Emerging zoonotic diseases originating in mammals: a systematic review of effects of anthropogenic land-use change

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this record1. Zoonotic pathogens and parasites transmitted from vertebrates to humans are a major public health risk with high associated global economic costs. The spread of these diseases accelerates with anthropogenic land-use changes (LUC), like deforestation, urbanisation and agriculture, factors that are expected to increase in the future due to human population expansion and increasing demands for resources. 2. We systematically review the literature on anthropogenic LUC and zoonotic diseases, highlighting the most prominent mammalian reservoirs and pathogens, analysing trends in publications and identifying avenues for future research. 3. The number of publications increased over the past three decades. The majority of studies were global reviews that did not focus on specific taxa. South America and Asia were the most studied regions. The most studied mammalian taxa were rodents, livestock and carnivores, while the most studied LUC was urbanisation. Associations were identified between hosts and type of LUC, and hosts and pathogens. 4. Research into specific animal reservoirs has improved our understanding of how zoonotic diseases spread with LUC. Host behaviour can be altered when their habitats are changed, which in turn impacts the pathogens they carry and the probability of disease spread to humans. Understanding this has enabled the identification of factors that would alter the risk of emergence, like virulence, pathogen diversity or ease of transmission, and the pathogens most likely to emerge, though many pathogens have not been studied yet. 5. Predicting how zoonotic diseases emerge and spread in response to anthropogenic LUC requires more empirical and data synthesis studies that link host ecology and responses to LUC with pathogen ecology and disease spread. The link between anthropogenic impacts on the natural environment and the recent COVID-19 outbreak highlights the urgent need to understand how anthropogenic LUC affects the risk of spillover and spread of mammalian zoonotic diseasesNatural Environment Research Council (NERC

The role of climate, water and biotic interactions in shaping biodiversity patterns in arid environments across spatial scales

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordData availability: Maxent species distribution modelling outputs and R scripts for running the GLMMs available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f8c0c8hAim: Desert ecosystems, with their harsh environmental conditions, hold the key to understanding the responses of biodiversity to climate change. As desert community structure is influenced by processes acting at different spatial scales, studies combining multiple scales are essential for understanding the conservation requirements of desert biota. We investigated the role of environmental variables and biotic interactions in shaping broad and fine-scale patterns of diversity and distribution of bats in arid environments to understand how the expansion of nondesert species can affect the long-term conservation of desert biodiversity. Location: Levant, Eastern Mediterranean. Methods: We combine species distribution modelling and niche overlap statistics with a statistical model selection approach to integrate interspecific interactions into broadscale distribution models and fine-scale analysis of ecological requirements. We focus on competition between desert bats and mesic species that recently expanded their distribution into arid environment following anthropogenic land-use changes. Results: We show that both climate and water availability limit bat distributions and diversity across spatial scales. The broadscale distribution of bats was determined by proximity to water and high temperatures, although the latter did not affect the distribution of mesic species. At the fine-scale, high levels of bat activity and diversity were associated with increased water availability and warmer periods. Desert species were strongly associated with warmer and drier desert types. Range and niche overlap were high among potential competitors, but coexistence was facilitated through fine-scale spatial partitioning of water resources. Main conclusions: Adaptations to drier and warmer conditions allow desert-obligate species to prevail in more arid environments. However, this competitive advantage may disappear as anthropogenic activities encroach further into desert habitats. We conclude that reduced water availability in arid environments under future climate change projections pose a major threat to desert wildlife because it can affect survival and reproductive success and may increase competition over remaining water resources.Ministry of Environmental Protection of IsraelNatural Environment Research Council (NERC

Up in the air: threats to Afromontane biodiversity from climate change and habitat loss revealed by genetic monitoring of the Ethiopian Highlands bat

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordWhilst climate change is recognised as a major future threat to biodiversity, most species are currently threatened by extensive human-induced habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation. Tropical high altitude alpine and montane forest ecosystems and their biodiversity are particularly sensitive to temperature increases under climate change, but they are also subject to accelerated pressures from land conversion and degradation due to a growing human population. We studied the combined effects of anthropogenic land-use change, past and future climate changes and mountain range isolation on the endemic Ethiopian Highlands long-eared bat, Plecotus balensis, an understudied bat that is restricted to the remnant natural high altitude Afroalpine and Afromontane habitats. We integrated ecological niche modelling, landscape genetics and model-based inference to assess the genetic, geographic and demographic impacts of past and recent environmental changes. We show that mountain range isolation and historic climates shaped population structure and patterns of genetic variation, but recent anthropogenic land-use change and habitat degradation are associated with a severe population decline and loss of genetic diversity. Models predict that the suitable niche of this bat has been progressively shrinking since the last glaciation period. This study highlights threats to Afroalpine and Afromontane biodiversity, squeezed to higher altitudes under climate change while losing genetic diversity and suffering population declines due to anthropogenic land-use change. We conclude that the conservation of tropical montane biodiversity requires a holistic approach, using genetic, ecological and geographic information to understand the effects of environmental changes across temporal scales and simultaneously addressing the impacts of multiple threats.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Predicting the past, present and future distributions of an endangered marsupial in a semi‐arid environment

