Seasonal variation in the diversity and composition of phyllostomid bat assemblages in continuous and fragmented forests in Los Chimalapas, Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

The fragmentation of tropical forest may modify the abundance and species richness of bats, but its effectson the temporal composition of assemblages have been less understood. We evaluate the species richness, diversity,proportion of trophic guilds, and composition of nose-leaf bat assemblages in continuous (BC) and fragmented (BF)forest, during 2 dry and 2 rainy seasons in a forest of Los Chimalapas, Oaxaca, Mexico. In this study we conductedfrom March 2010 to February 2012, and bats were captured with mist nets during 144 nights. We captured 1 840individuals of 29 species of nose-leaf bats. The results show that BC has a temporal pattern of richness, dominance,diversity, and proportion of trophic guild according to variations in food availability in each season. The BF showlittle temporal variability in the above features, but high variability in the composition of assemblages compared toBC, that show more stability. Habitat fragmentation may intensify the severity of seasonal changes in the availabilityof resources, which in turn may cause a greater temporal variability in the composition of assemblages.