How Does Land Cover Affect Bat Activity?

Changing land cover or land use can impact wildlife. We found that different types of bats were impacted by different types of land cover and land use, based on recordings of their calls across northeast Eswatini. Click on each picture below to find out more about each type of bat and what parts of the landscape are important to it!

Aerial Bats

Edge Bats

Clutter Bats

A Scale For Quantifying Aggressiveness in Bats

Over the course of 15 years working with bats, I have noticed that some individuals stay really calm when being captured or held while others are aggressive, continuously biting and struggling.
We have relatively little knowledge of personality traits in bats, especially wild-caught bats, partially due to the time, equipment, and facilities necessary to measure them.

To fill this gap and provide an easy-to-use tool for researchers, I developed a scale to quantify aggressiveness in bats that can be easily applied during routine capture and processing.

The Scale:

Other Projects:

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Mops midas (left) and Myotis bocagii (right)

Mops midas

We made the first detection of the species Mops midas (above, left) in Eswatini (Swaziland) and the southernmost record of this species, expanding its distribution by 160 km. The bat was found exiting from the roof of a church. Some rare species can use man-made structures!
Find out more here!

Ectoparasites

Many bats host parasites on their bodies, ectoparasites. We describe the first record of ectoparasites of the family Streblidae in eSwatini. The ectoparasites belonged to the species Raymondia alulata and we found it on an Egyptian slit-faced bat. We reviewed all the records of Raymondia ectoparasites in Africa and made an updated identification key.
Find out more here!
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Sonogram of little free-tailed bat call

Bat call library

Bats use echolocation to navigate and catch prey. These calls can help identify bat species. We described the calls of species in northeast eSwatini and measured the distance from which different species can be detected by Anabat detectors. This can help us identify bat calls and standardize activity between different species. ​
Find out more here!

Collaborations:

Foraging Ecology of Cattle

Phumlile Simelane, former University of Eswatini Master's student, compared dietary preferences of Nguni cattle under free-range management and Brahman cattle under conventional management. She found that both breeds had preferences but Nguni were more flexible and relied less on supplementary feed than Brahmans.
Find out more here!

Birds in Sugarcane Fields

Sifiso Lukhele, former University of Eswatini Master's student and current PhD student at the University of Cyprus, measured the effects of sugarcane growth stage on bird diversity. He found that the spatial and temporal variability created by fields in different stages of growth help support biodiversity and in particular functional diversity.
Find out more here!

Biodiversity Intactness Index

Led by Hayley Clements, researcher at Stellenbosch University, the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa aims to assess biodiversity based on expert assessment and connect this knowledge to decision-makers to promote just and sustainable development.
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Find out more at: 
https://bii4africa.org

Rodents of the Drakensbergs

Former University of Eswatini Master's student Felicity Nonsimiso Simelane found that rodent species diversity differs between habitats and seasons in the Drakensberg mountains. 
Find out more here!

Rodents of Telperion Nature Reserve

Former University of Eswatini Master's student and current UF PhD student Bonginkosi Charles Gumbi found that on fine scales near the boundary fence, there was no difference in wild rodent communities between a nature reserve grazed by wild ungulates and ranch grazed by domesticated ungulates. 
Find out more here!
This work has been generously supported by: 
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Opportunitites Worldwide
  • The American Scandinavian Foundation Fellowship
  • National Geographic Young Explorer's Grant
  • The Explorers Club Exploration Fund – Mamont Scholar’s Program
  • Bat Conservation International Student Research Grant