Abstract:
Biodiversity is severely threatened globally, with habitat loss and other human pressures
accelerating species extinctions. Protected areas (PAs) are a critical conservation tool; how ever, their effectiveness in safeguarding many taxa, such as bats, remains unclear. Using
georeferenced occurrence records and species distribution models (SDMs) for 263 sub Saharan African bat species, we evaluated the coverage of bats in 7875 terrestrial PAs.
Eighty-nine percent of bat species were recorded in at least 1 PA, yet 28 species, including
5 threatened and 15 data deficient species, were absent from all PAs. Species with large
extents of occurrence were represented in more PAs, and fruit bats occupied significantly
more PAs than clutter, edge, or open-air insectivorous foragers. The SDMs revealed high
species richness in some undersurveyed areas, particularly in West and Central Africa and
the Albertine Rift, emphasizing the need for targeted surveys. Our findings underscore
critical data deficiencies related to bat conservation and stress the urgency of integrating
bats into broader conservation planning. More surveys, enhanced data-sharing, and tailored
conservation strategies are needed to improve bat representation in PAs and safeguard their
ecological roles in Africa’s biodiverse landscapes.
