DNA metabarcoding data from faecal samples of the lesser (Myotis blythii) and the greater (Myotis myotis) mouse-eared bats from Bulgaria

A comprehensive understanding of trophic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems is crucial for ecological research and conservation. Recent advances in non-invasive methods, such as DNA metabarcoding, have enabled researchers to collect vast amounts of data on wild animal diets. However, sharing this data and metadata effectively and transparently presents new challenges. To address this, a new type of scholarly journal publication has emerged that aims to describe datasets rather than report research investigations. In this paper, we present a dataset of consumed prey species and parasites based on the metabarcoding of 113 faecal samples from the greater and lesser mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii), along with a detailed description of the data sampling, laboratory analysis, and bioinformatics pipeline. Our dataset comprises 1018 unique Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) from 12 Classes and 43 Orders. In addition, we provide interactive Krona charts to visually summarize the taxonomic relationships and relative read abundance of the consumed prey species and parasites. This data can be used for meta-analysis, exploring new predator-prey and host-parasite interactions, studying inter and intraspecific ecological interactions, and informing protected area management, among other applications. By sharing this dataset, we hope to encourage other researchers to use it to answer additional ecological questions and advance our understanding of trophic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems

DNA metabarcoding data from faecal samples of the lesser (Myotis blythii) and the greater (Myotis myotis) mouse-eared bats from Bulgaria

A comprehensive understanding of trophic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems is crucial for ecological research and conservation. Recent advances in non-invasive methods, such as environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding, have enabled researchers to collect vast amounts of data on wild animal diets. However, sharing this data and metadata effectively and transparently presents new challenges. To address this, a new type of scholarly journal publication has emerged that aims to describe datasets rather than report research investigations. In this paper, we present a dataset of consumed prey species and parasites based on the metabarcoding of 113 faecal samples from the greater and lesser mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii), along with a detailed description of the data sampling, laboratory analysis, and bioinformatics pipeline. Our dataset comprises 1018 unique Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) from 12 Classes and 43 Orders. In addition, we provide interactive Krona charts to visually summarize the taxonomic relationships and relative read abundance of the consumed prey species and parasites. This data can be used for meta-analysis, exploring new predator-prey and host-parasite interactions, studying inter- and intraspecific ecological interactions, and informing protected area management, among other applications. By sharing this dataset, we hope to encourage other researchers to use it to answer additional ecological questions and advance our understanding of trophic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems

DNA metabarcoding data from faecal samples of the lesser (Myotis blythii) and the greater (Myotis myotis) mouse-eared bats from Bulgaria

A comprehensive understanding of trophic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems is crucial for ecological research and conservation. Recent advances in non-invasive methods, such as DNA metabarcoding, have enabled researchers to collect vast amounts of data on wild animal diets. However, sharing this data and metadata effectively and transparently presents new challenges. To address this, a new type of scholarly journal publication has emerged that aims to describe datasets rather than report research investigations. In this paper, we present a dataset of consumed prey species and parasites based on the metabarcoding of 113 faecal samples from the greater and lesser mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii), along with a detailed description of the data sampling, laboratory analysis, and bioinformatics pipeline. Our dataset comprises 1018 unique Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) from 12 Classes and 43 Orders. In addition, we provide interactive Krona charts to visually summarize the taxonomic relationships and relative read abundance of the consumed prey species and parasites. This data can be used for meta-analysis, exploring new predator-prey and host-parasite interactions, studying inter and intraspecific ecological interactions, and informing protected area management, among other applications. By sharing this dataset, we hope to encourage other researchers to use it to answer additional ecological questions and advance our understanding of trophic interactions in terrestrial ecosystems

Echolocating bats prefer a high risk-high gain foraging strategy to increase prey profitability

Predators that target multiple prey types are predicted to switch foraging modes according to prey profitability to increase energy returns in dynamic environments. Here, we use bat-borne tags and DNA metabarcoding of feces to test the hypothesis that greater mouse-eared bats make immediate foraging decisions based on prey profitability and changes in the environment. We show that these bats use two foraging strategies with similar average nightly captures of 25 small, aerial insects and 29 large, ground-dwelling insects per bat, but with much higher capture success in the air (76%) vs ground (30%). However, owing to the 3–20 times larger ground prey, 85% of the nightly food acquisition comes from ground prey despite the 2.5 times higher failure rates. We find that most bats use the same foraging strategy on a given night suggesting that bats adapt their hunting behavior to weather and ground conditions. We conclude that these bats use high risk-high gain gleaning of ground prey as a primary foraging tactic, but switch to aerial hunting when environmental changes reduce the profitability of ground prey, showing that prey switching matched to environmental dynamics plays a key role in covering the energy intake even in specialized predators