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordGlobally, the impacts of anthropogenic climate change can displace species into more favourable climates. Semi‐arid desert specialists, such as the sandhill dunnart, Sminthopsis psammophila, are typically susceptible to rainfall deficits, wildfires and extreme temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change. We first used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution models (SDMs) to predict the current distribution of S. psammophila. Between 2016 and 2018, we ground validated the model’s predictions throughout Western Australia, confirming S. psammophila in 18 locations in which it was predicted to occur. The predicted distribution of S. psammophila appears mostly constrained to within its known range. However, S. psammophila was verified 150 km north of its range in Western Australia and connectivity between the South Australian populations was correctly predicted. In 2019, we used updated occurrence data to project SDMs for S. psammophila during the mid‐Holocene, present day and under two future representative concentration pathways (RCPs) of RCP 4.5 (an optimistic emissions scenario) and RCP 8.5 (“business as usual”) for 2050 and 2070. By 2050 (RCP 8.5), almost all Western Australian Great Victoria Desert (WAGVD) habitat is predicted to be unsuitable for S. psammophila. By 2070 (RCP 8.5), the climates of the WAGVD and Yellabinna Regional Reserve populations are predicted to become unsuitable, and the species’ geographical range is predicted to contract in Australia by 80%. However, the 2070 (RCP 4.5) scenario predicts that this contraction could be halved. As a sandy desert specialist, the distribution of S. psammophila is geographically limited at its southern bounds due to the cessation of suitable spinifex (Triodia spp.) habitats, and so further extension of the range southwards is not possible. Sympatric desert species may be similarly affected, and we suggest that SDMs will be a useful tool in helping to predict the effects of climate change on their distributions.Goldfields Environmental Management Group (GEMG

The Contribution of Desert-Dwelling Bats to Pest Control in Hyper-Arid Date Agriculture

This is the final version. Available on open access from MDPI via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: Data is part of bigger unpublished data sets which will be available once published.Over 40% of the Earth’s surface has been converted to agricultural use and agroecosystems have become important habitats for wildlife. In arid regions, intensive agriculture creates artificial oasis-like habitats due to their high irrigation inputs. Date production is one of the primary agricultural practices in the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa. Insectivorous bats are known to use agricultural areas, but the role of date plantations as their foraging habits and the importance of insectivorous bats as date bio-pest control agents are still unknown. We assessed the role of date plantations as foraging habitats for local desert bat species by acoustically recording bat activity in conventional and organic date plantations in the southern Arava Valley, Israel. In addition, we captured bats in the plantations and collected feces for DNA metabarcoding analysis to investigate the presence of pest species in their diets. We found that 12 out of the 16 known species of bats in this region frequently used both conventional and organic date plantations as foraging habitats. Species richness was highest in the organic plantation with complex ground vegetation cover. Foraging activity was not affected by plantation type or management. However, bat species richness and activity increased in all plantations during summer date harvesting. Molecular analysis confirmed that bats feed on a variety of important date pests, but the particular pests consumed and the extent of consumption varied among bat species. Our results highlight a win–win situation, whereby date plantations are an important foraging habitat for desert bats, while bats provide bio-pest control services that benefit the date plantations. Therefore, date farmers interested in bio-pest control should manage their plantations to support local desert bat populations.CA in IsraelKKL-JNFIsrael Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmen

Recent developments in Diversity and Distributions and trends in the field

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordDiversity and Distributions, which was founded as Biodiversity Letters in 1993, is a leading journal in the Web of Science (WOS) categories of Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation. In this editorial, we want to address the revised scope of the journal, the impact of the Open Access transition and associated waiver policy on the journal progress, and the recently established data accessibility policy

Trophic resource partitioning drives fine-scale coexistence in cryptic bat species

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordUnderstanding the processes that enable species coexistence has important implications for assessing how ecological systems will respond to global change. Morphology and functional similarity increase the potential for competition, and therefore, co-occurring morphologically similar but genetically unique species are a good model system for testing coexistence mechanisms. We used DNA metabarcoding and High Throughput Sequencing to characterise for the first time the trophic ecology of two recently-described cryptic bat species with parapatric ranges, Myotis escalerai and Myotis crypticus. We collected faecal samples from allopatric and sympatric regions and from syntopic and allotopic locations within the sympatric region to describe the diets both taxonomically and functionally and compare prey consumption with prey availability. The two bat species had highly similar diets characterised by high arthropod diversity, particularly Lepidoptera, Diptera and Araneae, and a high proportion of prey that is not volant at night, which points to extensive use of gleaning. Diet overlap at the prey-item level was lower in syntopic populations, supporting trophic shift under fine-scale co-occurrence. Furthermore, the diet of M. escalerai had a marginally lower proportion of not nocturnally volant prey in syntopic populations, suggesting that the shift in diet may be driven by a change in foraging mode. Our findings suggest that fine-scale coexistence mechanisms can have implications for maintaining broad-scale diversity patterns. This study highlights the importance of including both allopatric and sympatric populations and choosing meaningful spatial scales for detecting ecological patterns. We conclude that a combination of high taxonomic resolution with a functional approach helps identify patterns of niche shift.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

