As human population grows and develops, more urban areas are expanding. Urbanisation has many impacts on the natural environment and one understudied pollutant is artificial light at night. The aims of this thesis were to examine the impacts of street lighting on bats and investigate the exposure of British bat species to artificial light at night and explored the mitigation option of part-night lighting. The current exposure of British bat species to artificial lighting was assessed using roost locations and population sizes from a long-term dataset (1997-2012) from the Bat Conservation Trust’s National Bat Monitoring Programme on seven bat species (Eptesicus serotinus, Myotis nattereri, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, Plecotus auritus, Rhinolophus hipposideros and R. ferrumequinum). These data were combined with satellite imagery in roost sustenance zones and home ranges. Bat roosts were found in areas with brighter light levels than random locations for P. pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus and Plecotus auritus. Species that forage around streetlights (P. pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus) had significantly higher light levels in the landscape around their roosts than species which avoid street lit areas (R. hipposideros, M. nattereri and P. auritus). Colony size was negatively correlated with light levels. This study highlights that different species have different requirements in the landscapes around their roosts. To investigate landscapes effects of artificial light at night on the understudied light avoiding species R. ferrumequinum, eight maternity roosts were surveyed to explore the interaction between habitat features and street lighting. At each maternity roost, bat detectors were deployed at 25 paired street lit and dark locations. Street lighting had a significant negative effect on bat activity. Locations closest to the maternity roost had higher bat activity than those further away and road type had a significant effect on bat activity, with the highest bat activity recorded at minor roads compared with A and B roads. These results highlight the large negative impact street lighting can have on bat activity patterns and the need for mitigation. Several mitigation strategies have been suggested to combat the effects of artificial light at night but few have been tested. One of these suggestions is to restrict the hours of lighting through the night, often called part-night lighting. Part-night lighting has been implemented by many local authorities, often switching the lights off after midnight and switching them back on before dusk. To explore the effects of part night lighting on bats, the hourly patterns of activity for R. ferrumequinum were studied. Bat activity was bimodal, with a peak in the first few hours after sunset followed by a smaller peak before sunrise. To capture more than 50% of bat activity during the dark period of the night, street lights would be required to switch off before 11pm. To explore this further, a before-and-after study of part-night lighting was conducted at towns across Devon. Following the conversion from full-night lighting to part-night lighting, switching street lights off at 2 am, there was a significant reduction in P. pipistrellus and a significant increase for P. pygmaeus and Nyctalus noctule activity. Although part-night lighting is not often operational during peak activity periods for bat species, reducing the duration of lighting at night has impacts on activity patterns for several species. This thesis shows that artificial light at night has impacts on bats across the landscapes around their roosts. Artificial lighting has impacts for species in different ways, depending on whether they forage around street lights or avoid street lit areas. For species that avoid street lit areas such as R. ferrumequinum, street lighting can have very significant negative impacts on the availability of areas around their roosts. This highlights the need for conservation measures to reduce impacts of artificial lighting. Although mitigation schemes such as part-night lighting may help to minimize impacts of nighttime lighting, more tailored schemes for bats should devised to achieve greater conservation impacts.

