@article {158517, title = {The dynamics of cave roost use by bats in the central Himalayas of Nepal: implications for conservation}, year = {2025}, abstract = {

The seasonal use of caves by bats can be attributed to physiologically demanding activities like mating and reproduction in spring and torpor in winter. Cave use, however, varies within and across species and can depend on the physical and microclimatic conditions of the caves. Understanding the current patterns and predictors of cave use is therefore crucial to develop a reference for assessing the response of bats to future changes in climatic conditions. We quantified the diversity and abundance of bats in 41 caves that varied in structure and temperature across a seasonal (mid-winter, late-winter and early-spring) and an elevational (400{\textendash}2700 m above sea level) gradient in the central Himalayas. Richness and abundance of bat species exhibited seasonal variation, with more species and individuals present in caves during early-spring (n = 15) compared to mid-winter (n = 9). Species richness declined linearly with elevation in mid-winter but remained relatively similar until 900 msl and then declined in late-winter and early-spring. Species such as\ Hipposideros armiger\ (20.14 {\textpm} 1.60{\textdegree}C in spring and 17.97 {\textpm} 0.88{\textdegree}C in mid-winter),\ Rhinolophus affinis\ (19.98 {\textpm} 1.76{\textdegree}C in spring and 16.18 {\textpm} 3.09{\textdegree}C in mid-winter) and\ Rhinolophus cf. pusillus\ (19.55 {\textpm} 1.64{\textdegree}C in spring and 15.43 {\textpm} 2.87{\textdegree}C in mid-winter) preferred warmer microclimates within caves during early-spring compared to mid-winter. The season- and species-specific cave use that we report here suggests that even minor fluctuations in cave temperatures could potentially alter the composition of bat communities inside caves. Prioritization assessment based on a bat cave vulnerability index indicates that different caves must be protected based on their specific usage patterns and the abundance of species they support at various times. Overall, we highlight the importance of studying cave-dwelling bats in climate-vulnerable areas such as the Himalayas where species richness is high to help understand and predict the responses of animals to climate change.

}, keywords = {Chiroptera, Climate Change, community structure, elevation, roost use, Seasons}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.70018}, url = {https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.70018?af=R}, author = {S. Baniya and K. Neupane, M and Thaker, V. R and Goswami and V. Ramachandran} } @article {109307, title = {DarkCideS 1.0, a global database for bats in karsts and caves.}, journal = {Sci Data}, volume = {9}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Apr 05}, pages = {155}, abstract = {

Understanding biodiversity patterns as well as drivers of population declines, and range losses provides crucial baselines for monitoring and conservation. However, the information needed to evaluate such trends remains unstandardised and sparsely available for many taxonomic groups and habitats, including the cave-dwelling bats and cave ecosystems. We developed the DarkCideS 1.0 ( https://darkcides.org/ ), a global database of bat caves and species synthesised from publicly available information and datasets. The DarkCideS 1.0 is by far the largest database for cave-dwelling bats, which contains information for geographical location, ecological status, species traits, and parasites and hyperparasites for 679 bat species are known to occur in caves or use caves in part of their life histories. The database currently contains 6746 georeferenced occurrences for 402 cave-dwelling bat species from 2002 cave sites in 46 countries and 12 terrestrial biomes. The database has been developed to be collaborative and open-access, allowing continuous data-sharing among the community of bat researchers and conservation biologists to advance bat research and comparative monitoring and prioritisation for conservation.

}, keywords = {Animals, Biodiversity, Chiroptera, Ecosystem}, issn = {2052-4463}, doi = {10.1038/s41597-022-01234-4}, author = {Tanalgo, Krizler C and Tabora, John Aries G and de Oliveira, Hernani Fernandes Magalh{\~a}es and Haelewaters, Danny and Beranek, Chad T and Ot{\'a}lora-Ardila, A{\'\i}da and Bernard, Enrico and Gon{\c c}alves, Fernando and Eriksson, Alan and Donnelly, Melissa and Gonz{\'a}lez, Joel Monz{\'o}n and Ramos, Humberto Fern{\'a}ndez and Rivas, Alberto Clark and Webala, Paul W and Deleva, Stanimira and Dalhoumi, Ridha and Maula, Jaycelle and Lizarro, Dennis and Aguirre, Luis F and Bouillard, Nils and Quibod, Ma Ni{\~n}a Regina M and Barros, Jennifer and Turcios-Casco, Manfredo Alejandro and Mart{\'\i}nez, Marcio and Ordo{\~n}ez-Mazier, Diego Iv{\'a}n and Orellana, Jos{\'e} Alejandro Soler and Ordo{\~n}ez-Trejo, Eduardo J and Ordo{\~n}ez, Danny and Chornelia, Ada and Lu, Jian Mei and Xing, Chen and Baniya, Sanjeev and Muylaert, Renata L and Dias-Silva, Leonardo Henrique and Ruadreo, Nittaya and Hughes, Alice Catherine} }