DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Bats, Bugs and Pecans: Using Next-Generation Pyrosequencing to Evaluate Ecosystem Services of Insectivorous Bats

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

Insect-eating bats are thought to provide important ecosystem services and economic benefits in agricultural systems through suppression of insect pests. Few studies, however, have attempted to describe these services and benefits, due to difficulties in identification of insect prey and lack of information on the use of agricultural landscapes by bats. This project integrates these components to describe ecological relationships between insects and bats within pecan orchards in Texas. More specifically, the research will test the hypothesis that bats contribute to the suppression of several nocturnal pests that damage pecan crops. Harnessing cutting-edge techniques, this study will use DNA from bat guano to identify with great accuracy what different species of bats are eating. The research will address fundamental ecological questions, such as the differential use of prey resources between species of bats. For example, we predict that the total number of agricultural pest species detected in bat diets will increase as more bat species are included in the analysis, reflecting variation in diet among bat species. Demonstrating the ecosystem services provided by bats to landowners may lead to increased adoption of sustainable agriculture practices, reduced costs of pest management, and enhancement of bat habitat on private land. The results of this study will be incorporated into the Texas Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program for pecans and will be distributed to pecan growers in the form of presentations at conferences, informational pamphlets, and in Texas A&M publications (both in print and online). Over the past three years, local pecan growers have been actively engaged in this project and educational workshops about bats and agriculture have been presented in Texas and Massachusetts schools.