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Wildfires, heatwaves and human disturbance threaten insular endemic bats

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Abstract

Islands host high numbers of endemic species, and the latter are especially exposed to human-driven habitat alteration because their population size is constrained by the limited space and resources found in insular systems. Extreme events linked with climate change and direct anthropogenic stressors may synergistically affect endemic species, and even push them to the brink of extinction. Bats include many insular endemics whose life traits make them excellent candidates to test the effects of both climate-change driven events and direct human disturbance. The Mediterranean island of Sardinia is home to the endemic long-eared bat Plecotus sardus. Within the island, this recently described species is restricted to a limited range where suitable habitat is present. This makes the species extremely vulnerable to human action. Here we use Plecotus sardus as a model to assess the response of insular endemic bats to climate change and human disturbance, exploring demographic trends across two decades. Overall, roost count data for all known reproductive sites showed a steep (-63.4% between 2003 and 2020) population decline, so that the current estimated population size is only 36.5% of that observed in 2003. Colony growth rates are strongly affected by recurring wildfires around reproductive sites, summer precipitation and temperature extremes, pointing to climate change as a primary threat to the species along with direct human interference. Such anthropogenic pressures may therefore rapidly expose island endemic bats to a high extinction risk. Based on our analysis, Plecotus sardus is among the most threatened mammals, and likely the rarest bat species, in Europe. Thus, we urge that (1) similar assessments are conducted on other insular endemic bats in Mediterranean Europe, (2) IUCN Redlist categories are revised according to new analyses, and (3) recovery action plans are immediately developed and implemented to revert the current population trends.

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The data that support the findings are available from the corresponding author (LA) upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Luca Montanaro, Enrico Melis, Maria Luisa Bertelli, Cosima Lindemann, Giuseppe Pischedda and Giampaolo De Donato for assistance during fieldwork, and Michele Lussu and Michela Marignani for providing useful insights on wildfire and climate data sources. We also thank two anonymous reviewers whose suggestions greatly improved a first version of the manuscript.

Funding

Part of this project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and Le Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Administration de la nature et des forêts) who supported the EUROBATS Project Initiative “Plecotus sardus: from knowledge to conservation” in 2015-2016.

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Author notes

  1. L. Ancillotto and G. Fichera co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Research Unit, Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Università 100, 80055, Portici, NA, Italy

    L. Ancillotto & D. Russo

  2. Department of Biogeography, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, 54296, Trier, Germany

    G. Fichera, M. Veith & A. Kiefer

  3. Centro Pipistrelli Sardegna, Via G. Leopardi 1, 07100, Sassari, Italy

    E. Pidinchedda & M. Mucedda

  4. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS81TQ, UK

    D. Russo

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  1. L. Ancillotto
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection was performed by GF, MM, and EP; GF, AK and MV conducted lab analyses. Data were prepared by MM and GF; data analysis was conducted by LA. The first draft of the manuscript was written by LA and DR, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to L. Ancillotto.

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Communicated by Adeline Loyau.

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Ancillotto, L., Fichera, G., Pidinchedda, E. et al. Wildfires, heatwaves and human disturbance threaten insular endemic bats. Biodivers Conserv 30, 4401–4416 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02313-5

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