title: Response of neotropical bat assemblages to human land use.
abstract: Neotropical bats are sensitive to human-induced habitat changes, and some authors believe bats can be used as bioindicators. In the literature, however, the results are disparate. Some results show bat diversity deceases as disturbance increases, whereas others indicate no effect. Determining the general response patterns of bats when they encounter different degrees of human-induced disturbance across the Neotropics would help to determine their usefulness as bioindicators. In a series of meta-analyses, we compared the occurrence frequency of bat species between well-preserved forests and human-use areas. We obtained data through an extensive review of published peer-reviewed articles, theses, and reports. The overall effect size indicated that human-use areas harbored more bat species than well-preserved forests. Different response patterns emerged when meta-analyses were conducted separately by family, feeding habit, vegetation stratum, and conservation status. Our results suggest that bat assemblages display strong responses to forest loss and land-use change and that the direction and magnitude of these responses depends on the bat group under study and the type of disturbance. Our results are consistent with the idea that bats are useful for assessing the effects of habitat changes in the Neotropics. However, with our meta-analyses we could not detect fine differences in bat feeding habits, especially within Phyllostomidae, or elucidate the effect of landscape configuration.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km 4.5, Col. Carboneras, 42184, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, México. r.garciamorales83@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Morales
authors.forename: Ernesto I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Badano
authors.forename: Claudia E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Moreno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004777:Environment; D006802:Human Activities; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics
keywords: Chiroptera; Neotropical forest; bosque neotropical; cambio de uso de suelo; effect size; habitat loss; land-use change; meta-analysis; meta-análisis; odds ratio; proporción de posibilidades; pérdida de hábitat; tamaño de efecto