Sympatric Bat Species Prey Opportunistically on a Major Moth Pest of Pecans

Elizabeth C. Braun de Torrez, Veronica A. Brown, Gary F. McCracken and Thomas H. Kunz
Additional contact information
Elizabeth C. Braun de Torrez: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Veronica A. Brown: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Gary F. McCracken: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Thomas H. Kunz: Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: Native predators provide undervalued pest suppression services to agriculture. Studies of pest consumption by insectivorous bats tend to focus upon single species in large, centralized colonies, while bats dispersed in small groups within the agricultural matrix often go unnoticed. Pecan trees, Carya illinoinensis , and the destructive pecan nut casebearer (PNC) moth, Acrobasis nuxvorella , comprise a tightly linked host–parasite system in a widespread agroecosystem native to North America. Here we use a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay of fecal DNA to document predation on PNC moths by an assemblage of sympatric bat species across episodic peaks in PNC abundance. Although five species of bats consume PNC moths, greater predation by a solitary tree-roosting bat (eastern red bat, Lasiurus borealis ) than other species is suggested by a higher frequency of PNC occurrence and quantity of PNC gene copies in fecal samples. Consumption of PNC by bats during all documented peaks in moth activity suggests that predation pressure occurs throughout the PNC season. Our results highlight the need to consider multi-species assemblages and different foraging strategies when assessing pest suppression services, particularly in agroforestry or tree crops. Assessing the diet of only common or easily captured species limits our ability to accurately document pest consumption by bats.

Keywords: agriculture; diet; eastern red bat; ecosystem services; fecal analysis; pest suppression; quantitative PCR; pecan agroecosystem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6365/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6365/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:22:p:6365-:d:286317

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().