Phyllostomid bat diversity in a variegated coffee landscape Original Research Article

We examined bat diversity at two different spatial scales: habitat and matrix, in the Quindío coffee region in Colombia. Habitats were: forest, shaded coffee and associated coffee; and matrices were: associated coffee (M1) and shaded coffee (M2). Three sampling sites from each type of habitat were located at each matrix. The forest areas of the Quindío region are severely fragmented and less structurally complex than coffee patches. The shaded coffee habitat had patches that were larger and more complex. In spite of limited patch size and lower complexity, the forest remnants were those with greatest species richness and demonstrated clear similarities even between the two matrices. This was not observed in coffee plantations, neither in associated coffee nor shaded coffee. On the landscape scale, M2 showed lower β diversity and greater edge density (ED) than M1. This fact explains that greater connectivity between different habitats exists in M2 than in M1. Our results suggest that production and conservation are compatible, as maintenance of forest remnants in a mosaic structure by landowners of the vegetation is sufficient to conserve phyllostomid bats at landscape level.