Bat Fauna (Chiroptera) in an urban environment in the Atlantic Forest, northeastern Brazil

Neotropical Biology and Conservation 14(1): 55-82, doi: 10.3897/neotropical.14.e34837

Edson Silva Barbosa Leal^‡, Deoclécio de Queiróz Guerra Filho^§†, Daniel de Figueiredo Ramalho^|, Julianne Moura da Silva^¶, Rafael Sales Bandeira^#, Luiz Augustinho Menezes da Silva^¤, Maria Adélia Borstelmann de Oliveira^«¶

‡ Universidade Federal de Pernambuco – UFPE, Centro de Biociências, Recife, PE, Brazil§ Universidade Federal de Pernambuco – UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil| Universidade de Brasília – UnB, campus Darcy Ribeiro, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Brasília, DF, Brazil¶ Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco – UFRPE, Recife, PE, Brazil# Laboratório de Ecofisiologia e Comportamento Animal (LECA), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco – UFRPE, Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal (DMFA), Recife, PE, Brazil¤ Universidade Federal de Pernambuco – UFPE, Centro Acadêmico de Vitória – CAV, Vitória de Santo Antão, PE, Brazil« Laboratório de Ecofisiologia e Comportamento Animal (LECA), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco – UFRPE, Recife, PE, Brazil

† Deceased author

Corresponding author: Edson Silva Barbosa Leal ( edson.leal76@gmail.com )

Academic editor: Ana Maria Leal-Zanchet

© Edson Silva Barbosa Leal, Deoclécio de Queiróz Guerra Filho, Daniel de Figueiredo Ramalho, Julianne Moura da Silva, Rafael Sales Bandeira, Luiz Augustinho Menezes da Silva, Maria Adélia Borstelmann de Oliveira.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Barbosa Leal ES, de Queiróz Guerra Filho D, de Figueiredo Ramalho D, da Silva JM, Sales Bandeira R, Menezes da Silva LA, Borstelmann de Oliveira MA (2019) Bat Fauna (Chiroptera) in an urban environment in the Atlantic Forest, northeastern Brazil. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 14(1): 55-82. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.14.e34837

Abstract

In Brazil, only few works have been conducted regarding urban bats and information about richness, composition and ecological interactions in urban areas is little known. Additional studies are important to understand the dynamic of urban bats and offer strategies for their protection. In this paper, we present the results of a bat inventory at the Dois Irmãos campus of UFRPE, Recife, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, with analyzes of the composition, richness, diversity, and seasonal variation. From May 2006 to April 2007, we captured 950 bats from 16 species (five families). Frugivores bats accounted for 84.42% of the captures, followed by insectivores, piscivorous, nectarivores, omnivores, and hematophages. The species Artibeus planirostris was the most abundant. There was no significant difference (t = 0.35443, p = 0.7257) on abundance between the seasons of the year. We observed a richer and more diverse bat fauna as one would expect in an urban area, which suggests that the campus is being used for foraging, commuting, or as shelters for these animals.

Keywords

Atlantic Forest, Chiropterans, Inventory, UFRPE, Urban area