Importance of riparian vegetation and wood-pastures in the maintenance of bat assemblages in a highly fragmented landscape in Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

To investigate whether trees and palms scattered in pastures contribute to the maintenance of bat assemblages in landscapes highly fragmented by livestock farming activities, we evaluated the bat assemblages and foraging guilds between wooded pastures and riparian vegetation. Using mist nets, we captured 1013 bats from 29 species and four taxonomic families. We found that the abundance, richness, and composition of bat species were not significantly different between vegetation types. Frugivores were the most abundant guild, and their abundance did not differ between vegetation types, indicating that wood-pastures allow the presence of these bats in the landscape. On the other hand, insectivores were more abundant in riparian vegetation and, interestingly, nectarivores were more abundant in pastures, likely due to the great plasticity of species of the genus Glossophaga. Our results are encouraging, since they demonstrate that a rustic pasture management that promoting the presence of scattered trees and palms along with belts of riparian vegetation, allows the maintenance of bat assemblages in a highly fragmented landscape.