Iron storage disease is a significant cause of liver disease and mortality in captive Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus). The nature of the susceptibility in this and other captive exotic species to iron storage disease is not clear. Hepcidin, a key iron regulatory hormone, is involved in the regulation of iron absorption in humans and other mammalian species and a deficiency in hepcidin has been associated with a number of genetic mutations resulting in hemochromatosis in humans. The objectives of this thesis were to identify whether there is a functional mutation in the hepcidin gene in the Egyptian fruit bat that may increase the susceptibility of this species to iron storage disease, and whether there is a functional deficiency in hepcidin gene expression in the Egyptian fruit bat in response to iron challenge. We compared the coding region of the hepcidin gene amongst several species of bats and investigated hepcidin response to intramuscular injection of iron dextran amongst three species of bats with variable susceptibility to iron storage disease; the Egyptian fruit bat, the straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum), and the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus). While a number of genetic differences were identified amongst species, a functional mutation that could result in decreased hepcidin activity was not identified in the Egyptian fruit bat. Bats exhibited marked variation in hepcidin gene expression, with the highest level of hepcidin response to iron challenge in the common vampire bat. While the Egyptian fruit bat exhibited significant hepcidin response to iron challenge, the magnitude of response was lower than that in the common vampire bat and lower than expected based on findings in healthy humans. The straw-colored fruit bat did not exhibit any hepcidin response despite a significant increase in iron stores, which suggests this species may have evolved an alternate mechanism for coping with excessive iron or may be more susceptible to iron overload than previously recognized. / Toronto Zoo Scholarship Fund

South Africa is one of the world's most biologically invaded countries and has spent billions of rands on efforts to eradicate alien invasive plants. Chemical and mechanical control methods have varied in success and the need for integrated management strategies has been realised. This requires a better understanding of all aspects of the invasion process. Some of the most invasive plant species rely on vertebrate dispersers which facilitate long-distance seed dispersal. Frugivory is based on a mutualism in which the frugivores gain a resource and the plants benefit from seed dispersal away from the parent plant. Seed germination itself may either be enhanced, reduced or not affected at all after gut passage. The first aim of this study was to determine if generalist avian frugivores and a fruit bat species (Epomophorus wahlbergi) enhance or decrease seed germination of invasive alien plants in South Africa, by either pulp removal or seed coat abrasion, or if they serve as dispersers only. The second aim was to determine if avian frugivores are able to meet their energetic demands by feeding on a specific alien fruit diet. Finally, we also quantified the nutritional content and morphological characteristics of fleshy fruits of various invasive alien and exotic plant species. Avian frugivores: Red-winged Starlings (Onychognathus morio), Speckled Mousebirds (Colius striatus), and Dark-capped Bulbuls (Pycnonotus tricolor), varied in their effects on the germination success of seeds of four invasive alien species, namely: Lantana camara, Solanum mauritianum, Cinnamomum camphora, and Psidium guajava. However, this was not associated with differences in seed retention times. Similar germination success was observed for avian ingested and de-pulped seeds. This was also observed for fruit bat spat and depulped seeds of Psidium guajava, Melia azedarach, Eriobotrya japonica, and Morus alba. Therefore seed coat abrasion was not important for the germination of these fleshy-fruited invasive alien plants. Pulp removal resulted in significantly earlier seed germination as well as higher seed germination percentages than in the case of whole fruit controls for some of these invasive species. Gut passage is thus important for long-distance dispersal, and in some cases, for enhanced germination of seeds. The invasive Solanum mauritianum and indigenous congener S. giganteum showed similar germination responses, with both ingested and depulped seeds germinating profusely. However, S. giganteum benefited from pulp removal as seeds from whole fruits had less germination. Avian frugivores varied significantly in most energetic parameters calculated when given diets of invasive alien fruit. Speckled Mousebirds and Dark-capped Bulbuls were able to maintain body mass and efficiently process fruits of all four alien invasive plants, while Red-winged Starlings were only able to do so on lipid-rich C. camphora and sugar-rich S. mauritianum. Furthermore, frugivores also adjusted their feeding behavior by eating more nutritionally poor fruit and less energetically rewarding fruit. Fruit bats consumed more fruit per gram body mass than avian frugivores did. They therefore process proportionately more seeds than avian dispersers and thus their role in invasive seed dispersal, which has previously been underestimated particularly in South Africa, is highlighted. Fruits of invasive plant species were similar in morphology, but greater in nutritional content, than fruits of indigenous species. These fruits also contained small, light seeds with approximately only 30% having more than 10 seeds per fruit. The ability of frugivores to efficiently process these fruits and the greater nutritional rewards offered by these provide new insights into why these invasive fruits are preferred by frugivores. In addition, invasive alien plants may have a competitive edge over indigenous species because of their larger reproductive outputs and not necessarily because of greater germination success. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

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No description available.

