Insect pest consumption by bats in macadamia orchards established by molecular diet analyses

Weier, Sina M.; Moodley, Yoshan; Fraser, Mischa F.; Linden, Valerie M.G.; Graß, Ingo; Tscharntke, Teja; Taylor, Peter J.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00626

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…However, no study has described as many deleterious or potentially deleterious insect species (one third of all occurrences) in the R. ferrumequinum diet. Thus our results confirmed that R. ferrumequinum may be not only be important as a sentinel of agricultural insect pests (chirosurveillance) but also as an efficient agent of pest control (Cohen et al., 2020; Maslo et al., 2017; Weier et al., 2019). This role may not only be important in the future because climate change is expected to favor the establishment and proliferation of many deleterious insects (Trumble & Butler, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

eDNA metabarcoding reveals a core and secondary diets of the greater horseshoe bat with strong spatio‐temporal plasticity

et al. 2020

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Dietary plasticity can be a determining factor allowing species to cope with environmental changes. Consequently, it is an important issue to consider in conservation biology. Despite this, it remains rarely addressed in the literature, potentially due to methodologies which were until recently rather limited. The advent of molecular approaches now makes it possible to get a precise picture of diet and its plasticity, even for endangered and elusive species. Here, we focused on the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) in Western France, where this insectivorous species has been classified as “Vulnerable” on the Regional Red List in 2016. We applied an eDNA metabarcoding approach to 1986 fecal samples collected in six maternity colonies on three sampling dates. We described the diet and investigated whether the landscape surrounding colonies and the different phases of the maternity cycle influenced the diversity and the composition of this diet. We showed that R. ferrumequinum feed on a much more diverse prey spectrum than expected from previous studies, highlighting how eDNA metabarcoding can improve our knowledge on the dietary habits of elusive species. Our approach also revealed that the diet of R. ferrumequinum seems to be composed of two distinct features: the core diet consisting of a few preferred taxa shared by all the colonies (25% of the occurrences) and the secondary diet consisting of numerous rare prey taxa that were highly different between colonies and sampling dates (75% of the occurrences). Constraints associated with the greater horseshoe bat life cycle, as well as insect phenology and landscape features, strongly influenced the diversity and composition of both the core diet and the diet as a whole. Further research should now explore the relationships between R. ferrumequinum dietary plasticity and fitness, to better assess the impact of core prey decline on R. ferrumequinum population viability.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

eDNA metabarcoding reveals a core and secondary diets of the greater horseshoe bat with strong spatio‐temporal plasticity

et al. 2020

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“…Bats are known to be active in South African macadamia orchards and to feed on major insect pest species, like the green vegetable bug (Taylor, Bohmann, et al, ; Taylor et al, ). Other data confirm the consumption of several more insect pests by bats (Weier et al, ), namely the macadamia nut borer, the two‐spotted stink bug and the litchi moth Cryptophlebia peltastica . Sixty six percent of the local bat community has been recorded inside macadamia orchards, with 14 identified species classified as either clutter‐edge or open‐air feeders, while seasonal activity patterns of bats seem to be linked to pest insect abundances (Taylor, Monadjem, & Steyn, ; Weier, Grass, Linden, Tscharntke, & Taylor, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 58%

Ecosystem services and disservices by birds, bats and monkeys change with macadamia landscape heterogeneity

