This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Bats promote the health of ecosystems in many ways. Insect-eating species help regulate insect populations, including agricultural and forest pests.
In tropical and subtropical regions, nectar-feeding and fruit-eating bats pollinate plants and disperse seeds, supporting plant reproduction and forest regeneration. A new article, published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde, the University of Naples Federico II, and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, examines this often-overlooked loss of ecological functions. "Recording a bat species tells us that it is present, but not whether it still fulfills its ecological role," says Danilo Russo of the University of Naples Federico II and the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin.
"Its population may have become too small, or its relationships with plants and prey may have changed. These losses can remain hidden while the species is still on the checklist." Declining numbers are only one part of the problem. Artificial lighting and habitat fragmentation can restrict access to feeding areas or interrupt journeys between flowering plants and forest patches.
Changes in the availability or seasonal timing of insects, flowers and fruit can weaken ecological relationships. Heat, drought, disease and other pressures can also affect behavior and reproduction, with consequences that may accumulate before population losses become obvious. The authors draw particular attention to common species.
In farmland, cities and other extensively modified landscapes, a few abundant bat species may account for a large share of the remaining ecological functions. Their decline can therefore have consequences across wide areas, even while they are still considered widespread. "Keeping common species common is an important conservation goal," states Mirjam Knörnschild of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
"Many of the ecological effects of bats depend on large numbers of animals. We need to preserve the population sizes that make these processes possible." The review proposes conservation measures that protect bats' capacity to adapt, move and interact with other organisms and ecosystem processes. These include maintaining large, genetically diverse populations, safeguarding networks of roosts and dark flight corridors, reducing pesticide exposure and retaining habitats that provide food throughout the seasons.
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