Natural vegetation and bug abundance promote insectivorous bat activity in macadamia orchards, South Africa

Weier, Sina M.; Graß, Ingo; Linden, Valerie M.G.; Tscharntke, Teja; Taylor, Peter J.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.07.017

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

“…The highest (March and May) and lowest (November and August) average numbers of bats recorded during our study overlap the high (December to end of May) and low (June to end of November) seasons of insect pest species occurrence in macadamia orchards (Weier et al, 2018). The study of Weier et al (2018), conducted in the same study area, shows that bat activity nearly doubled in the high season and increased with Hemipteran abundance. This also supports the suggestion that insectivorous bat species track outbreaks of insect pests (to the macadamia growers) such as certain stinkbug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) species (Taylor, Monadjem & Steyn, 2013; Taylor et al, 2017; McCracken et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

“…This process was kept as short as possible to minimize disturbance to bats. Bats were counted and identified visually to family or species level referring to Monadjem et al (2010b) and species records of Weier et al (2018). Bat houses solely occupied by wasps or bees were cleared during maintenance in May 2016.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The use of bat houses as day roosts in macadamia orchards, South Africa

Weier

Linden

Graß

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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The loss of roost sites is one of the major drivers of the worldwide decline in bat populations and roost site preferences, either natural or artificially provided, are not well known for African bat species specifically. In this study we focus on the preference for different artificial roost sites by insectivorous bats in macadamia orchards in northern South Africa. From June 2016 to July 2017 we monitored 31 bat houses, mounted on poles in six macadamia orchards, for presence of bats or other occupants. Twenty-one multi-chambered bat houses of three different designs were erected in sets of three. Additionally, five Rocket boxes, four bat houses in sets of two (painted black and white) and one colony bat house were erected. Bats were counted and visually identified to family or species level. From December 2016 to the end of March 2017 iButtons were installed to record and analyze temperature variation within one set of three bat houses. We related the occupancy of bat houses to the different types of houses and the environmental variables: distance to water, altitude and height of the bat houses above the ground. Overall bat house occupancy was significantly higher in the central bat house, in the set of three, and the black bat house, in the set of two. Mean temperatures differed between houses in the set of three with the central bat house having a significantly higher mean temperature than the houses flanking it. Our study might confirm previous assumptions that the microclimate of bat houses appears to be an important factor influencing occupancy. In conclusion, from the different bat houses tested in this study the designs we assume the warmest and best insulated attracted the most bats. Further research is needed on the preferred microclimate of different bat species, co-habitation within bat houses and the potential importance of altitude and distance to water. Our study provided little variation in both altitude and the distance to water.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

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The use of bat houses as day roosts in macadamia orchards, South Africa

Weier

Linden

Graß

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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“…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, ). Common insectivorous birds in the study region amongst others are the Black‐backed Puffback Dryoscopus cubla , Cape White‐eye Zosterops capensis , Tawny‐flanked Prinia Prinia subflava , Gorgeous Bush‐shrike Telephorus quadricolor , Red‐chested Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius or the Brown‐hooded Kingfisher Halcyon albiventris (Symes & Perrin, ; Symes, Venter, & Perrin, ), which are presumably also foraging in macadamia orchards.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…In the face of significant losses of both diversity and abundance of avian species (Rosenberg et al, 2019), farming agroecosystems represent a critical frontline for improving vast tracts of land for the conservation of biodiversity beyond the reserve system (Kremen and Merenlender, 2018;Grass et al, 2019). Establishing and protecting agroecosystems that harness functional diversity to provide ecosystem services at the farm and landscape level may simultaneously decrease chemical inputs and increase biodiversity (Daily et al, 2000;Bommarco et al, 2013;Weier et al, 2018;Kleijn et al, 2019). For example, establishing or maintaining strips of woody vegetation along field margins can increase the diversity, abundance, and corresponding ecosystem services of pollinators (Garibaldi et al, 2011;Sardiñas et al, 2016;M'Gonigle et al, 2015), arthropod predators (Eilers and Klein, 2009;Gareau et al, 2013), and birds (Heath et al, 2017;Gonthier et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Field and Landscape Scale Habitat on Insect and Bird Damage to Sunflowers

Kross

Martinico

Bourbour

et al. 2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Agriculture-dominated landscapes harbor significantly diminished biodiversity. Woody vegetation along field margins can provide farmers with ecosystem services and benefit biodiversity. However, when crops are damaged by the biodiversity harbored in such vegetation, farmers are reluctant to incorporate field margin habitat onto their land and may even actively remove such habitats. We investigated how damage by both insect pests (sunflower moth, Homoeosoma electellum) and avian pests to sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seed crops varied as a function of field-margin and landscape-scale habitat, as well as by bird abundance and diversity. Surveys for insect damage, avian abundance, and bird damage were carried out over 2 years in 30 different fields. The mean percentage of moth-damaged sunflowers sampled was nearly four times higher in fields that had bare or weedy margins (23.5%; $877/ha) compared to fields with woody vegetation (5.9%; $220/ha) and was positively associated with landscape-scale habitat complexity. Birds damaged significantly fewer sunflower seeds (2.7%) than insects, and bird damage was not affected by field margin habitat type, landscape-scale habitat variables, or avian abundance, but was significantly higher along field edges compared to ≥ 50 m from the field edge. Avian species richness nearly doubled in fields with woody margin habitat compared to fields with bare/weedy margins in both the breeding season and in fall. These results indicate that the benefits of planting or retaining woody vegetation along sunflower field margins could outweigh the ecosystem disservices related to bird damage, while simultaneously increasing the biodiversity value of intensively farmed agricultural landscapes.

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Natural vegetation and bug abundance promote insectivorous bat activity in macadamia orchards, South Africa

Cited by 24 publications

References 53 publications

The use of bat houses as day roosts in macadamia orchards, South Africa

The use of bat houses as day roosts in macadamia orchards, South Africa

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

Effects of Field and Landscape Scale Habitat on Insect and Bird Damage to Sunflowers

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