Stratifying the urban matrix using zoning laws: a protocol for bats and their pathogens

Urbanization implies important ecological changes in bat communities and in their intra and interspecific pathogen transmission. However, little is known about the influences of the urban components on the ecology and structuring of these communities. The urban environment is a complex and heterogeneous matrix, in which different physical, structural, and socioeconomic factors influence the ecological dynamics of bats. A scale that better contemplates such spatial heterogeneity and complexity can contribute to improving the understanding of urbanization influences on bats. Urban zoning legislation determines a city’s land subdivision, use, and occupation, acting as a detailed division of the urban matrix itself. We used urban zoning to develop a sample design for an eco-epidemiological study of bats in São Paulo, the biggest Metropolitan Area of Brazil. The zones defined by municipal laws were validated through visual analysis using remote sensing images to distinguish the urban matrix into strata as distinct as possible from each other and to meet the logistical assumptions of fieldwork. Six different strata were obtained: forested, peri-urban rural, slum, residential with houses, condominiums, and industrial areas. Although complementary to other landscape analysis techniques, municipal zoning can be useful to access the urban heterogeneity that general divisions of land use (e.g., urban patch) do not supply. Thus, it can be useful to compare animal communities between urban strata and to aid formulation of hypotheses about urbanization’s influences on these communities. In addition, this tool steps up the connection between ecology and urban planning, subsidizing One Health actions in interdisciplinary approaches.