Fatores que influenciam a ocorrência de morcegos Phyllostomidae em diferentes ambientes do Cerrado

Abstract

Many studies in ecology have sought to identify what are the factors that influence habitat use by animal species. Availability of food and relief are often cited as factors related to habitat use for various species of animals. In order to evaluate the effect of the availability of food and relief on the assembly of Phyllostomidae bats, I inventoried the assembly composition and abundance of bats, availability of food resources (flowers, fruits and insects), and relief (elevation) at cerrado stricto sensu and galery forest areas in the Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Guimarães, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. With 3,360 hours-mist net (14 line transects, 56 nights, 12 mist nets 10 x 3 m) I captured 850 individuals belonging to 25 species of Phyllostomidae, representing three trophic guilds (frugivores, animalivores and nectarivores). By analyzing the correlation between the variables, the elevation was the only predictor variable related to the structure of the community in terms of composition and abundance of the assembly of bats, and composition and abundance of trophic guilds. This study is the first to demonstrate that the elevation is an important structuring factor in bat communities in the biome Cerrado.