Research progress of bat biology and conservation strategies in China

ABSTRACT

Since the end of 2019, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has attracted much attention on bats(Chiroptera), and even people are frequently frowned upon when talking about bats.Bats are extremely diverse in ecology and taxonomy, accounting for ~20% of mammalian diversity worldwide.Bats play an important role in pest control, seed transmission, plant pollination, offering a great economic benefit to human society.Moreover, bats bear important scientific research value in health and longevity, biomimetic, language evolution, and more.There are more than 140 species of bats in China, ranking China one of the top countries in terms of bat species diversity of the world.In recent decades, Chinese researchers have made great progresses in diverse fields such as bat taxonomy, ecology, ethology, evolutionary biology, neurobiology, and viral pathogens.However, researches focusing on ecosystem services and conservation of bats were very scarce.Due to logging and plants harvesting, over-hunting, habitat destruction, urbanization, agricultural activities, climate change, and so forth, bats in China are largely threatened 51% of bat species have been listed as Near Threatened or above(Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable).We argue that successful bat conservation in China must first strengthen basic research, particularly in assessing the population status and trends of bat species and establishing a monitoring network for bat diversity.Additionally, a combination of conservation efforts, including the protection of bat habitats, construction of artificial bat habitats, improvement of relevant laws and regulations, and enhancement of public education on bats, are vital to ensuring sustainable bat populations in China. © 2020, Science Press. All right reserved.