University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum Museum, University of Nebraska State 2013 Biodiversity, Biogeography, and Conservation of Bats in the Lesser Antilles Scott C. Pedersen South Dakota State University, [email protected] Hugh H. Genoways University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected] Gary G. Kwiecinski University of Scranton Peter A. Larsen Duke University, [email protected] Roxanne J. Larsen Duke University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/museummammalogy Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Pedersen, Scott C.; Genoways, Hugh H.; Kwiecinski, Gary G.; Larsen, Peter A.; and Larsen, Roxanne J., "Biodiversity, Biogeography, and Conservation of Bats in the Lesser Antilles" (2013). Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum. 172. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/museummammalogy/172 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Museum, University of Nebraska State at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mammalogy Papers: University of Nebraska State Museum by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Pedersen, Genoways, Kwiecinski, Larsen, and Larsen in Biodiversité insulaire: la flore, la faune et l’homme dans les Petites Antilles (eds. J.-L. Vernier and M. Burac). France: Schoelchers, Martinique, Direction de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement de Martinique et Université des Antilles et de la Guyane. Copyright 2013, Université des Antilles et de la Guyane. Used by permission. Biodiversity, Biogeography, & Conservation of Bats in the Lesser Antilles Scott C. PEDERSEN, Hugh H. GENOWAYS, Gary G. KWIECINSKI, Peter A. LARSEN, and Roxanne J. LARSEN The chiropteran fauna of the Lesser Antilles consists of 27 species. The diversity of this fauna is low when compared with Neotropical faunas of large continental islands or at sites on the adjacent mainland, however, the Lesser Antillean fauna contains 11 species endemic to these islands making it worthy of large-scale conservation efforts. At the southern end of the Lesser Antilles, the biological limit of the Lesser Antillean bat fauna is marked by Koopman’s Line. To the south of this line, the bat faunas of the Grenadines and Grenada are composed of South American and widespread species of bats. The central Lesser Antillean islands have been grouped as the “Lesser Antillean Faunal Core.” The bat faunas of these islands are characterized by the presence of 9 or more species and several endemic species that occur on only one or two of these islands. The faunas of the northern Lesser Antillean islands are united into the “Northern Antillean Faunal Area” and share the same eight species of bats. The conservation of bats is critical not only to the biodiversity that they represent, but to the maintenance of biodiversity of other fauna and flora. The maintenance of chiropteran fauna can best be served by three actions— preservation of caves, preservation of forest diversity, and restoration of hydrological systems. Appropriate citation: Pedersen, S. C., H. H. Genoways, G. G. Kwiecinski, P. A. Larsen, and R. J. Larsen. 2013. Biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation of bats in the Lesser Antilles. Pp. 62-73, 330, in Biodiversité insulaire: la flore, la faune et l’homme dans les Petites Antilles, eds. J.-L. Vernier and M. Burac. France: Schoelchers, Martinique, Direction de l'Environnement, de l'Aménagement et du Logement de Martinique et Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, 335 pp. Biodiversity, Biogeography, and Conservation of Bats in the Lesser Antilles Scott C. PEDERSEN, Hugh H. GENOWAYS, Gary G. KWIECINSKI, Peter A. LARSEN, and Roxanne J. LARSEN T Table 1: List of the species of bats occurring on the Lesser Antillean islands. Peropteryx trinitatis Pteronotus davyi Pteronotus rubiginosus Noctilio leporinus Brachyphylla cavernarum * Anoura geoffroyi Glossophaga longirostris Monophyllus plethodon ** Micronycteris buriri ** Micronycteris megalotis Ardops nichollsi ** Dermanura bogotensis Artibeus jamaicensis Artibeus lituratus Artibeus planirostris Artibeus schwartzi ** Chiroderma improvisum ** Taxonomic Diversity in the Lesser Sturnira lilium Antilles Sturnira thomasi ** Eptesicus fuscus Table Eptesicus guadeloupensis ** 1 Myotis dominicensis ** Myotis martiniquensis ** Myotis nyctor ** et al Natalus stramineus ** Brachyphylla cavernarum Table 1 Molossus molossus Tadarida brasiliensis * Restricted in distribution to the Lesser Antilles, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. ** Endemic to the Lesser Antilles. Table 2). 62 Table 2 Artibeus jamaicensis, A. planirostris, and A. schwartziFaunal Area AnguillaSt. MartinSt. BarthelemySaba St. EustatiusSt. KittsNevis BarbudaAntigua MontserratGuadeloupeDominicaMartiniqueSt. LuciaSt. VincentBarbadosGrenadinesGrenada Ardops nichollsi Artibeus schwartzi* H H H Brachyphylla cavernarum Chiroderma improvisum Eptesicus guadeloupensis Micronycteris buriri Monophyllus plethodon Myotis dominicensis Antillean Endemics Myotis martiniquensis Myotis nyctor Natalus stramineus Sturnira thomasi Anoura geoffroyi Artibeus jamaicensis* HHH Artibeus lituratus Artibeus planirostris* HH Carollia perspicillata Dermanura bogotensis Eptesicus fuscus Glossophaga longirostris Micronycteris megalotis Molossus molossus Noctilio leporinus Peropteryx trinitatus Pteronotus davyi Pteronotus rubiginosus Sturnira lilium Tadarida brasiliensis et al et al et al Figs. 1 and 2 Artibeus schwartzi et alet al 63 Limitations On and the Complexity of Biodiversity Data Net Bias nets (Barber et al et al Lang et alet al Figure 1 et al et al et al et al et al Pedersen et al Survey Duration guidelines. Figure 2 Time Frame 64 et al Chiroderma and Sturnira Bat Biodiversity: Species-Area Curves et al Fenton et al et al nated by natural disasters. Artibeus MonophyllusAr- dops Brachyphylla) are Artibeus Figure 3et al et al et al et alet al et al 65 et al et al B. cavernarum, A. jamaicensis Noctilio leporinus et al Genetic-Level Diversity and Phylogeographic Patterns by MyotisArtibeus). Antillean bats (Table 2). Emballonuridae Peropteryx trinitatis phaea (sensu et al.P. trinitatis P. trinitatus P. macrotis P. trinitatis et al Mormoopidae et al Pteronotus P. parnellii rubiginosus P. rubiginosus P. parnellii P. rubiginosus Dispersal patterns in the Lesser Antilles P. rubiginosus Pteronotus davyi et al et al et al Pteronotus davyi 66 Noctilionidae C. salvini, Noctilio leporinus et al M. plethodon and S. thomasi are ongoing. N. leporinus M. buriri et al Micronycteris and is M. Phyllostomidae megalotis values separate M. buriri M. megalotisM. genus Artibeus (P. Larsen et alet al buriri M.