A species-level trait dataset of bats in Europe and beyond

Abstract

Knowledge of species' functional traits is essential for understanding biodiversity patterns, predicting the impacts of global environmental changes, and assessing the efficiency of conservation measures. Bats are major components of mammalian diversity and occupy a variety of ecological niches and geographic distributions. However, an extensive compilation of their functional traits and ecological attributes is still missing. Here we present EuroBaTrait 1.0, the most comprehensive and up-to-date trait dataset covering 47 European bat species. The dataset includes data on 118 traits including genetic composition, physiology, morphology, acoustic signature, climatic associations, foraging habitat, roost type, diet, spatial behaviour, life history, pathogens, phenology, and distribution. We compiled the bat trait data obtained from three main sources: (i) a systematic literature and dataset search, (ii) unpublished data from European bat experts, and (iii) observations from large-scale monitoring programs. EuroBaTrait is designed to provide an important data source for comparative and trait-based analyses at the species or community level. The dataset also exposes knowledge gaps in species, geographic and trait coverage, highlighting priorities for future data collection.

Fig. 1

Number of peer-reviewed studies per year (a) and per geographic area (b) that implemented a trait-based approach to study bats^–. Data were extracted from a systematic literature search conducted in Web of Science and Google Scholar on the 15^th of November 2021 using the following search string terms: (Bat* OR Chiroptera) AND (“trait-base*” OR “trait diversity” OR “functional diversity” OR trait*). The black solid line represents the LOESS (locally weighted scatterplot smoothing) fit to the observed relationship. See raw data and details in Supplementary Material 1.

Fig. 2

Trait by species matrix illustrating the EuroBaTrait 1.0 dataset completeness.

Fig. 3

Number of trait categories (genetic composition, physiology, morphology, acoustic signature, climatic associations, foraging habitat, roost type, diet, spatial behaviour, life history, pathogens, phenology, and distribution) provided at the country level across all species. For sake of clarity and for highlighting gaps in geographic coverage, we did not consider in this map traits provided across a given species’ range or at regional level. Details on each trait category are provided in Supplementary Material 4.

Fig. 4

Representativeness of the EuroBaTrait 1.0 dataset. Summary of the 13 trait categories included in the trait dataset and their coverage in terms of number of traits included under the category, number of species and genera with data for at least one of the traits under the category, number of countries with data for at least one trait under the category (regional or global data were not included in these calculations), number of samples (individuals, calls or nights) used to generate values for the traits, and number of data sources on which the trait values are based.