scholarly journals Comparing the efficiency of monofilament and regular nets for capturing bats

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Chaves-Ramírez ◽  
Christian Castillo-Salazar ◽  
Mariela Sánchez-Chavarría ◽  
Hellen Solís-Hernández ◽  
Gloriana Chaverri

Regular nylon or polyester mist nets used for capturing bats have several drawbacks, particularly that they are inefficient at sampling insectivorous species. One possible alternative is to use monofilament nets, whose netting is made of single strands of yarn instead of several as regular nets, making them less detectable. To date, only one study has quantified the differences in capture rates between monofilament and regular mist nets for the study of bats, yet surprisingly, its findings suggest that the latter are more efficient than the former. Here, we provide further evidence of the differences in sampling efficiency between these two nets. We captured 90 individuals and 14 species in regular nets and 125 individuals and 20 species in monofilament nets. The use of monofilament nets increased overall capture rates, particularly for insectivorous species. Species accumulation curves indicate that samples based on regular nets are significantly underestimating species diversity, most notably as these nets fail at sampling rare species. We show that incorporating monofilament nets into bat studies offers an opportunity to expand records of different guilds and rare bat species and to improve our understanding of poorly known bat assemblages while using a popular, relatively cheap and portable sampling method.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Chaves Ramirez ◽  
Christian Castillo Salazar ◽  
Mariela Sanchez Chavarria ◽  
Hellen Solis Hernandez ◽  
Gloriana Chaverri

Traditional mist nets used for capturing bats have several drawbacks, particularly that they are inefficient at sampling many insectivorous species. One possible alternative is to use monofilament nets, whose netting is made of single strands of yarn instead of several as regular nets, making them less detectable. To date, no study has quantified the capture efficiency of monofilament nets compared to regular mist nets for the study of bats. Here we compare capture efficiency of monofilament and regular mist nets, focusing on bat abundance and species diversity at a lowland tropical forest in southwestern Costa Rica. During our sampling period, we captured 90 individuals and 14 species in regular nets and 125 individuals and 20 species in monofilament nets. The use of monofilament nets increased overall capture rates, but most notably for insectivorous species. Species accumulation curves indicate that samples based on regular nets are significantly underestimating species diversity, most notably as these nets fail at sampling rare species. We show that incorporating monofilament nets into bat studies offers an opportunity to expand records of different guilds and rare bat species and to improve our understanding of poorly-known bat assemblages while using a popular, relatively cheap and portable sampling method.


2007 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Sánchez Márquez ◽  
G.F. Bills ◽  
I. Zabalgogeazcoa

Morphological and molecular methods were used to identify the endophytic mycobiota of the grass Dactylis glomerata. Fungal endophytes belonging to 109 different species were isolated from asymptomatic plants sampled in different ecosystems in Spain. Species accumulation curves showed that most species commonly infecting this grass have been identified, but the number of singleton species occasionally infecting the plants is likely to increase with more sampling effort. A large endophytic assemblage consisting of fungi with diverse ecological roles, and potentially unknown species was found in a small number of plants. Keywords: endophytes, Dactylis glomerata, diversity, abundance


PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e0139600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Kelling ◽  
Alison Johnston ◽  
Wesley M. Hochachka ◽  
Marshall Iliff ◽  
Daniel Fink ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 211-226
Author(s):  
Luís Borda-de-Água ◽  
Saeid Alirezazadeh ◽  
Manuela Neves ◽  
Stephen P. Hubbell ◽  
Paulo A. V. Borges ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayron R. Calle-Rendón ◽  
Mika Peck ◽  
Sara E. Bennett ◽  
Citlalli Morelos-Juarez ◽  
Felipe Alfonso

There is increasing evidence that large-bodied primates play important roles as seed dispersers and in the maintenance of tree diversity in forest ecosystems. In this study we compared forest regeneration at two sites with differing primate abundances in the Ecuadorian Chocoan rainforest. We predicted: (1) significant differences in primate abundance between the two sites; (2) higher understory tree species richness and density at the site with greater primate abundance; (3) the site with lower primate abundance characterized by tree species dispersed by non-primate biotic agents and/or abiotic factors. We compared two sites, Tesoro Escondido (TE) a campesino cooperative, and the El Pambilar (EP) wildlife refuge that both maintain populations of mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), the brown-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps fusciceps) and the capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus). We characterized canopy structure by point-quadrant sampling, determined primate abundance and sampled seedlings/saplings in 1 m2 plots, classifying tree species based on three dispersal syndromes: adapted for primate dispersal, dispersed by other biological agents, and abiotic dispersal. We compared sites in terms of primate abundance (groups and individuals observed per day) and regeneration characteristics (overall density, species richness, and dispersal syndrome). We carried out within site comparisons and constructed understory tree species accumulation curves. Overall the forests were structurally similar - with significantly higher densities of A. f. fusciceps at TE. Encounter rates for the other two primate species were similar at both sites. Understory tree density and species richness was significantly higher in TE with no stabilization of tree species accumulation curves. The species accumulation curve for understory trees at EP stabilized. Higher densities and species richness of primate dispersed tree species were observed at TE, with non-primate biotically dispersed tree species the dominant dispersal syndrome at both sites. Our observations are consistent with those from other studies investigating the role of large-bodied frugivorous primates in forest regeneration, and point to a general pattern: future lowland tropical forest tree diversity depends on maintaining robust populations of large primate species in these systems. It is highly probable that the maintenance of high levels of tree diversity in Chocoan rainforests is dependent on the conservation of its largest resident primate, the critically endangered brown-headed spider monkey (A. f. fusciceps).


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