Landscape influence on leaf-nosed bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) and potential of arthropod consumption in Brazilian Atlantic Forests

Understanding the effects of habitat loss on communities is essential for biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services. Considering that bats are efficient consumers of arthropods, including insects of economic interest, knowledge on how local and landscape factors influence bat assemblages may provide the basis for enhancement of key ecosystem functions, such as natural control for arthropods. Based on the species richness (total and insectivorous) and on the defaunation index (DI), defined as the loss or depletion of an animal species attribute, we investigated how the landscape can influence patterns of leaf-nosed bats and their potential of arthropod consumption in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We calculated species richness and DI using a compilation of bat records in the Atlantic Forest over 20 years (focal assemblages) and IUCN's potential occurrence polygons (reference assemblages used in DI). We quantified the vegetation cover, the dominant type and the heterogeneity of the matrix within circular landscapes around each sampling site of focal assemblages. One hundred and four assemblages were included in the analyses, most of them in the southeast of the Atlantic Forest, with agriculture as the dominant non-natural matrix. We found a negative effect of matrix heterogeneity on DI, and a positive effect of forest cover on the richness of insectivorous bats. The results highlight the importance of forest remnants in fragmented landscapes in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest for the maintenance of leaf-nosed bats and their potential for arthropod consumption.