The long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) is a threatened species endemic to New Zealand. Historical anecdotes indicate that long-tailed bat populations have declined. However, it is unknown if all populations have declined and if declines are historical or ongoing. Thus, the development and implementation of a national network of long-tailed bat monitoring sites is a priority of the Department of Conservation's Bat Recovery Plan. Potentially, information gained from a national monitoring programme would assist conservation managers to target resources towards those areas where bat populations are declining and provide baseline information to assist managers to gauge the impact of management techniques on bat populations. Of critical importance is that unless it can be demonstrated that long-tailed bat populations have declined and that, that decline is real, management will not be initiated. The aim of this research was to investigate aspects of the ecology of long-tailed bats that would influence the development of a monitoring programme. The distribution, roost selection, habitat use, and activity patterns of a long-tailed bat population that persisted in the Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, were investigated. A study of the Waitakere Ranges long-tailed bat population was significant because (1) the Waitakere Ranges is the northern most location at which long-tailed bats have been researched; (2) the study was the first to be conducted on a long-tailed bat population that persisted in kauri Agathis australis dominated forest remnants; (3) the long-tailed bat population in the Waitakere Ranges is the only known extant population in close proximity to a major urban area; and (4) the factors that are attributed to long-tailed bat population declines (i.e., forest clearance, predation and urbanisation; O'Donnell, 2000) are likely to be ongoing and intensified in the Waitakere Ranges. Twenty roosts were located. Most roosts (85%) were in kauri, 2 were in mature rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) and 1 was in a kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides). All roosts were in large, live, emergent trees. Mean height of roost trees was 38.4 ± 1.3 m and average DBH was 186 ± 12 cm. The entrances of six roost cavities were identified all were located in minor lateral branches in the crown of the tree and were primarily near the tip of branches. Roosts were a mean height of 24.6 ± 3.7 m above ground level. It was argued that roosts in the crowns of kauri were inaccessible to terrestrial mammalian predators. Twenty-eight roost watches were conducted. The average number of bats counted leaving roosts was 10.0 ± 1.5 (maximum = 24). Roosts were occupied by radio-tagged bats for an average of 2.0 ± 0.4 days, and 11 (55 %) were occupied for only one day. Roost size was the lowest reported for long-tailed bats. Roost switching also appeared higher than in other populations that have been studied. It was argued that morepork predation may have a significant impact on the population viability of the population. As in other studies long-tailed bats were found to forage over modified habitats including over farmland, dwellings, orchards and along streams and roads with little vehicular traffic. Long-tailed bats foraged throughout the Waitakere Ranges and their foothills. Bat activity was highly variable. Of the environmental variables analysed, temperature was found to have the greatest influence on bat activity. There were seasonal and habitat influences on bat activity. The relationship between sample sizes, variation in bat detection rates and desired statistical power using automatic bat detectors to monitor populations of bats was explored. A power analysis on activity data collected with automatic bat detectors indicated that declines in bat populations would need to be reflected in declines of greater than fifty percent in bat activity before monitoring programmes would have sufficient power to detect declines in activity. It was recommended that monitoring programmes should concentrate on intensive presence – absence surveys rather than long-term studies at a few sites.

Pour comprendre comment la sélection naturelle modèle les traits sexuels, l’emploi d’une approche intégrative des processus sélectifs en jeu semble aujourd’hui indispensable. Durant ma thèse je me suis ainsi intéressé aux influences simultanées des sélections de viabilité et sexuelle sur l’origine, l’évolution et le maintien des traits sexuels de la petite teigne de la ruche (Achroia grisella). Chez cette pyrale les mâles se regroupent en leks, produisent un chant d’appel ultrasonique intense et les femelles choisissent un partenaire sexuel en se basant sur des caractéristiques acoustiques spécifiques de ce chant. Cependant les signaux sexuels ultrasoniques des mâles peuvent également attirer des prédateurs : les chauves-souris insectivores. Ainsi, au sein des leks, les sélections sexuelle et de viabilité jouent et peuvent modeler (1) l’évolution du choix des femelles, (2) le maintien et l’évolution du lek, (3) l’origine de la communication acoustique sexuelle. Les travaux conduits durant cette thèse soulignent l’intérêt de l’étude du jeu des sélections sexuelle et de viabilité pour comprendre comment la sélection naturelle peut modeler l’origine, l’évolution et le maintien des traits sexuels. Les résultats indiquent en particulier le rôle crucial de la pression de prédation dans ces processus sélectifs. / In order to achieve a better understanding of how natural selection shapes sexual traits it is essential to consider the interplay of the various selective processes at work. For my thesis I investigated the simultaneous influences of viability and sexual selections on the origin, the evolution and the maintenance of sexual traits in the lesser waxmoth Achroia grisella. Females of this pyralid moth choose their mate based on acoustic characters of the ultrasonic calling song broadcasted by males while competing at lek. However male ultrasonic displays are very conspicuous and may attract specific predators: insectivorous bats. Therefore at leks sexual and viability selection pressures act simultaneously and can shape (1) the evolution of female mate choice, (2) the maintenance and evolution of lekking, (3) the origin of sexual acoustic communication. Taken as a whole this work emphasises the relevance of the study of selective interplays between viability and sexual selections in order to improve our understanding of how natural selection may shape the origin, evolution and maintenance of sexual traits. In particular results indicate the crucial role played by predation pressure within these evolutionary processes.

