Presented at the Caribbean mammal symposium, American Society of Mammalogy meeting 15 June 2015, Jacksonville

1. The last ones standing: why mammalogists should
care about Caribbean bats
Liliana M. Dávalos
Ecology and Evolution, SUNY at Stony Brook
Danny Rojas
Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies,
University of Aveiro
ASM Meeting
Jacksonville, 15 June 2015

2. Caribbean mammal
fauna
• Depauperate
compared to mainland
• Shaped by extinction
• Native extant
mammals are bats
• Rest is rounding error
• Except for present
company
Drawing
by
A.
Tejedor

3. However, many
endemics = irreplaceable
Myers et al. 2000 Nature

4. This is not new
The number of peculiar
genera in all classes of animals
is so great in proportion to
those in common with the
adjacent mainland, as to lead
us to conclude that,
subsequent to the original
separation from the Mexican
area, a very large tract of land
existed, calculated to support
a rich and varied fauna, and,
by the interaction of
competing types, give rise to
peculiar and specially modified
organisms…
Wallace 1876 The Geographical Distribution
of Animals

5. How can we measure
this?
• Phylogenetic diversity (PD) = sum of
branch length between root and tips for
a community
• Identifies evolutionary information
added by each species
• Mean pairwise distance (MPD) = mean
distance between all pairs of species
• Reflects structuring across the entire
tree
• Mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD) =
mean of branch lengths from each
species to closest relative
• Reflects phylogenetic structure of tips
Winter et al. 2013 TREE

6. Hypothesis &
prediction
• Richness alone
severely
underestimates
Caribbean biodiversity
• Measures of
evolutionary diversity
(ED) will be
comparable to
communities on
mainland

7. Data criteria
• Published or collected
ourselves
• Local scale
• Community sampling
• Floor on richness
• ≥5 spp.
Photo by Jon Flanders

8. Island caves = 61
Mainland caves = 21
Mainland forests = 18
Photo
@
GEPOG
Photo
@
Guia
Cavernas
Santander

9. Artibeus anderseni
Artibeus cinereus
Artibeus phaeotis
Artibeus watsoni
Artibeus bogotensisArtibeus glaucusArtibeus gnomusArtibeus amplusArtibeus planirostris
Artibeus jamaicensis
Artibeus obscurus
Artibeus lituratus
Artibeus concolor
Sphaeronycteris toxophyllum
Ametrida centurio
Centurio senex
Phyllops falcatus
Stenoderma rufum
Ariteus flavescens
Ectophylla
alba
Enchisthenes hartii
Platyrrhinus
lineatus
Platyrrhinus
helleri
Platyrrhinus
brachycephalus
Platyrrhinus
infuscus
Vam
pyrodes
caraccioli
Vam
pyressa
m
elissa
Vampyressapusilla
Mesophyllamacconnelli
Chirodermavillosum
Chirodermatrinitatum
Chirodermasalvini
Vampyriscusnymphaea
Vampyriscusbrocki
Vampyriscusbidens
Urodermabilobatum
Urodermamagnirostrum
Sturniratildae
Sturniraludovici
Sturniramagna
Sturniralilium
Sturniraluisi
Rhinophyllafischerae
Rhinophyllapumilio
Glyphonycterisdaviesi
Glyphonycterissylvestris
Trinycterisnicefori
Carolliabrevicauda
Carolliaperspicillata
Carolliacastanea
Lionycterisspurrelli
Lonchophylladekeyseri
Lonchophyllarobusta
Lonchophyllamordax
Hsunycteristhomasi
Phyllonycterispoeyiobtusa
Phyllonycterispoeyipoeyi
Phyllonycterisaphylla
Erophyllabombifrons
Erophyllasezekorni
Brachyphyllacavernarum
Brachyphyllapumila
Brachyphyllanana
Glossophagasoricina
Glossophaga
com
m
issarisi
M
onophyllusredm
ani
Hylonycteris
underwoodi
Lichonycteris
obscura
C
hoeroniscus
godm
ani
Choeroniscus
m
inor
Anoura
caudifer
Anoura
geoffroyi
Scleronycteris ega
Lonchorhina sp
Lonchorhina aurita
Phyllostomus elongatus
Phyllostomus hastatus
Phyllostomus latifolius
Phyllostomus discolor
Phylloderma stenops
Gardnerycteris crenulatum
Lophostoma brasiliense
Lophostoma carrikeri
Lophostoma schulzi
Lophostoma evotis
Lophostoma silvicolumTonatia bidensTonatia saurophilaMacrophyllum macrophyllum
Trachops cirrhosus
Chrotopterus auritus
Vampyrum spectrum
Mimon bennettii
Mimon cozumelae
Desmodus rotundus
Diaemus youngi
Diphylla ecaudata
Micronycteris megalotis
Micronycteris microtis
Micronycteris brosseti
Micronycteris hirsuta
Micronycteris homezi
Micronycteris minuta
Micronycteris sanborni
Micronycteris schmidtorum
Lampronycteris brachyotis
Macrotus waterhousii
Pteronotus macleayii
Pteronotus quadridens
Pteronotus davyi
Pteronotus gym
nonotus
Pteronotus
parnellii
M
orm
oops
blainvillei
M
orm
oops
m
egalophylla
Noctilio
albiventris
Noctilio
leporinus
Furipterushorrens
Thyroptera
discifera
Thyropteratricolor
Peropteryxmacrotis
Peropteryxkappleri
Cormurabrevirostris
Peropteryxleucoptera
Diclidurusalbus
Diclidurusscutatus
Cyttaropsalecto
Saccopteryxcanescens
Saccopteryxgymnura
Saccopteryxbilineata
Saccopteryxleptura
CentronycterismaximilianiCentronycteriscentralisRhynchonycterisnaso
Cynomopsparanus
Cynomopsabrasus
Cynomopsgreenhalli
Cynomopsplanirostris
Neoplatymopsmattogrossensis
Molossopstemminckii
MolossopsneglectusNyctinomopslaticaudatusNyctinomopsmacrotisEumopsglaucinusEumopstrumbulli
Eumopsauripendulus
Eumopshansae
Molossusrufus
Molossuscoibensis
Molossussinaloae
Molossuscurrentium
Molossusbarnesi
Molossusmolossus
Promopscentralis
Tadaridabrasiliensis
Eptesicusfurinalis
Eptesicusbrasiliensis
Eptesicus
dim
inutus
Eptesicus
chiriquinus
Eptesicus
lynni
Eptesicus
fuscus
Rhogeessa
tum
ida
Bauerus dubiaquercus
Pipistrellus subflavus
Lasiurus blossevillii
Lasiurus atratus
Lasiurus ega
Myotis riparius
Myotis elegans
Myotis simus
Myotis keaysi
Myotis albescens
Myotis nigricans
Myotis fortidens
Natalus major
Natalus jamaicensis
Natalus primus
Natalus stramineus
Natalus tumidirostris
Chilonatalus micropus
Chilonatalus macer
Nyctiellus lepidus
We need a phylogeny to
calculate ED
Shi & Rabosky 2015 Evolution
Rojas et al. Accepted Syst Biol

