ArticleBiology2021
Do We Need to Use Bats as Bioindicators?
Article in Biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Hematological Parameters in the Ontogeny of the Pond Bat Myotis dasycneme Boie, 1825 from the Urals.Doklady biological sciences : proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological sciences sections · 2026Article
- Trogloxene guano as a source of information on environmental pollution.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Bat Cave Vulnerability to Anthropogenic Factors: Status and Priorities for Conservation Within the Mount Elgon Region, Uganda.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Simple Yet Reliable 12S rRNA-Based Molecular Approach for Identifying Bat Species.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- A paired analysis of mercury among non-invasive tissues in Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) to inform conservation monitoring.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2025Article
- Uncovering historical small mammal biodiversity among the Madrean Sky Islands.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Landscape and Season Influence Bat Activity and Richness in a Mediterranean Metropolitan Area.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Article
- A paired analysis of mercury among non-invasive tissues to inform bat conservation monitoring.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Evaluation of the Difference in the Content of Essential and Non-Essential Elements in Wild Boar and Swine Tissues Sampled in the Same Area of Northern Italy.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Climate is changing, are European bats too? A multispecies analysis of trends in body size.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- The fecal microbiota of the mouse-eared bat (Myotis velifer) with new records of microbial taxa for bats.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- Assessment of perfluoroalkyl substances concentration levels in wild bat guano samples.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Functional Activity of the Blood System in Two Migratory Bat Species of the Urals.Doklady biological sciences : proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological sciences sections · 2023Article
- Guild Vertical Stratification and Drivers of Bat Foraging in a Semi-Arid Tropical Region, Kenya.Biology · 2023Article
- An Efficient Neural Network Design Incorporating Autoencoders for the Classification of Bat Echolocation Sounds.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Influence of ambient temperature on the phenology of the greater mouse-eared bat (Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Evaluation of Parabens and Bisphenol A Concentration Levels in Wild Bat Guano Samples.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Sexual segregation occurs in bats within fragmented remnant woodlands in an agricultural landscape.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bats show responses to anthropogenic stressors linked to changes in other ecosystem components such as insects, and as K-selected mammals, exhibit fast population declines. This speciose, widespread mammal group shows an impressive trophic diversity and provides key ecosystem services. For these and other reasons, bats might act as suitable bioindicators in many environmental contexts. However, few studies have explicitly tested this potential, and in some cases, stating that bats are useful bioindicators more closely resembles a slogan to support conservation than a well-grounded piece of scientific evidence. Here, we review the available information and highlight the limitations that arise in using bats as bioindicators. Based on the limited number of studies available, the use of bats as bioindicators is highly promising and warrants further investigation in specific contexts such as river quality, urbanisation, farming practices, forestry, bioaccumulation, and climate change. Whether bats may also serve as surrogate taxa remains a controversial yet highly interesting matter. Some limitations to using bats as bioindicators include taxonomical issues, sampling problems, difficulties in associating responses with specific stressors, and geographically biased or delayed responses. Overall, we urge the scientific community to test bat responses to specific stressors in selected ecosystem types and develop research networks to explore the geographic consistency of such responses. The high cost of sampling equipment (ultrasound detectors) is being greatly reduced by technological advances, and the legal obligation to monitor bat populations already existing in many countries such as those in the EU offers an important opportunity to accomplish two objectives (conservation and bioindication) with one action.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.