A review of the major threats and challenges to global bat conservation

Abstract

Bats are an ecologically and taxonomically diverse group accounting for roughly a fifth of mammalian diversity worldwide. Many of the threats bats face (e.g., habitat loss, bushmeat hunting, and climate change) reflect the conservation challenges of our era. However, compared to other mammals and birds, we know significantly less about the population status of most bat species, which makes prioritizing and planning conservation actions challenging. Over a third of bat species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are considered threatened or data deficient, and well over half of the species have unknown or decreasing population trends. That equals 988 species, or 80% of bats assessed by IUCN, needing conservation or research attention. Delivering conservation to bat species will require sustained efforts to assess population status and trends and address data deficiencies. Successful bat conservation must integrate research and conservation to identify stressors and their solutions and to test the efficacy of actions to stabilize or increase populations. Global and regional networks that connect researchers, conservation practitioners, and local stakeholders to share knowledge, build capacity, and prioritize and coordinate research and conservation efforts, are vital to ensuring sustainable bat populations worldwide.

Preventing bat-born viral outbreaks in future using ecological interventions

“…These viruses are transmitted to humans either directly or via intermediate hosts (Chan et al 2013;Allocati et al 2016). Furthermore, higher species diversity (over 1400), longer lifespan (over 30 years), resistance to viral infection, and migration make them a huge reservoir for pathogens and give them higher chances to transmit pathogens to other species in vast areas (Allocati et al 2016;Frick et al 2019;Banerjee et al 2020). In 207 bat species, 5717 bat-associated animal viruses have been detected in 77 different countries (Allocati et al 2016).…”

“…In 207 bat species, 5717 bat-associated animal viruses have been detected in 77 different countries (Allocati et al 2016). However, the elusive and nocturnal habits make them difficult to be studied (Frick et al 2019) therefore, there could be more deadly viruses with epidemic and pandemic potentials if other bats species are studied.…”

New records of <i> Hipposideros griffini </i> from lava caves and the threats to its conservation in Vietnam

“…30 individuals in lava caves of Dak Nong Province. Thong et al (2012) and Thong (2012) Frick et al (2019) indicated that hunting is one of the most widespread and critical threats to bats worldwide. Griffin's leaf-nosed bat in Dak Nong Province has also been critically hunted by local people and workers from other localities over recent decades (Phuc et al, 2018b).…”

Unacknowledged Potential Factors in Catastrophic Bat Die-off Arising from Coal Fly Ash Geoengineering

“…Geoengineering is an activity that poisons the planet with mercury [20], damages the ozone layer that shields life from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation [54][55][56][57] [63], just as are bird [64] and insect [65] populations. Data now indicate that over ⅓ of bat species are threatened, with populations of an additional ½ either unknown or declining, indicating that at least 80% of bat species now require attention and conservation efforts [63]. Here we review unacknowledged potentially major contributory factors in global catastrophic bat die-off that arise from the use and consequences of aerosolized CFA for covert weather and climate manipulation.…”

“…Climate change alters the emergence patterns of bats, the timing of which must be balanced among predation risk, competition, and foraging opportunities [72]. Widespread use of insecticides and insectresistant crops contributes to both to decreased insect abundance and chemical poisoning of bats [63]. Our work suggests that most of the remaining insects have been contaminated by toxic elements contained in CFA, the toxic waste product of coal-burning which is widely utilized in environmental modification, weather modification, and climate engineering [50].…”