Linden

Graß

Joubert

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. The relative importance of ecosystem services and disservices can change with landscape structure in a poorly understood way.2. We compare the impact of biocontrol, provided by bats and birds, with that of crop raiding by vervet monkeys on yield in South African macadamia orchards.Insectivorous bats and birds are known to feed on macadamia pest insect species, like the macadamia nut borer or the green vegetable bug. Vervet monkeys move into the orchards during the day to feed on premature macadamia nuts. Bats, birds and monkeys benefit from patches of natural vegetation adjacent to orchards. With exclusion experiments (four treatments: day, night, day and night, control) we quantified the relative importance of biocontrol and crop raiding on yield, comparing two different landscape settings of the orchards, a natural and a human-modified. 4. Crop raiding occurred only close to natural vegetation and caused yield losses of about 26%. Biocontrol by bats and birds was higher near natural vegetation, but still significant in human-modified landscapes, at up to 530 m distance to forest patches. Prevented biocontrol through the exclusion of bats and birds resulted in yield losses of up to 60%.5. Effects of biocontrol by bats and birds (USD ~5,000 ha/year) were economically more important than the losses of crop raiding (USD ~1,600 ha/year). As both are linked to the vicinity of forest patches, the removal of natural vegetation to limit monkey abundances would also limit biocontrol service provision. Synthesis and applications.This study highlights the high economic benefits of biocontrol by bats and birds, which outweighed negative impacts through yield losses caused by crop raiding monkeys. Management practices to prevent crop damage, such as guarding, excluding vertebrates or removal of adjacent natural vegetation, would also limit access for bats and birds and the great economic benefits provided by their biocontrol. Ecosystem services by bats and birds can be promoted by the exposure of artificial roost and nest sites, but research into species-specific preferences is needed. The education of farmers is crucial, as many are unaware 2070 | Journal of Applied Ecology LINDEN Et aL.

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“…Dietary analysis of microbats is important in interpreting their ecological role as predators on their respective preys [4,5] as well as their potential to be used as biological control agents in both natural and modified (e.g. agricultural) areas [6][7][8]. They feed on several major farm land insect pests such as corn earworm moths (a major pest of corn, beans and tomatoes), spotted cucumber beetles, brown stink bug, fruit flies, celery looper, green stink bug [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Diet Composition of Four Vesper Bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Centre Region of Cameroon (Central Africa)

Waghiiwimbom¹,

Eric‐Moise²,

Jules³

et al. 2019

IJNREM

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Diet is an important part of microbat biology that provides valuable information on how species interact and persist in an ecosystem. Dietary analysis is also important in interpreting their role as predator of night flying insects. Our objective is to report on the food and feeding habits of four microbats (Neoromicia nana, Neoromicia tenuipinnis, Pipistrellus nanulus and Scotoecus hirundo) in the Centre Region of Cameroon, based primarily on fecal remains collected from bats captured at their feeding and roosting sites. Bats were captured from January 2016 to December 2017 using mist nets and their fecal pellets were collected for dietary analysis. Dietary analysis of 393 fecal pellets of 51 vesper bats showed that bats consumed eight insect Orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Isopteran, Trichoptera and Neuroptera). Lepidoptera's (%v=58.5%) were the most important food source for these bats. The three most frequent insect Orders encountered in the pellets of these bats were Lepidoptera (%f = 96.6%), dipteran (%f =79.1%) and Coleoptera (%f =77.5%). We observed large amounts of Diptera content in the diet of S. hirundo (%v = 39.7%), N. tenuipinnis (%v = 29.6%). Elucidating the role of bats in Dipteran control could lead to benefits for both the conservation of bats and public health. Equally erecting of bat houses to attract bats in farms so that they feed on insects could reduce or minimize the use of pesticides. A statistical analysis of mean percentage frequency and volume of food items indicated that among the four-bat species, consumed prey items were similar (H = 0.2, p = 0.9). This new information can be used for both conservation and to improve public awareness about bats in Cameroon.

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Insect pest consumption by bats in macadamia orchards established by molecular diet analyses

Cited by 24 publications

References 43 publications

eDNA metabarcoding reveals a core and secondary diets of the greater horseshoe bat with strong spatio‐temporal plasticity

eDNA metabarcoding reveals a core and secondary diets of the greater horseshoe bat with strong spatio‐temporal plasticity

Ecosystem services and disservices by birds, bats and monkeys change with macadamia landscape heterogeneity

The Diet Composition of Four Vesper Bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Centre Region of Cameroon (Central Africa)

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