Production de bois et autres ressources (gibier, champignons,...), conservation de la biodiversité et gestion des paysages, la forêt a suscité de riches débats depuis quelques années, le Grenelle de l'Environnement ayant révélé des intérêts parfois contradictoires. Si le gestionnaire forestier tente de développer autant que possible une gestion multifonctionnelle de ses forêts, il reste dépendant des connaissances fragmentaires sur les interactions dans les écosystèmes forestiers. La politique actuelle, qui vise à concilier la production de bois et la préservation des espèces, repose plus sur des expériences de terrain que sur des études étayées scientifiquement. Les Chiroptères comptent des espèces candidates pour étudier l'influence de la gestion forestière sur la biodiversité : le jour, elles occupent des gîtes arboricoles et, la nuit, elles exploitent des habitats forestiers pour chasser leurs proies, qui dépendent elles-mêmes de micro-habitats forestiers. Pour aider le gestionnaire à mettre en œuvre une stratégie de gestion conservatoire, nous avons étudié l'utilisation des ressources de la forêt par trois espèces : Myotis bechsteinii, Myotis nattereri et Plecotus auritus. La radio-localisation a permis d'identifier des réseaux d'arbres-gîte dont l'occupation varie selon les espèces, leur statut reproducteur et l'implication dans le comportement de fission-fusion des colonies de parturition. Les différentes utilisations des gîtes impliquent une stratégie de gestion propre à chaque espèce, voire à chaque colonie de reproduction. Procurant a priori de potentiels gîtes et proies, le bois mort debout favorise la richesse spécifique des Chiroptères forestiers à partir de 25 m3 à l'hectare, mais une stratification de la végétation pourrait être un objectif de gestion, la réponse des espèces était essentiellement liée à la structure forestière des trouées induites par le bois mort. Ce travail a ensuite nécessité de s'intéresser aux méthodes permettant de comprendre l'utilisation de l'espace par chaque individu (domaine vital) et la façon dont chacun d'eux fréquente ses terrains de chasse (sélection de l'habitat). Compte tenu des limites technologiques, le Kernel semble actuellement la meilleure méthode de représentation et de calcul de surface du domaine vital alors que la K-select a livré des résultats significatifs pour mettre en évidence des facteurs de sélection d'habitat. Les surfaces des domaines vitaux et des centres d'activité varient selon les espèces, Myotis bechsteinii associe de petites surfaces à un comportement territorial, surtout en période d'allaitement. M. nattereri et Plecotus auritus peuvent exploiter de grands espaces sur lesquels ils se limitent à de petits centres d'activité. Les colonies de ces dernières pourront plus facilement se déplacer dans leur domaine vital au gré des itinéraires de gestion mis en œuvre. Les caractéristiques des habitats forestiers utilisés comme terrains de chasse varient selon les espèces, voire le sexe, l'âge et le statut reproducteur des individus, mais toutes trois montrent une forte sélectivité pour les peuplements forestiers présentant un fort encombrement végétal, des gros arbres et une forte structuration du peuplement. Cinq principes de gestion dans un contexte fort de production de bois sont développés en conclusion des résultats avec deux exemples de stratégies de gestion destinée au maintien des Chiroptères. / The forest is the center of many interests that fuel the debates of our society. These debates are particularly exacerbated since the french " Grenelle de l'Environnement " in 2008. Among the various expectations, forest produce wood that is the subject of attentions, both by an increased demand for certain types of trees and by the naturalist world which sees in it one of last refuges for biodiversity in our modified landscapes. Thus, if the forest manager is trying to develop a management that is as much multifunctional as possible, it remains dependent on fragmented knowledge on the link between biodiversity and the forest ecosystem. Despite the establishment of a conservation policy that seeks to balance timber production and species preservation, the way to conduct such a policy is based on concrete field experiences yet scientifically unsubstantiated. Bats are good candidate species to study the response of biodiversity to forest management: they select networks of tree-roosts in which they form breeding colonies composed of several dozen individuals and they exploit forest habitats to hunt their prey, prey which themselves depend on forest microhabitats. However, their study is recent in forest and provides very vague management guidelines. To help managers implement a conservation management strategy, we thus studied the behavior of forest usage by three species of gleaning bats, Myotis bechsteinii, Myotis nattereri and Plecotus auritus. This work required to focus on the methods available to understand the use of space by each individual (home range) and how each individual selects its hunting habitats. We showed that each species had a unique response to available habitats and that the status of individuals (sex, age and reproductive status) intervenes in explaining the selection of tree roosts and hunting grounds. Both compartments are constrained by the availability of suitable habitat, helping to explain the structuring of habitat selection factors and the shape and surface of individual home ranges. Furthermore, the way networks of tree-roost are used partly explains the types of roosts selected. These different results means that it is necessary to lay down specific management strategies for each species, even each breeding colony. Finally, we studied the role of deadwood to explain the presence of bats in forests. We have shown that species richness increased from standing deadwood of 25m3 per hectare, while the response of species to deadwood was mainly restricted to forest habitat structure produced by the gaps resulting from the deadwood patch, favoring particularly edge-foraging species. Some species do however clearly benefit from insects emerging from deadwood. Five recommendations are proposed for the conservation of these species in a context of strong wood production.

