Name: Carina Maria Vela Ulian
Type: PhD thesis
Publication date: 14/07/2023
Advisor:

Name	Role
Albert David Ditchfield	Advisor *
ANA CAROLINA SRBEK DE ARAUJO	Co-advisor *

Examining board:

Name	Role
Albert David Ditchfield	Advisor *
Ana Carolina Loss Rodrigues	Internal Alternate *
ANA CAROLINA SRBEK DE ARAUJO	Co advisor *
Enrico Bernard	External Examiner *
Ludmilla Moura de Souza Aguiar	External Examiner *
Maria João Veloso da Costa Ramos Pereira	External Examiner *
Rita Gomes Rocha	Internal Alternate *
William Douglas Mustin Carvalho	External Examiner *

Summary: The present study presents the characterization of the chiropterofauna present in the
Parque Nacional do Caparaó (PNC) and the evaluation of how bat species and trophic
guilds are distributed along the altitudinal gradient. The PNC region, in southeastern
Brazil, concentrates the highest elevation of the Atlantic Forest, reaching 2,892 m (Pico
da Bandeira). Despite being one of the most representative protected areas of the
high-altitude Atlantic Forest, the chiropterofauna of the Caparaó region remains
practically unknown. In these areas, altitudinal gradients are responsible for potentially
abrupt changes in biological communities, mainly due to changes in temperature and
humidity, influencing flora and fauna. For bats, communities at higher altitudes are
expected to be composed mainly of aerial insectivorous bats due to resource
availability and lower physiological limitations. In Brazil, studies on bats from regions of
high altitude, above 2,000 m, are rare, with most studies being carried out in regions
with altitudes below 1,500 meters. In order to understand how the bat community
behaves in this region, the 2,000 m elevation of the PNC was divided into four ranges
(from 800 to 2,800 m) and two sampling methods were used: mist-nets and ultrasound
recordings. The data obtained were analyzed for richness, variation in composition and
influence of altitude on the distribution of species and trophic guilds. Thirty-five species
were recorded, 15 using mist nets and 23 using bioacoustic recordings, with only three
species recorded using both methods. The records obtained include two new species
for Espírito Santo, Myotis izeckshoni (mist-net) and Molossops temminckkii
(bioacoustics). Additionally, the results show the need to use more than one method of
recording bats to characterize the fauna, given that individually, both nets and
recordings have limitations and may underestimate species richness, being
complementary methods. There was a linear decline in bat richness with increasing
elevation, with the aerial insectivores guild being widely distributed along the gradient
and the only one present at higher altitudes. It was also detected that the variation in
composition is due to the nesting of species, with 62% similarity between the lowest
and highest areas, indicating the presence of subsets with ordered loss of species
along the gradient. This work emphasizes the relevance that fauna and flora
inventories have for the characterization of ecological and biogeographical patterns of
communities in high altitude areas, in addition to contributing to discussions involving
environmental pressures arising from anthropic and climate changes that interfere with
the maintenance and preservation of regions hilly.

Keywords: Atlantic forest, Chiroptera, Sampling methods, Species distribution, Trophic
guilds