Ana Sofia Castro-Fernandes , Ana Catarina Araújo-Fernandes , Patrícia Guedes , José Cassari , Vanessa A. Mata , Natalie Yoh , Ricardo Rocha , Ana Filipa Palmeirim
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Land-use change underpins the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Although such impacts are particularly acute across endemic-rich oceanic islands, little is known for afro-tropical islands. Here we assessed insectivorous bat responses to different land-use types of the island of São Tomé, in Central West Africa. Since its human colonization in the mid-15th century, São Tomé lost over 70 % of its native habitat, mostly to shaded and oil palm plantations, agriculture, and urban areas, while part of that was abandoned allowing secondary forests to re-grow. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we surveyed insectivorous bats in 115 sites across each land-use type over one month. We then examined bat species richness and activity, and species-specific activity. Based on 5520 h of recordings, we obtained 19,744 bat passes from five of the six taxa known to occur on the island, three of which are endemics. Both species richness and activity were highest in the four non-forest land-use types, with activity further decreasing with altitude. Species-specific responses corresponded to foraging guild: the forest foragers Hipposideros ruber and Macronycteris thomensis showed higher activity in forests and shaded plantations, the activity of the open-space foragers Chaerephon spp. peaked in urban areas, while that of the edge forager Miniopterus newtoni was highest in oil palm plantations. The island's insectivorous bats are persisting despite land-use change, including island endemics. Maintaining the mosaic of land-use types, including native forests, is likely to help sustain insectivorous bat diversity in this tropical island.
土地利用变化加剧了当前的生物多样性危机。尽管这种影响在地方特有的海洋岛屿上尤为严重,但对非洲热带岛屿的影响却知之甚少。在这里,我们评估了食虫蝙蝠对西非中部的s o tom岛不同土地利用类型的反应。自从人类在15世纪中期殖民以来,s o tom失去了超过70%的原生栖息地,主要是树荫和油棕种植园,农业和城市地区,而其中一部分被放弃,允许次生林重新生长。利用被动声学监测,我们在一个多月的时间里调查了115个不同土地利用类型的食虫蝙蝠。然后,我们研究了蝙蝠物种丰富度和活动,以及物种特异性活动。根据5520小时的记录,我们从岛上已知的6个分类群中的5个分类群中获得了19,744个蝙蝠,其中3个是特有的。4种非森林利用类型的物种丰富度和活跃度均最高,随海拔的升高而进一步降低。物种特异性响应与觅食行会相对应:森林觅食者Hipposideros ruber和Macronycteris thomensis在森林和遮荫人工林中表现出较高的活动,开放空间觅食者chaerphon spp.的活动在城市地区最高,而边缘觅食者Miniopterus newtoni的活动在油棕人工林中最高。尽管土地利用发生了变化,岛上的食虫蝙蝠依然存在,包括岛上的地方病。维持土地利用类型的马赛克,包括原始森林,可能有助于维持这个热带岛屿上食虫蝙蝠的多样性。
期刊介绍:
Biological Conservation is an international leading journal in the discipline of conservation biology. The journal publishes articles spanning a diverse range of fields that contribute to the biological, sociological, and economic dimensions of conservation and natural resource management. The primary aim of Biological Conservation is the publication of high-quality papers that advance the science and practice of conservation, or which demonstrate the application of conservation principles for natural resource management and policy. Therefore it will be of interest to a broad international readership.