BATS (MAMMALIA, CHIROPTERA) FROM THE PARQUE NATURAL MUNICIPAL PROFESSOR DOUTOR FERNANDO AFONSO BONILLO FERNANDES, MINAS GERAIS STATE, BRAZIL

Bats of Parque Natural Municipal de Pouso Alegre

Abstract

In Brazil, 186 species of bats have been recorded, of which 98 occur in the Atlantic Forest. This threatened biome is considered a biodiversity hotspot and contains more than half of the bat species recorded in South America. However, knowledge about this group is insufficient due to sampling gaps. The Parque Natural Municipal Professor Doutor Fernando Afonso Bonillo Fernandes is in the municipality of Pouso Alegre, state of Minas Gerais, and contains a fragment of seasonal semideciduous forest. The objective of this study was to survey the bat species of the park. Three sampling areas were determined, and campaigns were conducted monthly between November 2021 and December 2022. A total mist net sampling effort of 59,400 m².h resulted in 174 capture events of eight bat species from the Phyllostomidae and Vespertilionidae families. The assemblage was predominantly composed of generalist and frugivorous species, a pattern commonly reported for disturbed Atlantic Forest remnants sampled with ground-level mist nets. Despite the relatively low species richness observed, the accumulation curve indicated high sample adequacy within the adopted methodological framework. This study helps to fill the sampling gap regarding bats in southern Minas Gerais and contributes to the knowledge of the bat fauna of the Atlantic Forest.