Winter diet of bats in working forests of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain.

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101563288 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2045-2322 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20452322 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Rep Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : Nature Publishing Group, copyright 2011-

Chiroptera*/physiology ; Seasons* ; Forests* ; Diet*; Animals ; Southeastern United States ; Predatory Behavior/physiology

Working forests comprise a large proportion of forested landscapes in the southeastern United States and are important to the conservation of bats, which rely on forests for roosting and foraging. While relationships between bat ecology and forest management are well studied during summer, winter bat ecology remains understudied. Hence, we aimed to identify the diet composition of overwintering bats, compare the composition of prey consumed by bat species, and determine the potential role of forest bats as pest controllers in working forest landscapes of the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. During January to March 2021-2022, we captured 264 bats of eight species. We used DNA metabarcoding to obtain diet composition from 126 individuals of seven bat species identifying 22 orders and 174 families of arthropod prey. Although Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera were the most consumed orders, we found that bats had a generalist diet but with significant differences among some species. We also documented the consumption of multiple insect pests (e.g., Rhyacionia frustrana) and disease vectors (e.g., Culex spp). Our results provide important information regarding the winter diet of bats in the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain and their potential role in controlling economically relevant pest species and disease vectors.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)

Erratum in: Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 21;14(1):14313. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-65259-y. (PMID: 38906981)

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EW-EWG-2150 National Council for Air and Stream Improvement

Date Created: 20240604 Date Completed: 20240604 Latest Revision: 20240623

20240623

PMC11150266

10.1038/s41598-024-63062-3

38834684