Bats (Chiroptera) of the urban area of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. Study carried out wi thin the urban perimeterofLondrina, which is located in the North of the state of Paraná. The objectives were the id entifi cation of urban species of bats and di urna! roosts used by them and the verification ofthe problems they can cause 10 the populati on. The fire brigade. the Autarquia Muni cipal do Ambiente de Londrin a (Municipal En vironment Autarchy of Londrina), the Bi ology Department of the Uni versidade Estadual de Londrina (State University of Londrin a) and local res idents helped spot the roosts. The collections were carried out in regul ar intervals between Apri I 1998 and March 1999. By the end of them, 8 15 bats of 23 di fferent species had been captured. Among these, 12 were found near or inside human constructions:

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ABSTRACT. Diversity ofbats (Chiroptera, Mammalia) in forest fragments. The bay of the Tibagi ri ver, a place which goes tlU'ough quick envirorunental alterations, has three forest fragments: the " Floresta Nacional do [rati" (3.572 ha), the "Reserva Biológica da Klabin" (1 1.116 ha) and the "Parq ue Estadual Mata dos Godoy" (680 halo Here, Myolis ruber (E. Geoffroy, 1806) and Chiroderma doriae Thomas, 1891 can be found, these are threatened bats, and three species, Pygode/'lIla bilabiallllll (Wagner, 1843), Myolis levis (I. Geoffroy, 1824) and Rogheessa lumida H. Allen, 1866, which are presumably threatened. Using the same effOlt of capture in the three places, it was stated that the "Floresta Nacional do Irati " with low vegetation diversity, showed nine spec ies of bats. The "Pa rque Estadual Mata dos Godoy", although it 's five times smaller, !lfteen species. We came to the conclusion that a big reserve, without good conditions would house a lower number ofspecies. A small reselve with adequate resources and great vegetation diversity presents a higher number ofniches, housing a higher number of spec ies. KEY WORDS. Chiroptera, bats, diversity, forest fragments As unidades de conservação protegem valores ambientais representativos, por isso teriam que assegurar o bem estar das comunidades animais e vegetais, melhorando as condições do ambiente na região onde estão locali zadas, sem inibir o progresso econôm ico das local idades que as abrigam. Deveriam também assegurar uma proteção legal, mantendo ao máximo os valores naturais que justifiquem sua preservação, e ainda, ser uma unidade biogeográfica representativa com "habitats" favoráveis que preservem a flora e a fauna local.Poderiam atender, como centros de educação e pesquisa, visando otimizar a convivência animal -floresta, em situações que preservem os "habitats" e evitem o risco de extinguir espécies, conseqüentemente proteger os materiais genéticos.Todavia, essas regiões estão sofrendo alterações ambientais rápidas e significativas, devido ao seu potencial agropecuário, demandando cada vez mais apro-

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AimEnvironmental and spatial factors are broadly recognized as important predictors of beta diversity patterns. However, the scale at which beta diversity patterns are evaluated will affect the outcoming results. For example, studies at larger scales will usually find spatial processes as the main predictor of beta diversity patterns. In this study, we evaluate how beta diversity patterns change when analyses are conducted at different scales by reducing the scale of analysis in a hierarchical manner.LocationAtlantic Forest biome.TaxonChiroptera.MethodsInformation on the occurrence of 59 bat species were obtained from the Atlantic Bats and Species Link database. We partitioned beta diversity into its two components (nestedness and turnover), and calculated these indexes hierarchically: the biome in its entirety (all ecoregions); between larger regions (north, central and south); and between ecoregions within each region. We performed a Generalized Dissimilarity Model (GDM) to identify and predict the turnover of bat species in the Atlantic Forest based on geo‐climatic predictors. We obtained 19 geo‐climatic data from AMBDATA, an environmental dataset based on different data sources commonly used in species distribution modelling.ResultsWe found that turnover was the main component influencing a latitudinal gradient when the biome was analysed in its entirety. However, when the scale of the analysis was reduced, we found that species loss (nestedness component) had a large effect in determining beta diversity dissimilarity. We also found that nestedness was the main pattern explaining beta diversity dissimilarity along a longitudinal gradient.Main conclusionsBeta diversity patterns changed with the scale of analysis, which indicates that bat species composition does not follow the same pattern throughout the Atlantic Forest. This corroborates the importance of analysing beta diversity patterns at different scales to understand how environmental dissimilarity across geographical space can influence species distribution patterns.