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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
environmental science
Accounting for detectability improves estimates of species richness in tropical bat surveys
Journal of Applied Ecology, Volume 48, No. 3, Year 2011
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Description
1. Species richness is a state variable of some interest in monitoring programmes but raw species counts are often biased due to imperfect species detectability. Therefore, monitoring programmes should quantify detectability for target taxa to assess whether it varies over temporal or spatial scales. We assessed the potential for tropical bat monitoring programmes to reliably estimate trends in species richness. 2. Using data from 25 bat assemblages from the Old and New World tropics, we estimated detectability for all species in an assemblage (mean proportion of species detected per sampling plot) and for individual species (species-specific detectability). We further assessed how these estimates of detectability were affected by external sources of variation relating to time, space, survey effort and biological traits. 3. The mean proportion of species detected across 96 sampling plots was estimated at 0·76 (range 0·57-1·00) and was significantly greater for phytophagous than for animalivorous species. Species-averaged detectability for phytophagous species was influenced by the number of surveys and season, whereas the number of surveys and sampling methods [ground- or canopy-level mist nets, harp traps and acoustic sampling (AS)] most strongly affected estimates of detectability for animalivorous bats. Species-specific detectability averaged 0·4 and was highly heterogeneous across 232 species, with estimates ranging from 0·03 to 0·84. Species-level detectability was influenced by a range of external factors such as location, season, or sampling method, suggesting that raw species counts may sometimes be strongly biased. 4. Synthesis and applications.Due to generally high species-specific detection probabilities, Neotropical aerial insectivorous bats proved to be well suited for monitoring using AS. However, for species with low detectability, such as most gleaning animalivores or nectarivores, count data obtained in bat monitoring surveys must be corrected for detection bias. Our results indicate that species-averaged detection probabilities will rarely approach 1 unless many surveys are conducted. Consequently, long-term bat monitoring programmes need to adopt an estimation scheme that corrects for variation in detectability when comparing species richness over time and when making regional comparisons. Similar corrections will be needed for other species-rich tropical taxa. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology © 2011 British Ecological Society.
Authors & Co-Authors
Meyer, Christoph F.J.
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
Portugal, Lisbon
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa
Aguiar, Ludmilla M.S.
Brazil, Brasilia
Universidade de Brasília
Aguirre, Luis F.
Bolivia, Cochabamba
Universidad Mayor de San Simón
Bolivia, La Paz
Centro de Estudios en Biología Teórica y Aplicada Biota
Baumgarten, Julio
Brazil, Ilheus
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
Clarke, Frank M.
United Kingdom, Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
Cosson, Jean François
France, Montferrier-sur-lez
Centre de Biologie Pour la Gestion Des Populations Cbgp
Villegas, Sergio Estrada
Canada, Montreal
Université Mcgill
Fahr, Jakob
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
Faria, Deborah Maria
Brazil, Ilheus
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
Furey, Neil
United Kingdom, Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
Henry, Mickaël
France, Brignais
Abeilles et Environnement ae
Hodgkison, Robert
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
Jenkins, Richard K.B.
United Kingdom, Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
Madagascar, Antananarivo
Madagasikara Voakajy
United Kingdom, Canterbury
University of Kent
United Kingdom, Bangor
Bangor University
Jung, Kirsten G.
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
Kingston, Tigga
United States, Lubbock
Texas Tech University
Kunz, Thomas H.
United States, Boston
Boston University
MacSwiney Gonzalez, M. Cristina
United Kingdom, Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
Mexico, Xalapa
Universidad Veracruzana
Moya, Isabel
Bolivia, La Paz
Centro de Estudios en Biología Teórica y Aplicada Biota
Patterson, Bruce D.
United States, Chicago
Field Museum of Natural History
Pons, Jean Marc
France, Paris
Museum National D'histoire Naturelle
Racey, Paul A.
United Kingdom, Exeter
University of Exeter
Rex, Katja
Germany, Berlin
Leibniz-institut Für Zoo- Und Wildtierforschung
Sampaio, Erica M.
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
Solari, Sergio
Colombia, Medellin
Universidad de Antioquia
Stoner, Kathryn Elizabeth
Mexico, Morelia
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad
Voigt, Christian Claus
Germany, Berlin
Leibniz-institut Für Zoo- Und Wildtierforschung
von Staden, Dietrich
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
Weise, Christa D.
United States, Austin
Bat Conservation International
Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria
Germany, Ulm
Universität Ulm
United States, Washington, D.c.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Statistics
Citations: 100
Authors: 29
Affiliations: 24
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.01976.x
ISSN:
00218901
e-ISSN:
13652664
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Quantitative