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Current Status of Ecotoxicological Studies of Bats in Brazil

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Abstract

Bats are sensitive to contaminants generated by agricultural activities, mining, and urbanization. In this review, we update the status of bat toxicology in Brazil. Agriculture, for example, in addition to habitat fragmentation and loss, undoubtedly affects non-target organisms through the use of pesticides. Other factors such as trace metals are a neglected problem in the country, as they can deposit on insects and plants reaching bats through the ingestion of these foods. Of the 184 species of bats in the country, only 4.9% have been investigated. The frugivorous species, Artibeus lituratus, has frequently been studied for the effects of pesticide exposure, and impacts at the cellular level on metabolism and reproduction have been observed. Given the scarcity of studies on bat ecotoxicology, we encourage national researchers and scientists elsewhere to increase knowledge of the effects of chemical contaminants on bats in Brazil.

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Acknowledgements

We grateful the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, (CAPES), as well as the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (Funbio) for supporting the MBS researcher. DMS also thanks National Council for Scientific and Technological Develsopment (CNPq) for her research scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Mutagênese, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, ICB I - Universidade Federal de Goiás, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, GO, CEP: 74690-900, Brasil

    Marcelino Benvindo de Souza, Hugo Freire Nunes & Daniela de Melo e Silva

  2. Laboratório de Biologia Animal - Instituto Federal Goiano - IF Goiano, Rodovia Sul Goiana, Km 01, Zona Rural, Rio Verde, GO, CEP: 75.901-970, Brasil

    Marcelino Benvindo de Souza & Lia Raquel de Souza Santos

  3. Laboratório de Zoologia - Universidade de Rio Verde - UniRV, Fazenda Fontes do Saber, Rio Verde, GO, CEP: 75.901-970, Brasil

    Rinneu Elias Borges

  4. Laboratório de Ictiologia de Altamira, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Altamira, Rua Coronel José Porfírio 2515, São Sebastião, Altamira, PA, CEP: 68372-040, Brasil

    Thiago Bernardi Vieira

  5. Departamento de Pesquisa, Instituto Sauver, Av. Pernambuco 2623 sala 404, Floresta, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP: 90240005, Brasil

    Susi Missel Pacheco

Authors
  1. Marcelino Benvindo de Souza
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  2. Lia Raquel de Souza Santos
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  3. Rinneu Elias Borges
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  4. Hugo Freire Nunes
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  5. Thiago Bernardi Vieira
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  6. Susi Missel Pacheco
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  7. Daniela de Melo e Silva
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Correspondence to Marcelino Benvindo de Souza or Lia Raquel de Souza Santos.

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de Souza, M.B., de Souza Santos, L.R., Borges, R.E. et al. Current Status of Ecotoxicological Studies of Bats in Brazil. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 104, 393–399 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02794-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-02794-0

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