Data from: Effects of land-use change on functional and taxonomic diversity of Neotropical bats
Data files
Nov 13, 2019 version files 54.39 KB
Abstract
Human land-use changes are particularly extensive in tropical
regions, representing one of the greatest threats to terrestrial
biodiversity and a key research topic in conservation. However, studies
considering the effects of different types of anthropogenic disturbance on
the functional dimension of biodiversity in human-modified landscapes are
rare. Here, we obtained data through an extensive review of peer-reviewed
articles and compared 30 Neotropical bat assemblages in well-preserved
primary forest and four different human-disturbed habitats in terms of
their functional and taxonomic diversity. We found that disturbed habitats
that are structurally less similar to primary forest (pasture, cropland and
early-stage secondary forest) were characterized by a lower functional and
taxonomic diversity, as well as community level-functional uniqueness.
These habitats generally retained fewer species that perform different
ecological functions compared to higher-quality landscape matrices, such as
agroforestry. According to functional trait composition, different bat
ensembles respond differently to landscape change, negatively affecting
mainly gleaning insectivorous bats in pasture, narrow-range species in
cropland, and heavier animalivorous bats in secondary forest. Although our
results highlight the importance of higher-quality matrix habitats to
support elevated functional and taxonomic bat diversity, the conservation
of bat species that perform different ecological functions in the mosaic of
human-modified habitats also depends on the irreplaceable conservation
value of well-preserved primary forests. Our study based on a pooled
analysis of individual studies provides novel insights into the effects of
different human-modified habitats on Neotropical bat assemblages.