title: Bat-fruit interactions are more specialized in shaded-coffee plantations than in tropical mountain cloud forest fragments.
abstract: Forest disturbance causes specialization of plant-frugivore networks and jeopardizes mutualistic interactions through reduction of ecological redundancy. To evaluate how simplification of a forest into an agroecosystem affects plant-disperser mutualistic interactions, we compared bat-fruit interaction indexes of specialization in tropical montane cloud forest fragments (TMCF) and shaded-coffee plantations (SCP). Bat-fruit interactions were surveyed by collection of bat fecal samples. Bat-fruit interactions were more specialized in SCP (mean H2 ' = 0.55) compared to TMCF fragments (mean H2 ' = 0.27), and were negatively correlated to bat abundance in SCP (R = -0.35). The number of shared plant species was higher in the TMCF fragments (mean = 1) compared to the SCP (mean = 0.51) and this was positively correlated to the abundance of frugivorous bats (R= 0.79). The higher specialization in SCP could be explained by lower bat abundance and lower diet overlap among bats. Coffee farmers and conservation policy makers must increase the proportion of land assigned to TMCF within agroecosystem landscapes in order to conserve frugivorous bats and their invaluable seed dispersal service.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Av. de las Culturas Veracruzanas No. 101, Col. E. Zapata, CP 91090, Xalapa, Veracruz, México; Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología A.C. Apdo, Postal 63, CP 91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
authors.forename: Jesús R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hernández-Montero
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Ecología de Paisajes Fragmentados, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701, Ex-Hacienda de San José de la Huerta, 58190, Morelia, Michoacán, México.
authors.forename: Romeo A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Saldaña-Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Av. de las Culturas Veracruzanas No. 101, Col. E. Zapata, CP 91090, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galindo-González
authors.affiliation: Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología A.C. Apdo, Postal 63, CP 91000, Xalapa, Veracruz, México.
authors.forename: Vinicio J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Sosa
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D040503:Coffea / Q000254:growth & development*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D020387:Food Chain; D065928:Forests; D005638:Fruit; D008800:Mexico; D058614:Seed Dispersal / Q000502:physiology*; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology; D014329:Tropical Climate