Bat assemblage of Guaribas Biological Reserve, an Atlantic forest conservation unit in North-eastern Brazil: Results of a two-stage long-term survey

Abstract

Inventories are the basis of every work with biodiversity, with increased importance due to the current environmental crisis. Bats are one of the most diverse groups of mammals, with high ecologic versatility and are good bioindicators to monitor environmental impacts. We performed a two-stage survey at an Atlantic Forest reserve in the State of Paraíba, the first stage registering 187 individuals of 24 species and the second stage, 1073 individuals of 11 species; the second stage’s richness being a subset of the first as pointed by the Mann-Whitney test. The second stage was more efficient in accumulating individuals, while the first accumulated species more efficiently. The diversity estimation (Chao 1) pointed that the survey was efficient in registering 93.75% of the species richness predicted for the area, and that diversity estimators are more reliable to evaluate sampling efficiency than methods based in number of captures. The inventory survey registered over 42% of the species richness registered for the State of Paraíba, as well as included a new register, Natalus stramineus, pointing that the bat richness for the state is yet to be sufficiently studied.