Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves

Abstract Background Modification and destruction of natural habitats are bringing previously unencountered animal populations into contact with humans, with bats considered important zoonotic transmission vectors. Caves and cave-dwelling bats are under-represented in conservation plans. In South Afr...

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Autores principales:	Mariëtte Pretorius, Wanda Markotter, Mark Keith
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	Caves Conservation Tree-loss Urbanization Miniopterus Rousettus Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7ebfc02a15c24e69a61361260713ad5b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7ebfc02a15c24e69a61361260713ad5b2021-11-21T12:08:15ZAssessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves10.1186/s40850-021-00095-52056-3132https://doaj.org/article/7ebfc02a15c24e69a61361260713ad5b2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s40850-021-00095-5https://doaj.org/toc/2056-3132Abstract Background Modification and destruction of natural habitats are bringing previously unencountered animal populations into contact with humans, with bats considered important zoonotic transmission vectors. Caves and cave-dwelling bats are under-represented in conservation plans. In South Africa, at least two cavernicolous species are of interest as potential zoonotic hosts: the Natal long-fingered bat Miniopterus natalensis and the Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus aegyptiacus. Little information is available about the anthropogenic pressures these species face around important roost sites. Both bats are numerous and widespread throughout the country; land-use changes and urban expansions are a rising concern for both conservation and increased bat-human contact. Results Our study addressed this shortfall by determining the extent of land-cover change around 47 roosts between 2014 and 2018 using existing land cover datasets. We determined the land-cover composition around important roost sites (including maternity, hibernacula and co-roosts), distances to urban settlements and assessed the current protection levels of roost localities. We detected an overall 4% decrease in natural woody vegetation (trees) within 5 km buffer zones of all roost sites, with a 10% decrease detected at co-roost sites alone. Agricultural land cover increased the most near roost sites, followed by plantations and urban land-cover. Overall, roosts were located 4.15 ± 0.91 km from urban settlements in 2018, the distances decreasing as urban areas expand. According to the South African National Biodiversity Institute Ecosystem Threat Status assessment, 72% of roosts fall outside of well-protected ecosystems. Conclusions The current lack of regulatory protection of cavernicolous bats and their roosts, increasing anthropogenic expansions and proximity to human settlements raises concerns about increased human-bat contact. Furthermore, uncontrolled roost visitation and vandalism are increasing, contributing to bat health risks and population declines, though the extent of roosts affected is yet to be quantified. In an era where pandemics are predicted to become more frequent and severe due to land-use change, our research is an urgent call for the formal protection of bat-inhabited caves to safeguard both bats and humans.Mariëtte PretoriusWanda MarkotterMark KeithBMCarticleCavesConservationTree-lossUrbanizationMiniopterusRousettusZoologyQL1-991ENBMC Zoology, Vol 6, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Caves Conservation Tree-loss Urbanization Miniopterus Rousettus Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	Caves Conservation Tree-loss Urbanization Miniopterus Rousettus Zoology QL1-991 Mariëtte Pretorius Wanda Markotter Mark Keith Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
description	Abstract Background Modification and destruction of natural habitats are bringing previously unencountered animal populations into contact with humans, with bats considered important zoonotic transmission vectors. Caves and cave-dwelling bats are under-represented in conservation plans. In South Africa, at least two cavernicolous species are of interest as potential zoonotic hosts: the Natal long-fingered bat Miniopterus natalensis and the Egyptian fruit bat Rousettus aegyptiacus. Little information is available about the anthropogenic pressures these species face around important roost sites. Both bats are numerous and widespread throughout the country; land-use changes and urban expansions are a rising concern for both conservation and increased bat-human contact. Results Our study addressed this shortfall by determining the extent of land-cover change around 47 roosts between 2014 and 2018 using existing land cover datasets. We determined the land-cover composition around important roost sites (including maternity, hibernacula and co-roosts), distances to urban settlements and assessed the current protection levels of roost localities. We detected an overall 4% decrease in natural woody vegetation (trees) within 5 km buffer zones of all roost sites, with a 10% decrease detected at co-roost sites alone. Agricultural land cover increased the most near roost sites, followed by plantations and urban land-cover. Overall, roosts were located 4.15 ± 0.91 km from urban settlements in 2018, the distances decreasing as urban areas expand. According to the South African National Biodiversity Institute Ecosystem Threat Status assessment, 72% of roosts fall outside of well-protected ecosystems. Conclusions The current lack of regulatory protection of cavernicolous bats and their roosts, increasing anthropogenic expansions and proximity to human settlements raises concerns about increased human-bat contact. Furthermore, uncontrolled roost visitation and vandalism are increasing, contributing to bat health risks and population declines, though the extent of roosts affected is yet to be quantified. In an era where pandemics are predicted to become more frequent and severe due to land-use change, our research is an urgent call for the formal protection of bat-inhabited caves to safeguard both bats and humans.
format	article
author	Mariëtte Pretorius Wanda Markotter Mark Keith
author_facet	Mariëtte Pretorius Wanda Markotter Mark Keith
author_sort	Mariëtte Pretorius
title	Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
title_short	Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
title_full	Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
title_fullStr	Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
title_full_unstemmed	Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
title_sort	assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7ebfc02a15c24e69a61361260713ad5b
work_keys_str_mv	AT mariettepretorius assessingtheextentoflandusechangearoundimportantbatinhabitedcaves AT wandamarkotter assessingtheextentoflandusechangearoundimportantbatinhabitedcaves AT markkeith assessingtheextentoflandusechangearoundimportantbatinhabitedcaves
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Assessing the extent of land-use change around important bat-inhabited caves

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