10. ●
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500
1000
island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
Faith'sphylogeneticdiversity
Mainland forests win PD,
caves are alike, though
PD = evo info added by species

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Species richness
Faith'sphylogeneticdiversity
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island caves
mainland caves
mainland forests
PD strongly depends on
richness
PD = evo info added by species

12. −4
−3
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−1
0
1
island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
StandardizedeffectsizeofMPDvs.nullcommunities
Island caves win MPD Standardized to richness

13. −3
−2
−1
0
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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
StandardizedeffectsizeofMNTDvs.nullcommunities
Mainland caves win
MNTD
Standardized to richness

14. Extinction
experiments
• Estimate effect of
losing 1 species
• Remove species
from phylogeny =
extinct
• Remove species
from community =
extirpate
Photo by Jon Flanders

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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
DifferenceinmeanFaith'sphylogeneticdiversity
betweenthemodifiedcommunitiesandtheoriginalcommunities
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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
DifferenceinmeanFaith'sphylogeneticdiversity
betweenthemodifiedcommunitiesandtheoriginalcommunities
Extirpation affects PD of mainland forests the most,
island caves next
Photo by Jon Flanders

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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
DifferenceinmeanMPD
betweenthemodifiedcommunitiesandtheoriginalcommunities
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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
DifferenceinmeanMPD
betweenthemodifiedcommunitiesandtheoriginalcommunities
Extirpation affects MPD of mainland caves the most,
mainland forests next
Photo by Laurel Yohe

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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
DifferenceinmeanMNTD
betweenthemodifiedcommunitiesandtheoriginalcommunities
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0.000
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island caves mainland caves mainland forests
Geographic location
DifferenceinmeanMNTD
betweenthemodifiedcommunitiesandtheoriginalcommunities
Extirpation affects MNTD of mainland forests the most,
island caves next
Photo by Laurel Yohe

18. To summarize
• Island caves
• Richness = mainland caves
• MPD > mainland
• MNTD > mainland forests
• Extirpation on island caves
• Reduces MPD more than
for mainland caves
• Increases MNTD as for
mainland forests Photo by Jon Flanders

19. Were we right?
• Richness underestimates
island biodiversity
• Yes, richness also
determines PD
• ED comparable to mainland
communities
• Yes, MPD and MNTD
• Effect of loss comparable to
mainland or even greater
• Endemicity
• Functional diversity (?)
Photo by Jon Flanders

20. Thanks for inviting me!