Diversity and Ecological Function of Bats in the Coffee Agroecosystems of Chiapas, Mexico

该项目是根据2006年少数民族博士后研究奖学金和支持活动计划授予的。生物多样性和生态系统保护取决于我们整合生产和保护目标的能力。虽然保护区在保护方面发挥着关键作用，但由于其地理范围有限，仅凭它们无法实现保护目标。相反，保护在很大程度上取决于保护区所在的人为景观--母体栖息地。人类对这些区域的管理强度影响着分隔零碎栖息地的基质的质量，以及野生动物在基质生境中生存的能力。由于其多样性和生态重要性，新热带蝙蝠受到高度保护；然而，除了连续或零散的森林外，关于它们的群落结构和生态的信息很少。蝙蝠作为食虫动物，通过捕食节肢动物和自上而下控制食草动物的破坏，可能具有重要的生态功能。因此，尽管人们认为蝙蝠可以对农业生产产生积极影响，但来自热带生态系统的量化数据很少支持这一假设。因此，这项研究将解决两个主要问题：(1)不同基质栖息地对蝙蝠的保护潜力是什么？(2)农业生态系统中蝙蝠种群对节肢动物种群和作物生产力有何影响？研究将在墨西哥恰帕斯的咖啡种植园进行，沿着基质质量递减的梯度进行(从传统的多文化遮荫种植咖啡到单一文化的低遮荫系统)。将使用雾网、竖琴捕集器和声学监测来描述蝙蝠的组合和栖息地的用途；将特别努力描述食虫蝙蝠群体。围栏实验将被用来评估蝙蝠捕食对节肢动物数量和植物生产力的影响。该项目的结果将是：更好地了解农业生态基质支持蝙蝠种群的能力；基质栖息地中采样不足的蝙蝠物种的特征；以及热带农业生态系统中蝙蝠节肢动物调节的量化特征。该研究项目的最终目标是产生将应用于热带保护问题的信息，例如通过改进新热带蝙蝠的景观一级保护计划和将生物多样性保护纳入农业规划。这项研究建立在我关于生活在荫咖啡中的灵长类动物生态学的论文工作的基础上；同时，它将导致我的研究计划重新定位为群落生态学和应用生态学研究。与密歇根大学的发起人伊维特·佩尔费托合作将为农业生态学和社区层面的研究提供坚实的基础，为我未来在保护生物学方面的研究做好准备。我计划继续研究多用途景观的保护问题。最终，我希望与社会科学家、政府和当地利益攸关方密切合作，促进改善人类景观的可持续性，补充保护区在生物多样性保护中的关键作用。

This project is awarded under the Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and Supporting Activities Program for 2006. Biodiversity and ecosystem conservation hinge on our ability to integrate the goals of production and preservation. Although protected areas play a critical role in conservation, because of their limited geographical scope, alone they cannot meet conservation goals. Instead, conservation depends in large part on the anthropogenic landscapes in which protected areas are embedded - the matrix habitat. Intensity of human management of these zones affects the quality of the matrix which separates fragmented habitat, and the ability of wildlife to survive in matrix habitats. Due to their diversity and ecological importance, Neotropical bats are of high conservation concern; however, little information exists on their assemblage structure and ecology outside of continuous or fragmented forests. As insectivores, bats presumably bats have important ecological functions via predation on arthropods and top-down control of herbivore damage. Although it is therefore thought that bats could have a positive effect on agricultural production, little quantitative data exist from tropical ecosystems to support this assumption. This research will therefore address two main questions: (1) What is the conservation potential of differing matrix habitats for bats? and (2) What is the impact of bat populations in agroecosystems on arthropod populations and crop productivity? Research will take place in coffee plantations in Chiapas, Mexico, along a gradient of decreasing matrix quality (from traditional polycultural shade-grown coffee to monocultural low-shade systems). Mist nets, harp traps, and acoustic monitoring will be used to characterize the bat assemblage and habitat use; particular effort will be made to describe the insectivorous bat ensemble. Exclosure experiments will be used to evaluate the effects of bat predation on arthropod populations and plant productivity. This project will result in: an improved understanding of the ability of the agroecological matrix to support bat populations; characterization of under-sampled bat species in matrix habitat; and a quantitative characterization of arthropod regulation by bats in a tropical agroecosystem.The ultimate goal of this research project is to produce information that will be applied to conservation problems in the tropics, for example via improved landscape-level conservation schemes for Neotropical bats and incorporation of biodiversity conservation in agricultural planning. This research builds upon my dissertation work on the ecology of primates living in shade coffee; at the same time, it will result in a reorientation of my research program towards community ecology and applied ecological studies. Working with Sponsoring Scientist Ivette Perfecto at the University of Michigan will provide a strong foundation in agroecology and community-level studies, preparing me for future research in conservation biology. I plan to continue researching conservation issues in multiple-use landscapes. Ultimately I hope to collaborate closely with social scientists, governments, and local stakeholders to promote improved sustainability in the anthropogenic landscapes which complement the critical role of protected areas in biodiversity conservation.