Guano morphology has the potential to inform conservation strategies in British bats

Abstract

Bats are primary consumers of nocturnal insects, disperse nutrients across landscapes, and are excellent bioindicators of an ecosystem's health, however four of the seventeen Great British species are listed as declining. In this study we aim to investigate the link between bat guano morphology and diet, specifically looking at the ability to predict 1) species, 2) dietary guild, and 3) bat size, using guano morphology alone. Guano from 16 bat species sampled from across Great Britain were analysed to determine various morphological metrics. These data were coupled with diet data obtained by an extensive literature review. It was found that guano morphology overlapped too much to make predictions on the species of bat which deposited the guano, however, in some cases, it could be used to indicate the dietary guild to which the bat belonged. In general, guano morphology seems more correlated to diet than species. This enables the identification of the most important prey taxa within a local environment; a crucial step for informing conservation strategies.

Assessing the importance of field margins for bat species and communities in intensive agricultural landscapes

“…We only found an effect for the Myotis group, which mostly commute and forage by flying close to semi-natural habitats (Denzinger & Schnitzler, 2013;Roemer et al, 2019). To explain this response, we could hypothesize that herbaceous field margins can increase the abundance of prey such as moths (Merckx et al, 2009;Kuussaari et al, 2011) or Coleoptera (Smith et al, 2008), which are consumed by Myotis species (Vaughan, 1997;Ware et al, 2020). However, such prey are also widely consumed by other bat species, especially Plecotus group.…”

Bats and their vital ecosystem services: a global review

“…Both methods allow mineralization of guano to produce fertilizer (Shetty & Streepada 2013a; Ware et al . 2020). Likewise, the addition of bat guano to other organic fertilizers from vermicompost stimulates plant growth significantly (Ievinsh 2011; Grantina‐Ievina et al .…”

“…The methods most commonly employed to assess the use of bat guano were collection of droppings from the roosts and vermicompost. Both methods allow mineralization of guano to produce fertilizer (Shetty & Streepada 2013a;Ware et al 2020). Likewise, the addition of bat guano to other organic fertilizers from vermicompost stimulates plant growth significantly (Ievinsh 2011;Grantina-Ievina et al 2013;Karlsons et al 2015).…”

“…Bats play an important ecological role in soil fertility. Bat guano extracted from caves is used as fertilizer in agriculture because it is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus (Shetty & Streepada 2013a;Ware et al 2020). Guano has been widely traded in some parts of the world and is considered one of the best natural fertilizers (Tuttle & Moreno 2005).…”

Bat responses to changes in forest composition and prey abundance depend on landscape matrix and stand structure

“…Another process that may explain the effects of forest attributes on bat activity is the bat-prey relationships 36 , which are expected to be complex and to strongly vary between species 37 , 38 . Moths constitute the main prey items of many temperate insectivorous bats 39 . Several studies highlighted the importance of deciduous tree cover within coniferous plantations in enhancing moth diversity and abundance 40 , 41 , which may explain the positive selection of deciduous forests by many forest bat species.…”