The role of forest structure and composition in driving the distribution of bats in Mediterranean regions

This is the final version. Available from Nature Research via the DOI in this record. Data availability: Bat location records are available as Supplementary data 1. Forest and environmental data are publicly available to download (https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/biodiversidad/servicios/banco-datos-naturaleza/informacion-dispo nible/ifn3.aspx)Forests are key native habitats in temperate environments. While their structure and composition contribute to shaping local-scale community assembly, their role in driving larger-scale species distributions is understudied. We used detailed forest inventory data, an extensive dataset of occurrence records, and species distribution models integrated with a functional approach, to disentangle mechanistically how species-forest dependency processes drive the regional-scale distributions of nine forest specialist bats in a Mediterranean region in the south of Spain. The regional distribution patterns of forest bats were driven primarily by forest composition and structure rather than by climate. Bat roosting ecology was a key trait explaining the strength of the bat-forest dependency relationships. Tree roosting bats were strongly associated with mature and heterogeneous forest with large trees (diameters > 425 mm). Conversely, and contrary to what local-scale studies show, our results did not support that flight-related traits (wing loading and aspect ratio) drive species distributional patterns. Mediterranean forests are expected to be severely impacted by climate change. This study highlights the utility of disentangling species-environment relationships mechanistically and stresses the need to account for species-forest dependency relationships when assessing the vulnerability of forest specialists towards climate change.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Impacts of anthropogenic climate change on tropical montane forests: an appraisal of the evidence

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record. In spite of their small global area and restricted distributions, tropical montane forests (TMFs) are biodiversity hotspots and important ecosystem services providers, but are also highly vulnerable to climate change. To protect and preserve these ecosystems better, it is crucial to inform the design and implementation of conservation policies with the best available scientific evidence, and to identify knowledge gaps and future research needs. We conducted a systematic review and an appraisal of evidence quality to assess the impacts of climate change on TMFs. We identified several skews and shortcomings. Experimental study designs with controls and long-term (≥10 years) data sets provide the most reliable evidence, but were rare and gave an incomplete understanding of climate change impacts on TMFs. Most studies were based on predictive modelling approaches, short-term (<10 years) and cross-sectional study designs. Although these methods provide moderate to circumstantial evidence, they can advance our understanding on climate change effects. Current evidence suggests that increasing temperatures and rising cloud levels have caused distributional shifts (mainly upslope) of montane biota, leading to alterations in biodiversity and ecological functions. Neotropical TMFs were the best studied, thus the knowledge derived there can serve as a proxy for climate change responses in under-studied regions elsewhere. Most studies focused on vascular plants, birds, amphibians and insects, with other taxonomic groups poorly represented. Most ecological studies were conducted at species or community levels, with a marked paucity of genetic studies, limiting understanding of the adaptive capacity of TMF biota. We thus highlight the long-term need to widen the methodological, thematic and geographical scope of studies on TMFs under climate change to address these uncertainties. In the short term, however, in-depth research in well-studied regions and advances in computer modelling approaches offer the most reliable sources of information for expeditious conservation action for these threatened forests.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT)University of Southampto

Counteracting forces of introgressive hybridization and interspecific competition shape the morphological traits of cryptic Iberian Eptesicus bats

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: Data generated and analysed during this study are included in this published article (and its Supplementary Information files) as well as in the supporting information from previous publications. Additional data and information are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Cryptic species that coexist in sympatry are likely to simultaneously experience strong competition and hybridization. The first phenomenon would lead to character displacement, whereas the second can potentially promote morphological similarity through adaptive introgression. The main goal of this work was to investigate the effect of introgressive hybridization on the morphology of cryptic Iberian Eptesicus bats when facing counteracting evolutionary forces from interspecific competition. We found substantial overlap both in dentition and in wing morphology traits, though mainly in individuals in sympatry. The presence of hybrids contributes to a fifth of this overlap, with hybrids showing traits with intermediate morphometry. Thus, introgressive hybridization may contribute to species adaptation to trophic and ecological space responding directly to the macro-habitats characteristics of the sympatric zone and to local prey availability. On the other hand, fur shade tended to be browner and brighter in hybrids than parental species. Colour differences could result from partitioning of resources as an adaptation to environmental factors such as roost and microhabitats. We argue that a balance between adaptive introgression and niche partitioning shapes species interactions with the environment through affecting morphological traits under selection.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)FEDERNorte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020