ChapterPDF Available

La fauna de quirópteros del archipiélago canario

Authors:

Abstract and Figures

In the Canary Islands bat fauna is composed by seven species: Pipistrellus kuhlii, Pipistrellus maderensis, Hypsugo savii, Nyctalus leisleri, Barbastella barbastellus, Plecotus teneriffae and Tadarida teniotis. In this paper knowledges on chorology, ecology, biology and conservation of all Canary species are updated. Plecotus teneriffae is an endemic species of this islands, being Pipistrellus maderensis a macaronesic endemism (Madeira and Canary Islands). Barbastella barbastellus could also likely represent an endemic subspecies of our Islands.
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
... On the Canary Islands (Tenerife and La Gomera), an endemic subspecies -B. b. guanchaeoccurs (Trujillo and Barone 1991). Barbastelle bats are absent from Ireland (Lysaght and Marnell 2016). ...
... On the Canary Islands (Tenerife and La Gomera), an endemic subspecies -B. b. guanchaeoccurs (Trujillo and Barone 1991). Barbastelle bats are absent from Ireland (Lysaght and Marnell 2016). ...
... In fact, all 13 bat species known to have gone extinct in historical times (1800-today) were actually insular endemics (Jones et al. 2003). In Europe, four bat species are insular endemics, all occurring on islands with Mediterranean or subtropical climates (between 28° and 41° N): the Azorean noctule (Nyctalus azoreum), exclusive to the Azores (but see: Dool 2020 for a discussion on the validity of the species status of the Azores population), the Madeiran pipistrelle (Pipistrellus maderensis) occurring on Madeira, Azores and the Canary Islands (Trujillo and Gonzalez 2011), the Tenerife long-eared bat (Plecotus teneriffae), found on three of the Canary Islands (Trujillo and Barone 1991), and the Sardinian long-eared bat (Plecotus sardus), restricted to the Italian island of Sardinia Kiefer and Mucedda 2004;Kiefer et al. 2020). All these insular endemics are classified at risk by IUCN and national Red Lists, yet current knowledge is rather poor apart from their phylogenetic position, with little or no information about ecology, population trends and conservation status. ...
Article
Full-text available
Islands host high numbers of endemic species, and the latter are especially exposed to human-driven habitat alteration because their population size is constrained by the limited space and resources found in insular systems. Extreme events linked with climate change and direct anthropogenic stressors may synergistically affect endemic species, and even push them to the brink of extinction. Bats include many insular endemics whose life traits make them excellent candidates to test the effects of both climate-change driven events and direct human disturbance. The Mediterranean island of Sardinia is home to the endemic long-eared bat Plecotus sardus. Within the island, this recently described species is restricted to a limited range where suitable habitat is present. This makes the species extremely vulnerable to human action. Here we use Plecotus sardus as a model to assess the response of insular endemic bats to climate change and human disturbance, exploring demographic trends across two decades. Overall, roost count data for all known reproductive sites showed a steep (-63.4% between 2003 and 2020) population decline, so that the current estimated population size is only 36.5% of that observed in 2003. Colony growth rates are strongly affected by recurring wildfires around reproductive sites, summer precipitation and temperature extremes, pointing to climate change as a primary threat to the species along with direct human interference. Such anthropogenic pressures may therefore rapidly expose island endemic bats to a high extinction risk. Based on our analysis, Plecotus sardus is among the most threatened mammals, and likely the rarest bat species, in Europe. Thus, we urge that (1) similar assessments are conducted on other insular endemic bats in Mediterranean Europe, (2) IUCN Redlist categories are revised according to new analyses, and (3) recovery action plans are immediately developed and implemented to revert the current population trends.
... On the Canary Islands (Tenerife and La Gomera), an endemic subspecies -B. b. guanchaeoccurs (Trujillo and Barone 1991). Barbastelle bats are absent from Ireland (Lysaght and Marnell 2016). ...
... The third case of mammal extirpation is recent. The bat Kuhl's pipistrelle (Pipistrellus kuhlii) was probably extirpated from Lanzarote by use of pesticides and elimination of its natural habitat (Trujillo and Barone, 1991). ...
Article
Oceanic islands remained free of humans until relatively recent times. On contact, humans encountered pristine environments with unique ecosystems and species highly vulnerable to novel impacts. In the course of rendering an island habitable, the new settlers transformed it through fire, deforestation, hunting and introduction of pests and weeds. The result, as described for many oceanic islands globally, has been a catastrophe for biodiversity. Here we present the case of the Canary Islands, an Atlantic archipelago renowned for its exceptional biodiversity, and show that these islands have been no exception to the general rule. We review the archaeological, palaeoecological, palaeontological and ecological literature for the archipelago and discuss the ecological consequences – in particular habitat transformation and biodiversity loss – of human settlement. In contrast to previous views that prehistoric humans had only limited impacts on these islands, we show that vegetation change, increased fire, soil erosion, species introductions and extinctions follow the familiar oceanic pattern. Timing of human settlement of the Canary Islands has been controversial, with revised archaeological dates suggesting a relatively late arrival at the beginning of the Common Era, while palaeoecological and palaeontological evidence favours a presence several centuries earlier. While the matter is still not settled, we suggest that settlement sometime between 2400 and 2000 cal years BP is a possibility.
Article
Full-text available
A general article on bats from the Canary Islands, with detailed accounts on the eight species recorded in this archipelago, seven of them resident and one vagrant.
Article
Full-text available
First records of Leisler's Bat Nyctalus leisleri for the Canary Islands, found in two islands, Tenerife and La Palma.