Valuing the ecosystem services provided by UK bats under climate change

Climate change and land-use change are rapidly reshaping biodiversity and ecosystem functioning worldwide. Insectivorous bats are recognised as important regulators of agricultural pests populations, yet the ecological mechanisms linking bat biodiversity to potential pest suppression, and the economic value of this service, remain poorly understood. This thesis investigates how climate change may affect bat communities, their trophic interactions, and the ecosystem services they provide. By integrating species distribution modelling, functional trait analysis, molecular dietary data, trophic network reconstruction, and economic valuation, this thesis develops a cross-scale framework linking biodiversity change to ecosystem service delivery in agricultural landscapes. First, I examined how climate and land-use change may reshape the distribution, composition, and functional diversity of European bat assemblages. I show that climate change is predicted to drive substantial redistribution of bat species across Europe, leading to spatially heterogeneous changes in community composition and functional diversity, with consequences for their potential contribution to ecological regulation. Second, I analysed community-level trophic interactions within multispecies bat assemblages across the UK using DNA metabarcoding and ecological network analysis. I found that bat communities consume a diverse range of arthropod prey, including numerous agricultural pest species. Pest predation emerged from complementary feeding strategies across bat assemblages, with both generalist and specialist species contributing to insect regulation. Variation in pest consumption was also associated with bat functional traits and landscape context, indicating that morphological characteristics and habitat structure influence the potential for pest suppression. Finally, I assessed the ecological and economic contribution of bats to pest suppression in UK vineyards under present and future climate scenarios by integrating species distribution models for bats, vineyards, and a key pest species with economic valuation. Results indicate that bats can partially offset projected pest-related losses and reduce pest control costs in several regions of the UK. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that bat-mediated pest suppression is an ecosystem service shaped by bat diversity patterns, functional traits, and landscape context. By linking climate-driven biodiversity change with trophic ecology and economic valuation, this thesis provides one of the first interdisciplinary, cross-scale assessments of how environmental change influences the resilience and economic value of bat-mediated pest suppression in temperate agricultural systems.<p></p>

Author dc:creator

• Penelope Fialas (21039851)

• Chiroptera
• Climate change
• Ecosystem services
• Economic valuation

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved
• Open Access after 2027-06-01

Identifier

10779/exe.32492922.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/32492922