Morcegos cavernícolas no carste Bambuí, Região de Arcos-Pains, MG: uso da paisagem e área de vida

Abstract

The loss and fragmentation of habitats have negative consequences for biodiversity, affecting various species in terms of reduced species numbers, changes in abundances, reproductive success, and movement patterns. Agricultural and livestock expansion, urbanization, and mining are some of the main causes of these processes of loss and fragmentation. In this study, we investigated the effects of land use change on taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of bats, as well as estimated the home range of nine species in a limestone karst region located in the Southern Minas Gerais, Brazil. The increase in mining area negatively affects richness and phylogenetic diversity, while urban areas negatively affect Shannon and Pielou indices and evenness. Higher vegetation coverage over the karst positively affects Shannon, Pielou, and evenness. For the home range analysis, the estimated values ranged from 103 to 4550 hectares, with Glossophaga soricina and Artibeus planirostris being the species with the largest estimated ranges. This is the first work to estimate the home range of the species Platyrrhinus lineatus and Tonatia bidens, at 113 and 255 hectares, respectively. The results provide evidence of the negative impacts of mining and urbanization, highlighting the importance of preserving the karst area to promote positive effects on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversities of bats. Furthermore, we found that the home ranges of the nine species are larger than the cave protection zone, revealing that the cave-dwelling bat community is not covered by current cave protection legislation, including the troglobic fauna.