PhD (Zoology) / Department of Zoology / An ever growing human population and accelerating land use change is associated with the loss of species and their ecosystem services. Agricultural intensification has led to a worldwide threat of extinction to about one quarter of all bat species, despite the valuable ecosystem service of pest control provided by bats. The decline in bat populations is mainly attributed to the loss or fragmentation of habitats, roost sites and feeding opportunities related to agricultural intensification and land use change. Therefore, proactive management of bat communities in agricultural landscapes is essential. South Africa is the world’s largest producer of macadamias and the industry continues to grow. This study gains insight into the habitat use and foraging behaviour of insectivorous bat species on a temporal and spatial scale, in and around macadamia orchards in order to advise management strategies on how to increase bat activity and, possibly, pest control. It also focuses on the preferences of artificial roost sites used by insectivorous bats in macadamia orchards. The diet of insectivorous bat species is especially difficult to study and the least invasive tool to gain information is the study of bat faecal pellets. In order to provide evidence for the consumption of pest insect species by bats and thus incentive to farmers for a more integrated pest management approach (IPM), this study explored molecular approach to insectivorous bat diet analyses using fragment analysis of bat faecal pellets with fluorescent-labelled species-specific primers (designed for the CO I gene). This study was conducted in the subtropical fruit growing area of Levubu, Limpopo province, South Africa between the towns Thohoyandou (22°59'03.7 S, 30°27'12.8 E) and Makhado/Louis Trichardt (23°03'03.6 S, 29°55'12.7 E). Levubu also accounts for the second highest production of macadamia in South Africa. An introduction to the order Chiroptera and into the relevance of insectivorous bat species to agriculture as well as the importance of a more integrated pest management approach (IPM) focusing on bats is provided in Chapter One. Bats were acoustically monitored and light traps were used to catch arthropods during one annual cycle. I sampled five macadamia orchards once a month from September 2015 to August 2016 and used GIS and R to analyse both the general bat activity and foraging bat activity of the two main foraging guilds (open-air/clutter edge guild) in different land use types as well as total bat activity with respect to arthropod abundances. As reported in Chapter Two, results show that the overall clutter edge guild activity (number of passes) decreased with macadamia and orchard (all other fruit) cover in the macadamia high season (December to end of May) and increased with bush cover and distance to settlements (potential roosts) in the macadamia low season (June to end of November). Open-air guild activity increased with fallow cover (uncultivated grassland with scattered trees and shrubs) in the high season. Foraging activity (feeding buzzes) of the clutter edge guild increased with bush cover over the whole year. Total activity (both guilds) increased with abundance of true bugs (Hemiptera), including the main macadamia pests, and bush cover. Macadamia cover has a negative effect on the activity of the clutter edge guild in the high season, with low activity in the orchard center (high cover), and activity increasing in a linear way with decreasing orchard cover at the orchard edge (low cover). These results suggest that the clutter edge guild prefers foraging close to the edges of the orchards rather than in the center, while the open-air guild prefers semi-natural habitats (fallow). When numbers of pest arthropods drop in the macadamia orchards, the natural land use type, bush, becomes a more important foraging habitat and thereby increased the activity of the clutter edge guild. From June 2016 to July 2017, I scanned 31 bat houses, mounted on poles on six macadamia orchards, for bats or any other occupants such as wasps, birds and bees. Twenty-one multichambered bat houses of three slightly different chamber designs were erected on poles, in sets of three. Additionally, five bat houses of the type ‘Rocket box’, four bat houses in sets of two (black and white) and one colony bat house were erected. Bats were counted and visually identified to family or species level. From December 2016 to end of March 2017, three IButtons were installed to record temperature variation between one set of three bat houses. As reported in Chapter Three, results show that the central bat house in the set of three and the black bat house in the set of two had a significantly positive effect on bat house occupancy. There was a significant difference in the mean temperature between the houses in the set of three, with a significant difference in temperature of 0.46°C between the central and the first bat house. The three bat houses erected in