No abstract

Phyllostomid bats (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) are key elements for the maintenance of New World forests, but little information on their distribution is available in some regions of Brazil. Here we use occurrence records and bioclimatic variables to model the distribution of phyllostomid bats in Santa Catarina, a subtropical Brazilian state. Estimates of geographic variation in species richness were then obtained by stacking the generated maps. Lastly, we tested how associated species richness is to ecoregions and Protected Areas. Our results suggest that the phyllostomid bats species richness is closely linked to the region’s climate gradient. Most species are restricted to the Serra do Mar ecoregion, where the temperature is high and varies less throughout the year. In contrast, the colder areas seem to house extremely simple communities, composed of a subset of the species present in the warmer areas. We found significant evidence that Protected Areas in Santa Catarina play an important role in the conservation of species, although there are still several places where species richness is high, but no Protected Area is available. The creation of new Protected Areas in these places can boost the species conservation, and, consequently, the ecological services provided by phyllostomid bats.

Tree ferns are common elements in subtropical Atlantic Forest, sometimes reaching more than half of dominance at forest sites. Climate change could impact the distribution and diversity of tree ferns, hence impacting the ecological processes provided by them. We investigate the impacts of future climate changes in the potential distribution of tree fern species, as well as in the α- and β-diversity. Our first hypothesis (H1) is that warmer climate in the future will increase the distribution of Cyatheaceae species and decrease the distribution of Dicksoniaceae species. Due to a larger number of Cyatheaceae than Dicksoniaceae, the richness will tend to increase. However, the increase in richness might lead to homogenization, consequently decreasing β-diversity (H2). To test these hypotheses, we used distribution models to predict the potential species distribution in the present and future. Then, we calculated the changes in potential distribution areas, α-, and β-diversity components between scenarios. Finally, we assessed the impact of these changes within Protected Areas. We found that Dicksoniaceae distribution tends to shrink in the future, while half of Cyatheaceae tend to lose distribution. Species richness tends to decrease in the future, as well as β-diversity. At least 43% of the sites tend to have their species richness reduced, while only 26% of sites tend to gain species. Our results suggest that species associated with cold environments will lose suitable areas and are more threatened. Richness tends to decrease mainly in sites with high precipitation seasonality. Furthermore, the tree ferns assemblage tends to homogenize.