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Dietary differentiation of two co-occurring common bat species (Eptesicus nilssonii and Pipistrellus pygmaeus)
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography. Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, The Bolin Centre for Climate Research (together with KTH & SMHI).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5244-9908
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography. UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster, UK.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0807-9943
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Population Analysis and Monitorin.
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography. Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, The Bolin Centre for Climate Research (together with KTH & SMHI).ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2656-2645
(English)Manuscript (preprint) (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Sympatric bat species can co-exist and avoid interspecific competition via niche differentiation. Detecting dietary differences can be achieved by comparing dietary niches of sympatric and allopatric populations.  If dietary overlap is higher in sympatry versus allopatry, co-occurrence may be altering the dietary niche of the species. Our study region offers an excellent opportunity to investigate this because two species, Eptesicus nilssonii and Pipistrellus pygmaeus, occur sympatrically across southern Sweden and E. nilssonii occurs allopatrically in the north. We analysed droppings from 19 roosts: six P. pygmaeus, seven E. nilssonii located in the known distribution of P. pygmaeus (sympatric) and six roosts located outside the known range of P. pygmaeus (allopatric). We used DNA metabarcoding to assess dietary overlap and dietary niche breadth in both species. We found a high dietary overlap between E. nilssonii and P. pygmaeus at all taxonomic levels of prey. The dominate prey orders in the three bat populations were Ephemeroptera (Mayflies) and one Diptera species (Cranefly); five species from these orders accounted for >70% of all reads. When using quantitative relative read abundance data at the species level the interspecific overlap was higher than the intraspecific overlap. We find a consistent but not significant pattern that E. nilssonii populations co-occurring with P. pygmaeus have the narrowest dietary niche breadth. This could indicate that the co-occurrence with P. pygmaeus is having an impact on prey selection for sympatric E. nilssonii populations.  What is most interesting is that both bat species’ diets are heavily dominated by only five species. These are all currently common insect species and most likely indicates opportunistic foraging on abundant insect populations. However, if these currently abundant insect species decline under climate and land-use change this could be detrimental for bats in the future.

Keywords [en]
bats, citizen science, DNA metabarcoding, interspecific competition, niche breadth, niche differentiation
National Category
Ecology
Research subject
Physical Geography
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-233587OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-233587DiVA, id: diva2:1898932
Available from: 2024-09-18 Created: 2024-09-18 Last updated: 2024-09-18
In thesis
1. Bats at northern latitudes: The influence of habitat and climate
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Bats at northern latitudes: The influence of habitat and climate
2024 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Globally, habitat change is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Similar changes have occurred in Sweden over the past 150 years resulting in loss of habitat complexity at local and landscape scales.  In parallel, the climate is changing, with increasing air temperatures in the past 100 years. This changing climate will likely have knock-on effects on habitats and their microclimates.  Bats are often considered good indicators of environmental change. However, many bat species are declining globally with north European populations considered the most at risk due to climate change. The effects of habitat and climate change on bats are wide ranging and include loss of foraging habitat, impacts to roost locations, morphological changes and effects on their insect prey. In this thesis I identify how habitat and climate influence bat populations in Sweden, at multiple spatial and temporal scales.  Due to the complex nature of these drivers a multi-method approach was used, across a long latitudinal gradient in Sweden. To investigate the drivers of bat morphological change I analysed museum specimens over a 180-year time period together with historical maps, land-use statistics, and temperature data. To understand how habitat complexity at local and landscape scales influences bat activity, I monitored bats acoustically, sampled prey abundance and measured microclimate in a study focusing on forest borders. I also used a citizen science project to investigate bat diet and the local and landscape drivers of roost selection. I found no effect of climate change on bat morphology but jaw size changed over time in two bat species, with increasing jaw size in one species and decreasing in the other. In terms of microclimate, humidity was a strong driver of bat activity. As for effects of landscape level habitat, forest cover influenced wing morphology with bats having shorter, broader wings in more forested landscapes. Furthermore, area of deciduous forest had a positive effect on bat activity, roost selection and abundance of bat prey. At the local-scale forest structural complexity was important for bat activity but not for their insect prey. I also found high dietary overlap in the two most common species (Eptesicus nilssonii and Pipistrellus pygmaeus).  These findings highlight the need to maintain and increase deciduous forest cover and structurally complex forest borders within heterogenous habitats at local and landscape scales to meet the ecological needs of bats and their prey and ensure their conservation in the future.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Stockholm: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, 2024. p. 44
Series
Dissertations in Physical Geography, ISSN 2003-2358 ; 40
Keywords
bats, biodiversity, citizen science, climate, diet, forest borders, forest structure, historical maps, land-cover, landscape change, LiDAR, microclimate, morphology, moths, museum specimens, niche differentiation, roost selection
National Category
Physical Geography
Research subject
Physical Geography
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:su:diva-233589 (URN)978-91-8014-941-9 (ISBN)978-91-8014-942-6 (ISBN)
Public defence
2024-11-01, De Geersalen, Geovetenskapens hus, Svante Arrhenius väg 14 and online via Zoom https://stockholmuniversity.zoom.us/j/65604626496, Stockholm, 13:00 (English)
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Supervisors
Available from: 2024-10-09 Created: 2024-09-18 Last updated: 2024-10-03Bibliographically approved

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Wood, HeatherKimberley, AdamCousins, Sara

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