Eucalyptus cover filtered bat communities toward fewer functional roles in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Mist-net and acoustic surveys detected 34 species/sonotypes. Across a 0–68% Eucalyptus-cover gradient, predicted functional richness and dissimilarity fell while functional redundancy rose; unique larger-bodied and diverse dietary guilds were less associated with Eucalyptus-dominated landscapes.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Species counts alone can miss functional homogenization in production landscapes. Plantation extent and landscape composition may matter even when bats remain present.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
The study is observational across 12 fragments in one heavily altered landscape, so it cannot isolate plantation cover from every correlated land-use process or establish a universal plantation threshold.
SOURCE
Biodiversity and Conservation
View original evidence ↗
Across 12 forest fragments, Eucalyptus cover was the strongest landscape predictor of bat functional structure.
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