Vertical structure of an assemblage of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in a fragment of Atlantic Forest in Southern Brazil

Few studies have focused the vertical structure of bat assemblages, and how it influences community composition. The goal of this study was to analyze the vertical structure of an assemblage of bats in a forest fragment in southern Brazil. Bats were sampled using mist-nets placed at three heights (understory, below-canopy, and canopy). Forest strata were compared with respect to their species richness and diversity. The latter was estimated using the Shannon-Wiener index (H'), and the statistical significance of differences among strata was assessed using t tests. We used an index of Constancy...