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Conservation Value of Remnant Habitat for Neotropical Bats on Islands

Armando Rodríguez-Durán1,* and Waldemar Feliciano-Robles1

1SUniversidad Interamericana, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, 500 John W. Harris Road, Bayamón, PR 00957, USA *Corresponding author.

Caribbean Naturalist, No. 35 (2016)

Abstract
The archipelago of remnant habitats that results after a fragmentation event often vary in the quality of ecological characteristics that allow each fragment to sustain populations of bats. The species diversity and richness of these forest remnants are influenced also by the permeability of the matrix on which they stand. Urban areas represent an ever-increasing matrix in the tropics, interspersed with remnants of natural habitats. We conducted a sampling program at 2 locations with different levels of urban encroachment along the karst belt of northern Puerto Rico. Field work was conducted from January 2013 through August 2015. During this study, we captured a total of 11 out of the 13 species of bat documented as present in Puerto Rico. Neither weather conditions nor the phase or presence of the moon were statistically significant factors determining the number of bats captured per night. Our results support the prediction that some forest remnants within an urban matrix have conservation value for bats, and that higher landscape complementation may have a positive effect on bats’ species richness and diversity. This effect may be augmented on islands, where edge-tolerant species seem to be more common than in the mainland. The permeability of the urban matrix, combined with resident populations and a network of corridors, convey important conservation value to archipelagos of forest remnants within this urban matrix.

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