Agricultural pests consumed by common bat species in the United States corn belt: The importance of DNA primer choice

Whitby, Michael D.; Kieran, Troy J.; Glenn, Travis C.; Allen, Craig R.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2020.107105

Cited by 24 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…A growing body of literature highlights the ecosystem services provided by insectivorous bats in agricultural landscapes [ 3 , 66 – 69 ]. However, the studies that evaluated the food items consumed by bats were able to identify the insects up to the order level before 2010 [ 64 ] and to the species level only after 2010 [ 24 , 70 , 71 ], mainly due to the difficulty in identifying insects from the small pieces found in bat feces. In this study, we identified several insects up to the family level and others up to the species level using DNA metabarcoding, which required smaller quantities of materials than the traditional taxonomic tools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going out for dinner—The consumption of agriculture pests by bats in urban areas

et al. 2021

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Insectivorous bats provide ecosystem services in agricultural and urban landscapes by consuming arthropods that are considered pests. Bat species inhabiting cities are expected to consume insects associated with urban areas, such as mosquitoes, flying termites, moths, and beetles. We captured insectivorous bats in the Federal District of Brazil and used fecal DNA metabarcoding to investigate the arthropod consumed by five bat species living in colonies in city buildings, and ascertained whether their predation was related to ecosystem services. These insectivorous bat species were found to consume 83 morphospecies of arthropods and among these 41 were identified to species, most of which were agricultural pests. We propose that bats may roost in the city areas and forage in the nearby agricultural fields using their ability to fly over long distances. We also calculated the value of the pest suppression ecosystem service by the bats. By a conservative estimation, bats save US$ 94 per hectare of cornfields, accounting for an annual savings of US$ 390.6 million per harvest in Brazil. Our study confirms that, regardless of their roosting location, bats are essential for providing ecosystem services in the cities, with extensive impacts on crops and elsewhere, in addition to significant savings in the use of pesticides.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going out for dinner—The consumption of agriculture pests by bats in urban areas

et al. 2021

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“…Although Orthoptera has a higher protein content, most species are active during the day. Few nocturnal species are active on the ground, which makes them more difficult for bats to hunt ( Whitby et al, 2020 ). Finally, lactating females consumed significantly more species of certain insect families of the order Lepidoptera than did non-lactating females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Diet and Gut Microbiota Between Lactating and Non-lactating Asian Particolored Bats (Vespertilio sinensis): Implication for a Connection Between Diet and Gut Microbiota

Chu

Yao

et al. 2021

Front. Microbiol.

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In mammals, lactation is considered the most energetically costly phase for females. To meet nutritional and energy demands, lactating females usually change feeding patterns by eating food that is higher in protein and calories. Their gut microbes respond accordingly to help adapt to the changes in diet. In this study, we examined differences in diet and gut microbial composition between lactating and non-lactating Asian particolored bats (Vespertilio sinensis) using COI and 16S amplicon sequencing. When compared with non-lactating bats, we found that the diversity and composition of lactating bats’ diets differed; the proportion of Diptera increased and Coleoptera and Orthoptera decreased significantly. This could be attributed to the easy availability and high protein content of Diptera. Comparative analysis of the gut microbiota of lactating and non-lactating females showed that although the diversity of gut microbiota did not change, the relative abundance of specific gut microbiota associated with a particular diet did change. For example, when the consumption of Coleoptera decreased in lactating bats, the relative abundance of Lactobacillaceae was also reduced. Lactobacillaceae are thought to be involved in the digestion of Coleopteran exoskeletons. This study suggests that during lactation, Asian particolored bats eat a diet that yields higher levels of protein, and at the same time, the abundance of specific gut microbes change to help their hosts adapt to these changes in diet.

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“…Our insect sampling method might not capture the complete profile of prey. For example, we collected very few lepidopterans, which are known prey under ALAN [ 13 , 37 , 88 ]. Future studies should use more comprehensive prey sampling methods to better understand the prey availability and further investigate how prey preference might alter predator-prey relationships [ 89 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator-Prey Relationship between Urban Bats and Insects Impacted by Both Artificial Light at Night and Spatial Clutter

Wilkins

2022

Biology

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Predators respond to the increase of prey by aggregation in space or foraging more often. However, foraging habitat suitability limits predators’ responses. For nocturnal insectivorous bats, artificial light at night (ALAN) can trigger insect prey aggregation. It is not clear how ALAN might affect predator-prey relationships in the urban setting, where urban bats could have adapted to the city, and novel spatial complexity introduced by man-made objects might alter foraging habitat suitability. We strategically selected sites to represent different levels of ALAN and spatial complexity. We recorded bat commuting and foraging activities and collected aerial insects to examine how ALAN and spatial complexity affected bat-insect relationships. We found that insect biomass was positively correlated with ALAN, but was not affected by spatial complexity. Large-sized big brown bats and hoary bats positively responded to change of prey in open sites whereas small-sized eastern red bats and silver-haired bats positively responded in cluttered sites, suggesting that the impact of ALAN could vary when ALAN is coupled with urban spatial complexity. Our study demonstrates that foraging habitat suitability can alter which species might benefit from ALAN. Predator-prey relationships in cities are complex, but general ecological principles still apply in novel urban ecosystems.

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Agricultural pests consumed by common bat species in the United States corn belt: The importance of DNA primer choice

Cited by 24 publications

References 42 publications

Going out for dinner—The consumption of agriculture pests by bats in urban areas

Going out for dinner—The consumption of agriculture pests by bats in urban areas

Differences in Diet and Gut Microbiota Between Lactating and Non-lactating Asian Particolored Bats (Vespertilio sinensis): Implication for a Connection Between Diet and Gut Microbiota

Predator-Prey Relationship between Urban Bats and Insects Impacted by Both Artificial Light at Night and Spatial Clutter

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