sets varied slightly in their chamber design, with the central bathouse having the most chambers (six), while the bat houses to either side had less chambers (four), set at an angle or straight. This and the insulation to either side by the other bat houses is assumingly what caused the central bat house to be on average warmer. The Yellow-bellied house bat (Scotophilus dinganii) was by far the most recorded and the only species observed to co-habitat a bat house with another animal species, in particular honeybees. The study might confirm assumptions in that the microclimate of bat houses, respectively their insulation, sun exposure and color appear to be important factors influencing bat house occupancy. The two preferred bat houses in our study were the black, in the set of black and white, as well as the central, and on average warmest bat house, in the set of three. I collected bat faecal pellets with two different methods between July 2015 and April 2017 to determine the prevalence of pest insects in faecal pellets. Eighteen of the bat houses (in sets of three) on three different farms and two Egyptian slit-faced bat (Nycteris thebaica) roosts were fitted with trays in order to collect pellets from those occupied by bats. I noted occupancy of bat houses to species or family level to keep disturbance minimal. Additionally, I collected pellets from individuals captured by means of mist nets and harp traps. Four of the main pest-insects; the two-spotted stinkbug (Pentatomidae: Bathycoelia distincta), the green vegetable bug (Pentatomidae: Nezara viridula), the macadamia nut borer (Tortricidae: Thaumatotibia batrachopa) and the litchi moth (Tortricidae: Cryptophlebia peltastica), were collected from pheromone traps or after scouting for primer development and optimisation. After extracting DNA from the bat faecal samples the target regions were amplified in a multiplex PCR and fluorescently labelled PCR amplicons were analysed and interpreted. In order to verify multiplex analyses results, all samples were amplified with all four sets of primers in plates and those that produced amplicons were purified and sequenced. As reported in Chapter Four, results show that fragment analyses yielded a total of 63 out of 103 samples tested positive for pest insect species (61%) with a total of 92 positive fragments. Primer specificity could be confirmed to 100% for the sequences obtained for Bathycoelia distincta (26/26) and Nezara viridula (12/12) primers but not for all sequences obtained fot Cryptophlebia peltastica (18/30) and Thaumatotibia batrachopa (1/14) primers. One sample showed no positive fragments but contained a positive sequence for N. viridula. Three samples tested positive for one pest-species fragment but contained a positive sequence for a second pest-species (B. distincta, T. batrachopa and C. peltastica). Adding four positive fragments and one additional positive sequence to the data. This means that sequences of pest insect species were obtained from 54 out of the 103 samples (55.6%) with a total of 73 pest insect sequences. For the high season (December to end of May) a total of 37 positive fragments for the four pest insect species and 24 negative samples were yielded and for the a low season (June to end of November) a total of 36 positive fragments and 15 negative samples. Looking at the pest consumption of the different bat species or families, our results show that all of them foraged on pest insect species. Whereas, all species and families except Myotis bocagii and Rhinolophus simulator (for which N<2) foraged on both the Lepidopteran and Hemipteran pest species. Therefore, all families of bats of which faecal pellets were analysed for this study (Molossidae, Nycteridae, Rhinolophidae and Vespertilionidae) foraged on one or more of the four pest insect species. In summary, Chapter Five concludes that natural and semi-natural vegetation promote bat activity in macadamia orchards, and potentially bats' provision of the ecosystem service of pest control. In times of accelerating land use change, remnants of natural vegetation are important refuges and need to be maintained or restored to conserve bat species and promote their ecosystem services. The study also shows that bat activity might be improved by adding roosting opportunities to orchards. Warm and well-insulated bat houses mounted freestanding on poles and in sets appeared to work best in northern South Africa. Further research on co-habitation of bat houses and displacement behaviour as well as the potential importance of altitude and distance to water is needed. All of the species or families of bats from which faecal pellets were collected have been confirmed to forage on at least one of the four pest insects and the bat species have shown to be much more generalist and presumably opportunistic feeders than previously assumed. Thus, this study provides incentive and advice to farmers for a more integrated pest management approach (IPM). / NRF

No description available.