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The relative importance of local versus landscape variables on site occupancy in bats of the Brazilian Cerrado

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Abstract

Context

Species site-occupancy patterns may be influenced by habitat variables at both local and landscape scales. Although local habitat variables influence whether the site is suitable for a given species, the broader landscape context can also influence site occupancy, particularly for species that are sensitive to land-use change.

Objectives

To examine the relative importance of local versus landscape variables in explaining site occupancy of eight bat species within the Brazilian Cerrado, a Neotropical savanna that is experiencing widespread habitat loss and fragmentation.

Methods

Bats were surveyed within 16 forest patches over two years. We used a multi-model information-theoretic approach, adjusted for species detection bias, to assess whether landscape variables (percent cover and number of patches of natural vegetation within a 2- and 8-km radius of each forest site) or local site variables (canopy cover, understory height, number of trees, and number of lianas) best explained site occupancy in each species.

Results

Landscape variables were among the best models (ΔAICc or ΔQAICc < 2) for four species (top-ranked model for black myotis), whereas local variables were among the best for five species (top-ranked model for vampire bats). Neither local nor landscape variables explained site occupancy in two frugivorous species.

Conclusion

Species associated with a particular habitat type will not respond similarly to the amount, distribution or relative suitability of that habitat, or even at the same scale. This reinforces the challenge of species distribution modelling, especially in the context of forecasting species’ responses to future land-use or climate-change scenarios.

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Acknowledgements

The field work was supported by International Foundation for Science (D-5288-1), CNPq (486057/2012-7), PELD, Anglo American Group, and CAPES. P. Mendes was supported by a scholarship from CNPq (140648/2011-9) and the “Sandwich Doctorate Program” from CAPES. L. Signorelli was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship provided by the “Ciência sem Fronteiras” program (PDE 249755/2013-0). P. De Marco was funded by continuous productivity CNPq Grants (305542/2010-9). We are grateful to the LAPIG-UFG laboratory for providing help with satellite images. L. Sales, A. Paglia, D. Brito, R. Loyola, D. Donner, and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank S. de Jesus, P.V.S. Bernardo, L.M. Camargos, P.H.P. Braga, B.C. Gomes, C. Sobral, P. Coelho, and A. Bispo for help with the sampling design and field work; landowners for site access; ICMBio for providing the necessary permits to sample bats; and, the National Forest of Silvânia and Emas National Park for permitting us to survey bats within their conservation units. We also thank L.L. Souza for the Artibeus lituratus illustration, and P.H.P. Braga for the photo of the Incan broad-nosed bat that we used in Fig. 1.

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  1. Ecology Department, Biological Sciences Institute, Federal University of Goiás, Campus II, Goiânia, Goiás, 74001-970, Brazil

    Poliana Mendes & Paulo De Marco Jr.

  2. Laboratory for Landscape and Conservation Ecology, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA

    Kimberly A. With & Luciana Signorelli

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  1. Poliana Mendes
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Correspondence to Poliana Mendes.

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Mendes, P., With, K.A., Signorelli, L. et al. The relative importance of local versus landscape variables on site occupancy in bats of the Brazilian Cerrado. Landscape Ecol 32, 745–762 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0483-6

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