Prioritizing underground roosts for bat conservation in Kenya

Abstract

Identifying key wildlife resources is vital for lasting conservation efforts. Bats disperse seeds, pollinate plants, consume insects, and support cave-dependent organisms. However, they face significant threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, degradation, mining, cave tourism, cave closures, evictions, and superstitious persecution. Most of Kenya's bat species roost in caves outside the country's 10% of protected areas, where cave conditions and species remain largely unknown. We employed the Scalable Bat Cave Vulnerability Index (BCVI-S) to assess the conservation priorities of bat cave roosts in Kenya, aiming to identify the most vulnerable ones and establish priorities for effective conservation. BCVI-S has two components: (1) Biotic Potential (BP), which evaluates cave's ecological value through bat species richness, abundance, and the presence of threatened and endemic species, and (2) Biotic Vulnerability (BV),which measures human disturbance. Bat assemblages in protected area caves was different than those on unprotected community lands, with Otomops harrisoni contributing to differences between these two groups. Bat species diversity declined near urban areas. Caves with threatened species showed moderate vulnerability, which demonstrates the importance of targeted conservation efforts. Caves in protected areas showed greater Biotic Potential and lower vulnerability scores than those on unprotected community lands. These findings justify the need to incorporate species-level data and indicators of human intrusion in conserving cave-dwelling bats. The BCVI-S is a structured tool for identifying those caves, which are vulnerable, leading to their preservation, planning, empowering local management, and supporting evidence-based policy development.