Are cocoaplantationssuitable habitats? Networkbetween parasites (Diptera: Hippoboscidea) andhosts (Mammalia: Chiroptera)in cocoa-dominated landscapes of theBrazilianAmazon

Abstract

Introduction: The relationshipbetweenectoparasitic flies andbatsisinfluenced by anthropogenic changesinnaturalenvironments.IntheAmazon,variousformsof disturbancecontributetoecosystemimbalance,potentiallyleadingtothelocal extinctionanddisruptionofecologicalfunctions.Cacaocultivationhasbeen expandingintheAmazon,butstudiesonitsimpactsonbatdiversityarestilllimited, hindering thedevelopmentofeffectiveconservation strategies.Thisstudyaimsto assess batandbatfly speciestounderstandhowland-usechangesaffectantagonistic interaction networksbetweenectoparasitic flies andPhyllostomidaebats. Methods: We sampledurbanareas,naturalvegetation,andcacaoplantations using 10mistnetsover69nightsat36sitesacross10municipalitiesinPará. Results: The overallinteractionnetworkshowed42hostspeciesand52 ectoparasite species,showinghighspecialization, lowconnectivity,and insignificantnestingandparasitevulnerability.Thehighestectoparasitesrichness wasobservedinnaturalvegetation(47),followedbycacao(30)andurbanareas (29).Thecacao-dominatednetworkexhibitedhighmodularity,naturalareashad thehighestoccurrenceofinfracommunities,followedbyurbanareasandcocoa. Five batspecieswerepresentinallthreeenvironments,eachinfestedwith infracommunities.Notably,infracommunalassociationswerecommonamong ectoparasitegenera Speiseria,Strebla, and Trichobius. Discussion: The speciesrichnessobservedhighlightsPará as aregionof exceptionaldiversityfordipteranectoparasites ofbats(with60species).Our studysuggeststhatcacaoplantationscan serveassuitablehabitatsforboth bats and flies.Notably,weconductedthisresearchonasmall,family-runfarm. While thesetypesoffarmsarenotsubstitutesfornaturalvegetation,theymay help mitigatetheimpactsofrapidland-useandland-coverchange.Infact, thesesmall,family-operatedfarmsdemonstratedhabitatsuitabilitycloseto thatofnaturalvegetationareas,supporting greaterbiodiversitywithin agriculturallandscapes.