foraging in densely vegetated habitats but which are not effective for foraging in more open habitats (Kingston, ; Kingston, Francis, Zubaid, & Kunz, ; Meijaard et al., ; Wordley et al., ). We found that Rhinolophus beddomei and Rhinolophus rouxii were both significantly more abundant in protected forests than in coffee or forest fragments (Tables and ); which is expected as they are typical “forest adapted” bats (Wordley et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many bat species across South and South‐East Asia, particularly bats in the families Hipposideridae, Rhinolophidae, and the vespertilionid subfamilies Murininae and Kerivoulinae, have wing morphologies and echolocation call types that enable foraging in densely vegetated habitats but which are not effective for foraging in more open habitats (Kingston, ; Kingston, Francis, Zubaid, & Kunz, ; Meijaard et al., ; Wordley et al., ). We found that Rhinolophus beddomei and Rhinolophus rouxii were both significantly more abundant in protected forests than in coffee or forest fragments (Tables and ); which is expected as they are typical “forest adapted” bats (Wordley et al., ). More surprisingly, Miniopterus pusillus , which has the long narrow wings and flexible echolocation calls seen in open air foragers (Wordley et al., ), was more frequently recorded in protected forest than in forest fragments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tea plantations, however, have a significant negative impact on the diversity of all species studied in them thus far (Murali & Raman, 2012;Sidhu et al, 2010;Wordley et al, 2015Wordley et al, , 2017. If these plantations are to be made compatible with conservation in a biodiversity hotspot, changes to plantation management are needed.…”

Section: Rhinolophus Beddomei (Known Only From India and One Location Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neotropical studies show that coffee and cacao grown under a canopy of native shade trees can provide a good habitat for many bat species (Faria, Laps, Baumgarten, & Cetra, 2006;Harvey & Villalobos, 2007;Pardini et al, 2009;Pineda, Moreno, Escobar, & Halffter, 2005;Williams-Guillén & Perfecto, 2010. The few studies on bat diversity in coffee from Asia give similar results (Graf, 2010;Wordley, Sankaran, Mudappa, & Altringham, 2015, 2017; however, little is known about the value of this habitat for most palaeotropical bat species.…”

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Heard but not seen: Comparing bat assemblages and study methods in a mosaic landscape in the Western Ghats of India

Wordley

Sankaran

Mudappa

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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We used capture (mist‐netting) and acoustic methods to compare the species richness, abundance, and composition of a bat assemblage in different habitats in the Western Ghats of India. In the tropics, catching bats has been more commonly used as a survey method than acoustic recordings. In our study, acoustic methods based on recording echolocation calls detected greater bat activity and more species than mist‐netting. However, some species were detected more frequently or exclusively by capture. Ideally, the two methods should be used together to compensate for the biases in each. Using combined capture and acoustic data, we found that protected forests, forest fragments, and shade coffee plantations hosted similar and diverse species assemblages, although some species were recorded more frequently in protected forests. Tea plantations contained very few species from the overall bat assemblage. In riparian habitats, a strip of forested habitat on the river bank improved the habitat for bats compared to rivers with tea planted up to each bank. Our results show that shade coffee plantations are better bat habitat than tea plantations in biodiversity hotspots. However, if tea is to be the dominant land use, forest fragments and riparian corridors can improve the landscape considerably for bats. We encourage coffee growers to retain traditional plantations with mature native trees, rather than reverting to sun grown coffee or coffee shaded by a few species of timber trees.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rhinolophus Beddomei (Known Only From India and One Location Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Heard but not seen: Comparing bat assemblages and study methods in a mosaic landscape in the Western Ghats of India

Wordley

Sankaran

Mudappa

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Effects of restoration on tree communities and carbon storage in rainforest fragments of the Western Ghats, India

et al. 2019

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Ecological restoration is a leading strategy for reversing biodiversity losses and enhancing terrestrial carbon sequestration in degraded tropical forests. There have been few comprehensive assessments of recovery following restoration in fragmented forest landscapes, and the efficacy of active versus passive (i.e., natural regeneration) restoration remains unclear. We examined 11 indicators of forest structure, tree diversity and composition (adult and sapling), and aboveground carbon storage in 25 pairs of actively restored (AR; 7–15 yr after weed removal and mixed‐native tree species planting) and naturally regenerating (NR) plots within degraded rainforest fragments, and in 17 less‐disturbed benchmark (BM) rainforest plots in the Western Ghats, India. We assessed the effects of active restoration on the 11 indicators and tested the hypothesis that the effects of active restoration increase with isolation from contiguous and relatively intact rainforests. Active restoration significantly increased canopy cover, adult tree and sapling density, adult and sapling species density (overall and late‐successional), compositional similarity to benchmarks, and aboveground carbon storage, which recovered 14–82% toward BM targets relative to NR baselines. By contrast, tree height–diameter ratios and the proportion of native saplings did not recover consistently in actively restored forests. The effects of active restoration on canopy cover, species density (adult), late‐successional species density (adult and sapling), and species composition, but not carbon storage, increased with isolation across the fragmented landscape. Our findings show that active restoration can promote recovery of forest structure, composition, and carbon storage within 7–15 yr of restoration in degraded tropical rainforest fragments, although the benefits of active over passive restoration across fragmented landscapes would depend on indicator type and may increase with site isolation. These findings on early stages of recovery suggest that active restoration in ubiquitous fragmented landscapes of the tropics could complement passive restoration of degraded forests in less fragmented landscapes, and protection of intact forests, as a key strategy for conserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change.

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Beyond fangs: beef and soybean trade drive jaguar extinction

Romero‐Muñoz

Morato

Tortato

et al. 2020

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Bats in the Ghats: Agricultural intensification reduces functional diversity and increases trait filtering in a biodiversity hotspot in India

Cited by 46 publications

References 40 publications

Heard but not seen: Comparing bat assemblages and study methods in a mosaic landscape in the Western Ghats of India

Heard but not seen: Comparing bat assemblages and study methods in a mosaic landscape in the Western Ghats of India

Effects of restoration on tree communities and carbon storage in rainforest fragments of the Western Ghats, India

Beyond fangs: beef and soybean trade drive jaguar extinction

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