Frugivorous Bats in Isolated Trees and Riparian Vegetation Associated With Human-Made Pastures in a Fragmented Tropical Landscape

Responses of Tropical Bats to Habitat Fragmentation, Logging, and Deforestation

“…Linear landscape elements (corridors of residual vegetation such as live fences or strips of riparian forest) and scattered trees, commonly found in Neotropical countryside landscapes, may enhance functional connectivity (Villard and Metzger 2014), and studies indicate that bats extensively use them (Estrada and CoatesEstrada 2001a;Galindo-González and Sosa 2003;Estrada et al 2004;Harvey et al 2006;Medina et al 2007;Barragan et al 2010). For instance, in agricultural landscapes in Nicaragua, riparian forests and live fences harbor greater bat species richness and abundance than do secondary forest and pastures with low tree cover (Harvey et al 2006;Medina et al 2007).…”

“…Live fences and riparian corridors facilitate movement by bats across fragmented agricultural landscapes and may effectively reduce isolation between remnant forest patches, which, in turn, enhances species persistence at the landscape level. Similar to live fences, isolated pasture trees provide food and roosting opportunities for bats and act as important stepping stones for bat movement (Galindo-González and Sosa 2003), suggesting that they can render agro-pastoral landscapes more hospitable to bats and consequently deserve attention in conservation strategies. In contrast, studies concur that pastures are low-quality habitat for bats, likely as a consequence of resource scarcity (food, roosts) and elevated predation pressure (Estrada et al 1993a(Estrada et al , b, 2004Harvey et al 2006;Griscom et al 2007;Medina et al 2007).…”

Composition, structure and diversity of phyllostomid bat assemblages in different successional stages of a tropical dry forest

“…Most of the phyllostomid bats inhabiting the region are frugivores and nectarivores that cannot obtain food, roost or shelter in the pastures where introduced grasses constitute the most important component of the vegetation. Several studies have documented how the presence and density of trees can determine the presence and abundance of bats in pastures because trees may provide roost, shelter and food (Galindo-Gonzá lez and Sosa, 2003;Lumsden and Bennett, 2005;Medina et al, 2007). In addition to scarcity of resources in pastures, some bats may avoid open areas to avoid predation pressure or because they are not adapted to cover large distances among food patches while foraging (Henry et al, 2007).…”

Habitat edge context and the distribution of phyllostomid bats in the Andean forest and anthropogenic matrix in the Central Andes of Colombia

“…Even though it has been demonstrated that some frugivorous bats are capable of crossing open and intervened areas (Galindo-González 1998;Medellín and Gaona 1999;Galindo-González and Sosa 2003), it remains unknown whether different vegetation edge types present in the same fragment have any influence over the movements of frugivorous bats into adjacent habitats. The aim of this study was to evaluate this relationship.…”