Papers by Diogo F Ferreira
Journal of Mammalogy, 2021
The use of mist nets is the most widespread technique to capture bats; however, no study has comp... more The use of mist nets is the most widespread technique to capture bats; however, no study has compared if the type of ground-level mist net used during sampling affects bat captures. We sampled bats using three different types of mist nets that varied in mesh (16, 18, and 20 mm) and denier/ply (45/1 and 75/2) sizes over 76 half-night surveys. We used 17–20 mist nets and checked them at intervals of 15–20 min. Capture rate for echolocating bats was higher in the two mist nets with the biggest denier/ply and smaller mesh sizes. “Ultrathin bat mist nets” showed the lowest capture rates (1.5 times less than “Regular bat mist nets”), whereas “Bird mist nets” had capture rates only 1.2 times smaller than “Regular bat mist nets.” Our results showed that “Bird mist nets” can sample echolocating bats almost as well as “Regular bat mist nets,” and that thinner mist nets may not be the best solution to capture bats that echolocate at high frequencies in this type of surveys. We highlight the im...
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Journal of Applied Ecology, 2021
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Barbastella, 2020
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Ecography, 2019
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Current Zoology, 2019
Secondary forests and human-made forest gaps are conspicuous features of tropical landscapes. Yet... more Secondary forests and human-made forest gaps are conspicuous features of tropical landscapes. Yet, behavioral responses to these aspects of anthropogenically modified forests remain poorly investigated. Here, we analyze the effects of small human-made clearings and secondary forests on tropical bats by examining the guild- and species-level activity patterns of phyllostomids sampled in the Central Amazon, Brazil. Specifically, we contrast the temporal activity patterns and degree of temporal overlap of 6 frugivorous and 4 gleaning animalivorous species in old-growth forest and second-growth forest and of 4 frugivores in old-growth forest and forest clearings. The activity patterns of frugivores and gleaning animalivores did not change between old-growth forest and second-growth, nor did the activity patterns of frugivores between old-growth forest and clearings. However, at the species level, we detected significant differences for Artibeus obscurus (old-growth forest vs. second-gro...
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Forest Ecology and Management, 2017
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Ecology and evolution, Jun 1, 2017
Seasonality causes fluctuations in resource availability, affecting the presence and abundance of... more Seasonality causes fluctuations in resource availability, affecting the presence and abundance of animal species. The impacts of these oscillations on wildlife populations can be exacerbated by habitat fragmentation. We assessed differences in bat species abundance between the wet and dry season in a fragmented landscape in the Central Amazon characterized by primary forest fragments embedded in a secondary forest matrix. We also evaluated whether the relative importance of local vegetation structure versus landscape characteristics (composition and configuration) in shaping bat abundance patterns varied between seasons. Our working hypotheses were that abundance responses are species as well as season specific, and that in the wet season, local vegetation structure is a stronger determinant of bat abundance than landscape-scale attributes. Generalized linear mixed-effects models in combination with hierarchical partitioning revealed that relationships between species abundances and...
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Biology
Africa faces significant challenges in reconciling economic and social development while preservi... more Africa faces significant challenges in reconciling economic and social development while preserving its natural resources. Little is known about the diverse bat community on the continent, particularly in drier ecosystems. A better understanding of the bat community will help improve and inform the management of these ecosystems. Our study aimed to provide detailed information on the main drivers of bat richness and activity at three different heights above the ground in a semi-arid region of Kenya. We assessed how bat activity varied with space and height using acoustic sampling and complementary methods. We sampled 48 sites at ground level and two sites on meteorological masts at 20 m and 35 m above the ground. We recorded more than 20 bat species, including one species of concern for conservation. Our models showed that the use of space varies with bat guild, creating trade-offs in the variables that affect their activity. Low-flying bat species are mostly associated with habitat...
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Biotropica
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Journal of Applied Ecology
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Seasonality causes fluctuations in resource availability, affecting the presence and abundance of... more Seasonality causes fluctuations in resource availability, affecting the presence and abundance of animal species. The impacts of these oscillations on wildlife populations can be exacerbated by habitat fragmentation. We assessed differences in bat species abundance between the wet and dry season in a fragmented landscape in the Central Amazon characterized by primary forest fragments embedded in a secondary forest matrix. We also evaluated whether the relative importance of local vegetation structure versus landscape characteristics (composition and configuration) in shaping bat abundance patterns varied between seasons. Our working hypotheses were that abundance responses are species as well as season specific, and that in the wet season , local vegetation structure is a stronger determinant of bat abundance than landscape-scale attributes. Generalized linear mixed-effects models in combination with hierarchical partitioning revealed that relationships between species abundances and local vegetation structure and landscape characteristics were both season specific and scale dependent. Overall, landscape characteristics were more important than local vegetation characteristics, suggesting that landscape structure is likely to play an even more important role in landscapes with higher fragment-matrix contrast. Responses varied between frugivores and animalivores. In the dry season, frugivores responded more to compositional metrics, whereas during the wet season, local and configurational metrics were more important. Animalivores showed similar patterns in both seasons, responding to the same group of metrics in both seasons. Differences in responses likely reflect seasonal differences in the phenology of flowering and fruiting between primary and secondary forests, which affected the foraging behavior and habitat use of bats. Management actions should encompass multiscale approaches to account for the idiosyncratic responses of species to seasonal variation in resource abundance and consequently to local and landscape scale attributes.
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Papers by Diogo F Ferreira