Deforestation Impacts on Bat Functional Diversity in Tropical Landscapes

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Abstract

Functional diversity is the variability in the functional roles carried out by species within ecosystems. Changes in the environment can affect this component of biodiversity and can, in turn, affect different processes, including some ecosystem services. This study aimed to determine the effect of forest loss on species richness, abundance and functional diversity of Neotropical bats. To this end, we identified six landscapes with increasing loss of forest cover in the Huasteca region of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. We captured bats in each landscape using mist nets, and calculated functional diversity indices (functional richness and functional evenness) along with species richness and abundance. We analyzed these measures in terms of percent forest cover. We captured 906 bats (Phyllostomidae and Mormoopidae), including 10 genera and 12 species. Species richness, abundance and functional richness per night are positively related with forest cover. Generalized linear models show that species richness, abundance and functional richness per night are significantly related with forest cover, while seasonality had an effect on abundance and functional richness. Neither forest cover nor season had a significant effect on functional evenness. All these findings were consistent across three spatial scales (1, 3 and 5 km radius around sampling sites). The decrease in species, abundance and functional richness of bats with forest loss may have implications for the ecological processes they carry out such as seed dispersal, pollination and insect predation, among others.

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Most cited references 9

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New multidimensional functional diversity indices for a multifaceted framework in functional ecology.

Sébastien Villéger, Norman W H Mason, David Mouillot (2008)

Functional diversity is increasingly identified as an important driver of ecosystem functioning. Various indices have been proposed to measure the functional diversity of a community, but there is still no consensus on which are most suitable. Indeed, none of the existing indices meets all the criteria required for general use. The main criteria are that they must be designed to deal with several traits, take into account abundances, and measure all the facets of functional diversity. Here we propose three indices to quantify each facet of functional diversity for a community with species distributed in a multidimensional functional space: functional richness (volume of the functional space occupied by the community), functional evenness (regularity of the distribution of abundance in this volume), and functional divergence (divergence in the distribution of abundance in this volume). Functional richness is estimated using the existing convex hull volume index. The new functional evenness index is based on the minimum spanning tree which links all the species in the multidimensional functional space. Then this new index quantifies the regularity with which species abundances are distributed along the spanning tree. Functional divergence is measured using a novel index which quantifies how species diverge in their distances (weighted by their abundance) from the center of gravity in the functional space. We show that none of the indices meets all the criteria required for a functional diversity index, but instead we show that the set of three complementary indices meets these criteria. Through simulations of artificial data sets, we demonstrate that functional divergence and functional evenness are independent of species richness and that the three functional diversity indices are independent of each other. Overall, our study suggests that decomposition of functional diversity into its three primary components provides a meaningful framework for its quantification and for the classification of existing functional diversity indices. This decomposition has the potential to shed light on the role of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning and on the influence of biotic and abiotic filters on the structure of species communities. Finally, we propose a general framework for applying these three functional diversity indices.

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Functional diversity: back to basics and looking forward.

Owen L Petchey, Kevin Gaston (2006)

Functional diversity is a component of biodiversity that generally concerns the range of things that organisms do in communities and ecosystems. Here, we review how functional diversity can explain and predict the impact of organisms on ecosystems and thereby provide a mechanistic link between the two. Critical points in developing predictive measures of functional diversity are the choice of functional traits with which organisms are distinguished, how the diversity of that trait information is summarized into a measure of functional diversity, and that the measures of functional diversity are validated through quantitative analyses and experimental tests. There is a vast amount of trait information available for plant species and a substantial amount for animals. Choosing which traits to include in a particular measure of functional diversity will depend on the specific aims of a particular study. Quantitative methods for choosing traits and for assigning weighting to traits are being developed, but need much more work before we can be confident about trait choice. The number of ways of measuring functional diversity is growing rapidly. We divide them into four main groups. The first, the number of functional groups or types, has significant problems and researchers are more frequently using measures that do not require species to be grouped. Of these, some measure diversity by summarizing distances between species in trait space, some by estimating the size of the dendrogram required to describe the difference, and some include information about species' abundances. We show some new and important differences between these, as well as what they indicate about the responses of assemblages to loss of individuals. There is good experimental and analytical evidence that functional diversity can provide a link between organisms and ecosystems but greater validation of measures is required. We suggest that non-significant results have a range of alternate explanations that do not necessarily contradict positive effects of functional diversity. Finally, we suggest areas for development of techniques used to measure functional diversity, highlight some exciting questions that are being addressed using ideas about functional diversity, and suggest some directions for novel research.

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Preserving the tree of life.

Georgina Mace, John Gittleman, Andy Purvis (2003)

Phylogenies provide new ways to measure biodiversity, to assess conservation priorities, and to quantify the evolutionary history in any set of species. Methodological problems and a lack of knowledge about most species have so far hampered their use. In the future, as techniques improve and more data become accessible, we will have an expanded set of conservation options, including ways to prioritize outcomes from evolutionary and ecological processes.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Brock Fenton: Role: Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PLoS One

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PLoS ONE

Journal ID (publisher-id): plos

Journal ID (pmc): plosone

Title: PLoS ONE

Publisher: Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 1932-6203

Publication date (Electronic): 7 December 2016

Publication date Collection: 2016

Volume: 11

Issue: 12

Electronic Location Identifier: e0166765

Affiliations

[1 ]Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo, México

[2 ]División de Ciencias Ambientales, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica A.C., San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

[3 ]Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada (INBIOTECA), Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

University of Western Ontario, CANADA

Author notes

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Conceptualization: RGM CEM.
Data curation: RGM.
Formal analysis: RGM CEM EIB.
Funding acquisition: CEM.
Investigation: RGM ESAG.
Methodology: RGM CEM EIB IZ.
Project administration: CEM.
Resources: CEM.
Supervision: CEM.
Validation: EIB IZ AERM JGG.
Visualization: RGM CEM.
Writing – original draft: RGM CEM IZ.
Writing – review & editing: RGM CEM EIB IZ JGG AERM ESAG.

[¤]

Current address: Centro del Cambio Global y la Sustentabilidad en el Sureste A.C., Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico

* E-mail: cmoreno@ 123456uaeh.edu.mx

Author information

Claudia E. Moreno http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9584-2619

Article

Publisher ID: PONE-D-16-32823

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166765

PMC ID: 5142789

PubMed ID: 27926923

SO-VID: 3962b9d5-28e8-4b74-b6bb-011d7ece74ef

License:

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

History

Date received : 16 August 2016

Date accepted : 3 November 2016

Page count

Figures: 1, Tables: 5, Pages: 16

Funding

Funded by: funder-id http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003141, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología;

Award ID: 270780

Award Recipient : Rodrigo García-Morales

Funded by: funder-id http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003141, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología;

Award ID: 222632

Award Recipient :

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9584-2619

Claudia E. Moreno

Funded by: funder-id http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003141, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología;

Award ID: 191908

RGM is grateful to CONACYT for the doctoral studies scholarship (270780). This study was funded by FOMIX CONACYT, project No. 191908 “Diversidad Biológica del Estado de Hidalgo (tercera etapa)”, and SEP-CONACYT Basic Science project No. 222632, “Evaluación de la diversidad de especies mediante el análisis e integración de elementos ecológicos, funcionales y evolutivos”, awarded to CEM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Deforestation Impacts on Bat Functional Diversity in Tropical Landscapes

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Abstract

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PLOS Climate

Most cited references 9

New multidimensional functional diversity indices for a multifaceted framework in functional ecology.

Functional diversity: back to basics and looking forward.

Preserving the tree of life.

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