Abstract
We studied the altitudinal and temporal patterns of species abundance and reproductive status for 18 Neotropical bat species during 17 continuous months in four ranges (low 50, mid–low 500, mid–high 1000, and high 2000 m a.s.l.) in an altitudinal gradient in Costa Rica. We found an effect of elevation on the abundance on ten species. We also found a combined effect of altitude and precipitation in two species; for example, Carollia castanea was more abundant at the low altitudinal range and during the high precipitation period, while Sturnira hondurensis was more abundant at the high altitudinal range and during the low precipitation period. We also found an effect of altitude and precipitation on the reproductive status of five bat species. Carollia sowellii and C. castanea showed higher number of reproductive males in the low range and reproductive females in the low altitudinal range during the high precipitation period. We also found a larger number of reproductive males of Sturnira mordax in the mid–high range, while pregnant females were more abundant during the low precipitation period. Our results show altitudinal and temporal patterns of abundance and reproductive phenology that highlight the need for long-term studies of species assemblages along altitudinal gradients. This information is crucial to implement conservation strategies that are species-orientated, promoting habitat protection for a large number of species in altitudinal ranges involved at the specific periods when bat abundance or reproduction is higher.
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Acknowledgements
We want to thank two anonymous reviewers that helped us improve our manuscript. We want to thank Marco Ramírez and Edwin Paniagua for their collaboration during field work. We acknowledge Jorge Hernández and SINAC-ACCVC that issued research permits. WPL acknowledges funding provided by Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y Tecnología and Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología of Costa Rica, to Bat Conservation International for the Student Research Grant, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for Scott Neotropical Fund, and the American Society of Mammalogist for the Latin American Student Field Research Award. WPL dedicates this research to the memory of Elizabeth Kalko.
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The study was provided by Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y Tecnología and Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología of Costa Rica, Bat Conservation International for the Student Research Grant, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for Scott Neotropical Fund, and the American Society of Mammalogist for the Latin American Student Field Research Award.
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All research permits were issued by the Costa Rican Minister of Environment (MINAE): ACCVCR-R-INV-0013, 060-2012-ACCVCR-PI, and 021-2013- ACCVCR-PI. We also followed the guidelines of animal care and live capture for bats of Sikes y Gannon (2011).
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Pineda-Lizano, W., Chaverri, G. Spatio-temporal distribution and reproductive phenology of Neotropical bat species in an altitudinal gradient in Costa Rica. Mamm Biol 102, 61–72 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-021-00213-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-021-00213-3