Journal ArticleDOI
Ecosystem services provided by bats
Thomas H. Kunz,Elizabeth Braun de Torrez,Dana Marie Bauer,Tatyana A. Lobova,Theodore H. Fleming +4 more
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TLDR
Information on the ecological and economic value of ecosystem services provided by bats can be used to inform decisions regarding where and when to protect or restore bat populations and associated habitats, as well as to improve public perception of bats.Abstract:
Ecosystem services are the benefits obtained from the environment that increase human well-being. Economic valuation is conducted by measuring the human welfare gains or losses that result from changes in the provision of ecosystem services. Bats have long been postulated to play important roles in arthropod suppression, seed dispersal, and pollination; however, only recently have these ecosystem services begun to be thoroughly evaluated. Here, we review the available literature on the ecological and economic impact of ecosystem services provided by bats. We describe dietary preferences, foraging behaviors, adaptations, and phylogenetic histories of insectivorous, frugivorous, and nectarivorous bats worldwide in the context of their respective ecosystem services. For each trophic ensemble, we discuss the consequences of these ecological interactions on both natural and agricultural systems. Throughout this review, we highlight the research needed to fully determine the ecosystem services in question. Finally, we provide a comprehensive overview of economic valuation of ecosystem services. Unfortunately, few studies estimating the economic value of ecosystem services provided by bats have been conducted to date; however, we outline a framework that could be used in future studies to more fully address this question. Consumptive goods provided by bats, such as food and guano, are often exchanged in markets where the market price indicates an economic value. Nonmarket valuation methods can be used to estimate the economic value of nonconsumptive services, including inputs to agricultural production and recreational activities. Information on the ecological and economic value of ecosystem services provided by bats can be used to inform decisions regarding where and when to protect or restore bat populations and associated habitats, as well as to improve public perception of bats.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Cultural Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review and Prospects for Future Research
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted a semiquantitative review of publications explicitly dealing with cultural ecosystem services and identified five groups of publications: conceptual focus, conceptual focus deals with theoretical issues; Group 2, descriptive reviews, consists mostly of desktop studies; Group 3, localized outcomes, deals with case studies coming from different disciplines; Group 4, social and participatory, deals mainly with assessing preferences and perceptions; and Group 5, economic assessments, provides economic valuations.
BookDOI
The Biology of Caves and Other Subterranean Habitats
David C. Culver,Tanja Pipan +1 more
TL;DR: The Biology of Caves and other Subterranean Habitats offers a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave ecology and evolution and more than 650 references, 150 of which are new since the first edition, provide many entry points to the research literature.
Journal ArticleDOI
Frequent arousal from hibernation linked to severity of infection and mortality in bats with white-nose syndrome
DeeAnn M. Reeder,Craig L. Frank,Gregory G. Turner,Carol U. Meteyer,Allen Kurta,Eric R. Britzke,Megan E. Vodzak,Scott R. Darling,Craig W. Stihler,Alan C. Hicks,Roymon Jacob,Laura E. Grieneisen,Sarah A. Brownlee,Laura K. Muller,David S. Blehert +14 more
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that WNS-affected bats aroused to euthermic body temperatures more frequently than unaffected bats, likely contributing to subsequent mortality, and the number of arousal bouts since datalogger attachment significantly predicted date of death.
Journal ArticleDOI
A review of the major threats and challenges to global bat conservation
TL;DR: It is shown that global and regional networks that connect researchers, conservation practitioners, and local stakeholders to share knowledge, build capacity, and prioritize and coordinate research and conservation efforts, are vital to ensuring sustainable bat populations worldwide.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bats and birds increase crop yield in tropical agroforestry landscapes
TL;DR: It is found that bat and bird exclusion increased insect herbivore abundance, despite the concurrent release of mesopredators such as ants and spiders, and negatively affected fruit development, with final crop yield decreasing by 31% across local (shade cover) and landscape gradients.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Economic Importance of Bats in Agriculture
TL;DR: Analysis suggesting that loss of bats in North America could lead to agricultural losses estimated at more than $3.7 billion/year is presented.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and human well-being: a framework for assessment
Rik Leemans,R. de Groot +1 more
TL;DR: The 245-page report lays out the approaches, assumptions, processes, and parameters scientists are using in the study and offers decision-makers a mechanism to identify options that can better achieve core human development and sustainability goals and better understand the trade-offs in decisions about development and the environment as mentioned in this paper.
BookDOI
The Biology of Caves and Other Subterranean Habitats
David C. Culver,Tanja Pipan +1 more
TL;DR: The Biology of Caves and other Subterranean Habitats offers a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave ecology and evolution and more than 650 references, 150 of which are new since the first edition, provide many entry points to the research literature.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mapping ecosystem services: Practical challenges and opportunities in linking GIS and value transfer
Austin Troy,Matthew A. Wilson +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, a decision framework designed for spatially explicit value transfer was used to estimate ecosystem service flow values and to map results for three case studies representing a diversity of spatial scales and locations: 1) Massachusetts, 2) Maury Island, Washington; and 3) three counties in California.