Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection
The Pampa is the least protected and one of the least sampled for bats among the Brazilian domains. This leads to significant Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls for bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna ecoregion. Here, we aimed to model the occupancy of aerial insectivorous bats in response to land...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.937139/full |
| _version_ | 1797212994025816064 |
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| author | Cíntia Fernanda da Costa Cíntia Fernanda da Costa Maria João Ramos Pereira Maria João Ramos Pereira Maria João Ramos Pereira |
| author_facet | Cíntia Fernanda da Costa Cíntia Fernanda da Costa Maria João Ramos Pereira Maria João Ramos Pereira Maria João Ramos Pereira |
| author_sort | Cíntia Fernanda da Costa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Pampa is the least protected and one of the least sampled for bats among the Brazilian domains. This leads to significant Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls for bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna ecoregion. Here, we aimed to model the occupancy of aerial insectivorous bats in response to landscape structure at different scales, considering the influence of microclimate on bat detection. We acoustically monitored 68 locations during the spring and summer of 2019/2020, gathering data on temperature and humidity associated with each acoustic record using data loggers. We detected at least 11 species of the Molossidae and the Vespertilionidae families, of which 9 were used in the model. The response to landscape structure was species-specific: the occupancy probability of Eptesicus brasiliensis and Molossus cf. currentium increased with landscape connectivity at the 500 m scale while Eptesicus furinalis and Histiotus cf. velatus were negatively affected by landscape connectivity at the 5.0 km scale. Molossus occupancy probability responded negatively to landscape heterogeneity at the 3.0 km scale, while Promops centralis responded positively to landscape heterogeneity at the 5.0 km scale. Molossus rufus responded negatively to native vegetation cover and positively to landscape heterogeneity at the 5.0 km scale. Myotis albescens and Molossops temminckii did not respond significantly to any of the evaluated landscape metrics. Our results show that different bat species perceive the landscape differently, regardless of the guild of use of space – edge- or open-space forager. Our estimate of projected occupancy for the areas contiguous to those sampled ranged from 0.45 to 0.70 for the whole of the bat taxa, suggesting that the landscape, particularly where it still maintains its native elements, is reasonably favourable to aerial insectivores. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:51:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-95f81262abf44a6d822b13646eb874e52024-04-12T11:30:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2022-09-011010.3389/fevo.2022.937139937139Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detectionCíntia Fernanda da Costa0Cíntia Fernanda da Costa1Maria João Ramos Pereira2Maria João Ramos Pereira3Maria João Ramos Pereira4Bird and Mammal Evolution, Systematics and Ecology Lab, Department of Zoology, Institute of Biosciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, BrazilPPGECO – Graduate Program in Ecology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, BrazilBird and Mammal Evolution, Systematics and Ecology Lab, Department of Zoology, Institute of Biosciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, BrazilPPGECO – Graduate Program in Ecology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, BrazilCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, PortugalThe Pampa is the least protected and one of the least sampled for bats among the Brazilian domains. This leads to significant Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls for bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna ecoregion. Here, we aimed to model the occupancy of aerial insectivorous bats in response to landscape structure at different scales, considering the influence of microclimate on bat detection. We acoustically monitored 68 locations during the spring and summer of 2019/2020, gathering data on temperature and humidity associated with each acoustic record using data loggers. We detected at least 11 species of the Molossidae and the Vespertilionidae families, of which 9 were used in the model. The response to landscape structure was species-specific: the occupancy probability of Eptesicus brasiliensis and Molossus cf. currentium increased with landscape connectivity at the 500 m scale while Eptesicus furinalis and Histiotus cf. velatus were negatively affected by landscape connectivity at the 5.0 km scale. Molossus occupancy probability responded negatively to landscape heterogeneity at the 3.0 km scale, while Promops centralis responded positively to landscape heterogeneity at the 5.0 km scale. Molossus rufus responded negatively to native vegetation cover and positively to landscape heterogeneity at the 5.0 km scale. Myotis albescens and Molossops temminckii did not respond significantly to any of the evaluated landscape metrics. Our results show that different bat species perceive the landscape differently, regardless of the guild of use of space – edge- or open-space forager. Our estimate of projected occupancy for the areas contiguous to those sampled ranged from 0.45 to 0.70 for the whole of the bat taxa, suggesting that the landscape, particularly where it still maintains its native elements, is reasonably favourable to aerial insectivores.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.937139/fullacoustic monitoringChiropteralandscape structuremicroclimatesite occupancy |
| spellingShingle | Cíntia Fernanda da Costa Cíntia Fernanda da Costa Maria João Ramos Pereira Maria João Ramos Pereira Maria João Ramos Pereira Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution acoustic monitoring Chiroptera landscape structure microclimate site occupancy |
| title | Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection |
| title_full | Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection |
| title_fullStr | Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection |
| title_short | Aerial insectivorous bats in the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna: Modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection |
| title_sort | aerial insectivorous bats in the brazilian uruguayan savanna modelling the occupancy through acoustic detection |
| topic | acoustic monitoring Chiroptera landscape structure microclimate site occupancy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.937139/full |
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