Abstract

MENA, José Luis. Responses of bats to forest fragmentation at Pozuzo, Peru. Rev. peru biol., Dec. 2010, vol.17, no.3, p.277-284. ISSN 1727-9933.

Forest fragmentation and deforestation are among the major threats to Peruvian bats conservation. Unfortunately, information about the effects of these threats above 500 m elevation is lacking. In this study, I assessed bat responses to fragmentation in Pozuzo (Pasco) at a landscape scale approach. I evaluate two hypotheses regarding the role of bats as indicators of habitat disturbance. The first prediction says that landscapes highly disturbed will show higher abundances of habitat generalist species such as frugivorous bats belonging to the subfamilies Stenodermatinae and Carollinae. The second prediction regards that landscapes with greater forest cover will show higher abundance of habitat specialist species such as animalivorous bat species belonging to the subfamily Phyllostominae, a guild sensitive to forest disturbance. I found evidence supporting the animalivorous hypothesis but it was partial to the frugivorous hypothesis. This study highlights the importance of forest fragments to bat conservation in human-modified landscapes.

Keywords: bats; fragmentation; tropical forests; Southwestern Amazon subandean evergreen forest; human-modified landscapes; conservation; Pozuzo; Peru.