TY  - CONF
AU  - Montauban, Cecilia M
AU  - Devenish, Adam JM
AU  - Budinski, Ivana
AU  - Annorbah, Nathaniel ND
AU  - Chibesa, Moses
AU  - Welch, Andreanna J
AU  - Tobias, Joseph A
PY  - 2023
UR  - http://radar.ibiss.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/6256
AB  - Increasing agricultural production to meet rapidly growing demand for food is driving widespread
conversion of natural habitats to arable land. Safeguarding biodiversity while improving food security
of local communities remains a key global challenge, especially in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa,
where the population is expected to double by 2050. To develop sustainable solutions to this trade-off,
we need to better understand natural regulation processes. Bats are widely regarded as a major predator of crop pests, yet little is known about them in African agroecosystems. We investigated the role of bats
as natural pest consumers across land-use gradients from intact forest to cropland in two contrasting
Afrotropical systems of Zambia and Ghana. Between 2021 and 2022, 2151 bats of 61 species were
captured across four field seasons. From these, metabarcoding dietary analyses of 895 faecal samples
of insectivorous bats were performed. Bats were found to consume detrimental agricultural pests in
both systems, with differing proportions and prevalence of pests in their diets across localities and
agroecosystem types (e.g., maize and cacao). We find a shift in bat taxonomic and functional diversity,
with some forest-dependent species absent from agricultural areas, particularly on the clear-cut edges
of tropical evergreen rainforests of Ghana. Intraspecific dietary analyses of bat species present along
the gradient show alteration of trophic interactions, with reduced dietary breadth and nestedness with
increasing distance from the forest. Our study highlights the degradation of ecological interactions in
changing landscapes, with important implications for conserving their function and stability.
PB  - Windhoek: University of Namibia
C3  - Scientific Programme and Abstract: 14th African Small Mammal Symposium; 2023 Sep 17-22; Swakopmund, Namibia
T1  - Forest loss alters bat diversity, trophic interactions and natural pest consumption in adjacent agricultural land
SP  - 22
EP  - 23
UR  - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ibiss_6256
ER  - 

@conference{
author = "Montauban, Cecilia M and Devenish, Adam JM and Budinski, Ivana and Annorbah, Nathaniel ND and Chibesa, Moses and Welch, Andreanna J and Tobias, Joseph A",
year = "2023",
abstract = "Increasing agricultural production to meet rapidly growing demand for food is driving widespread
conversion of natural habitats to arable land. Safeguarding biodiversity while improving food security
of local communities remains a key global challenge, especially in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa,
where the population is expected to double by 2050. To develop sustainable solutions to this trade-off,
we need to better understand natural regulation processes. Bats are widely regarded as a major predator of crop pests, yet little is known about them in African agroecosystems. We investigated the role of bats
as natural pest consumers across land-use gradients from intact forest to cropland in two contrasting
Afrotropical systems of Zambia and Ghana. Between 2021 and 2022, 2151 bats of 61 species were
captured across four field seasons. From these, metabarcoding dietary analyses of 895 faecal samples
of insectivorous bats were performed. Bats were found to consume detrimental agricultural pests in
both systems, with differing proportions and prevalence of pests in their diets across localities and
agroecosystem types (e.g., maize and cacao). We find a shift in bat taxonomic and functional diversity,
with some forest-dependent species absent from agricultural areas, particularly on the clear-cut edges
of tropical evergreen rainforests of Ghana. Intraspecific dietary analyses of bat species present along
the gradient show alteration of trophic interactions, with reduced dietary breadth and nestedness with
increasing distance from the forest. Our study highlights the degradation of ecological interactions in
changing landscapes, with important implications for conserving their function and stability.",
publisher = "Windhoek: University of Namibia",
journal = "Scientific Programme and Abstract: 14th African Small Mammal Symposium; 2023 Sep 17-22; Swakopmund, Namibia",
title = "Forest loss alters bat diversity, trophic interactions and natural pest consumption in adjacent agricultural land",
pages = "22-23",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ibiss_6256"
}

Montauban, C. M., Devenish, A. J., Budinski, I., Annorbah, N. N., Chibesa, M., Welch, A. J.,& Tobias, J. A.. (2023). Forest loss alters bat diversity, trophic interactions and natural pest consumption in adjacent agricultural land. in Scientific Programme and Abstract: 14th African Small Mammal Symposium; 2023 Sep 17-22; Swakopmund, Namibia
Windhoek: University of Namibia., 22-23.
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ibiss_6256

Montauban CM, Devenish AJ, Budinski I, Annorbah NN, Chibesa M, Welch AJ, Tobias JA. Forest loss alters bat diversity, trophic interactions and natural pest consumption in adjacent agricultural land. in Scientific Programme and Abstract: 14th African Small Mammal Symposium; 2023 Sep 17-22; Swakopmund, Namibia. 2023;:22-23.
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ibiss_6256 .

Montauban, Cecilia M, Devenish, Adam JM, Budinski, Ivana, Annorbah, Nathaniel ND, Chibesa, Moses, Welch, Andreanna J, Tobias, Joseph A, "Forest loss alters bat diversity, trophic interactions and natural pest consumption in adjacent agricultural land" in Scientific Programme and Abstract: 14th African Small Mammal Symposium; 2023 Sep 17-22; Swakopmund, Namibia (2023):22-23,
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_ibiss_6256 .