Conservation relevance of bat caves for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Medellín, Rodrigo A.; Wiederholt, Ruscena; López‐Hoffman, Laura

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.01.012

Cited by 88 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…With an estimated 40% of all threatened bat species known to use subterranean habitats, researchers and conservation practitioners need to place a greater emphasis on implementing effective measures in these high‐risk habitats. While some caves and cave‐dwelling bats receive some legal protection, the extent and impact of these protections vary considerably across the world . Legal protection relies on available and accurate information and may not always be enforceable without local support.…”

Section: Two Special Habitats For Bats As Conservation Targetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, bat species that aggregate in large numbers in concentrated habitats, such as caves or mines, are particularly vulnerable to direct mortality threats; loss of large colonies can have a disproportionate impact on populations. But conversely, focal habitats, such as caves, can be tractable targets for conservation that can have a significant impact through protecting and safeguarding species from extinction, if executed effectively . Identifying the stressors and solutions that overlap among taxa or require taxon‐specific efforts improves the efficiency of deploying limited conservation resources.…”

Section: Challenges and Next Steps For Global Bat Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Frick

Kingston

Flanders

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

351

335

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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.

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Section: Two Special Habitats For Bats As Conservation Targetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges and Next Steps For Global Bat Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Frick

Kingston

Flanders

2019

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

351

335

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The search period was from 1956until 2018(accessed: 20th March 2018. Since only a single published article deals with bat migration as detected by radar (Stepanian and Wainwright 2018), we could not include bats in the present review despite their important services and functions in various ecosystems, including seed dispersal, pollination and pest control (Medellin and Gaona 1999, Shilton et al 1999, Aziz et al 2017, Medellin et al 2017. We hope that future advances in radar technology and data analysis will spur on future research on bat migration.…”

Section: Box 1 Extent Of Radar Research On Different Aerial Animal Taxamentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental effects on flying migrants revealed by radar

et al. 2019

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Migratory animals are affected by various factors during their journeys, and the study of animal movement by radars has been instrumental in revealing key influences of the environment on flying migrants. Radars enable the simultaneous tracking of many individuals of almost all sizes within the radar range during day and night, and under low visibility conditions. We review how atmospheric conditions, geographic features and human development affect the behavior of migrating insects and birds as recorded by radars. We focus on flight initiation and termination, as well as in‐flight behavior that includes changes in animal flight direction, speed and altitude. We have identified several similarities and differences in the behavioral responses of aerial migrants including an overlooked similarity in the use of thermal updrafts by very small (e.g. aphids) and very large (e.g. vultures) migrants. We propose that many aerial migrants modulate their migratory flights in relation to the interaction between atmospheric conditions and geographic features. For example, aerial migrants that encounter crosswind may terminate their flight or continue their migration and may also drift or compensate for lateral displacement depending on their position (over land, near the coast or over sea). We propose several promising directions for future research, including the development and application of algorithms for tracking insects, bats and large aggregations of animals using weather radars. Additionally, an important contribution will be the spatial expansion of aeroecological radar studies to Africa, most of Asia and South America where no such studies have been undertaken. Quantifying the role of migrants in ecosystems and specifically estimating the number of departing birds from stopover sites using low‐elevation radar scans is important for quantifying migrant–habitat relationships. This information, together with estimates of population demographics and migrant abundance, can help resolve the long‐term dynamics of migrant populations facing large‐scale environmental changes.

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“…Bats are the second most speciose mammalian order, but populations are declining in 80% of species [14]. Half of all bat species rely on caves as roosts, where they are commonly subject to multiple disturbances, notably resource extraction (e.g., guano, limestone), cave tourism and vandalism, bat hunting, and loss of foraging habitats surrounding caves [15][16][17][18]. Cave-roosting bat species are ecologically and morphologically diverse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assemblage and Species Threshold Responses to Environmental and Disturbance Gradients Shape Bat Diversity in Disturbed Cave Landscapes

et al. 2018

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Ecological thresholds represent a critical tipping point along an environmental gradient that, once breached, can have irreversible consequences for species persistence and assemblage structure. Thresholds can also be used to identify species with the greatest sensitivity to environmental changes. Bats are keystone species yet are under pressure from human disturbances, specifically landscape and cave disturbances (i.e., reduced forest cover, urbanization, hunting, tourism). We compared bat assemblages across environmental and disturbance gradients measured at 56 caves in the Philippines to identify species-specific thresholds and assess congruence among species responses. All species exhibited significant responses to one or more gradients, with 84% responding to more than one gradient. Yet mixed responses of sensitivity to some gradients but tolerance to others hindered identification of assemblage thresholds to all gradients except landscape disturbance. However, we identified credible indicator species that exhibit distinct thresholds to specific gradients and tested for differences in ecological and morphological traits between species groups with shared responses (i.e., negative or positive). Few traits were useful for discriminating the direction of a species response, with some exceptions. Species that responded positively to increased landscape disturbance and hunting had greater body mass, whereas species that responded negatively to mining emitted higher peak call frequencies.

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Conservation relevance of bat caves for biodiversity and ecosystem services

Cited by 88 publications

References 36 publications

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

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

Environmental effects on flying migrants revealed by radar

Assemblage and Species Threshold Responses to Environmental and Disturbance Gradients Shape Bat Diversity in Disturbed Cave Landscapes

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