Bats from the Restinga of Praia das Neves, state of Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil.docVIP

Check List 5(2): 364–369, 2009. ISSN: 1809-127X LISTS OF SPECIES Bats from the Restinga of Praia das Neves, state of Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil Júlia Lins Luz Luciana de Moraes Costa Elizabete Captivo Louren?o Luiz Antonio Costa Gomes Carlos Eduardo Lustosa Esbérard Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biologia, Laboratório de Diversidade de Morcegos. Caixa Postal 74507. CEP 23890-000. Seropédica, RJ, Brazil. E-mail: julialinsluz@.br Abstract Studies on bat richness and diversity in coastal sand dunes (‘ restinga’) are still scarce. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to estimate bat richness in the restinga of Praia das Neves (state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil) and to analyze species abundance. Ten sampling nights were carried out in May and July 2008, resulting in a sampling effort of 21,847.5 h.m 2. We captured 125 individuals from 17 bat species. In this study, Tonatia saurophila was recorded for the first time not only in the state of Espírito Santo but also in the restinga ecosystem. The most abundant species was Artibeus lituratus with 32% of all captures. Surveys in coastal restingas are urgently needed in order to obtain more information about the bats living in this environment. Introduction One of the most scarcely sampled ecosystems in Brazil are coastal sand dunes (hereafter ‘restingas’), which according to the current classification of IBGE’s (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística - Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) are part of the ecological region of the Lowland Dense Rain Forest (Veloso et al. 1991), within the Atlantic Forest biome (for a review of biomes see Olson et al. 2001). Scarano (2002) recommend considering the Atlantic Forest as a vegetation complex, in which the restinga is a particular vegetation type. rest