Data from: Agriculture shapes the trophic niche of a bat preying on multiple pest arthropods across Europe: evidence from DNA metabarcoding

The interaction between agricultural production and wildlife can shape, and even condition, the functioning of both systems. In this study we i) explored the degree to which a widespread European bat, namely the common bent-wing bat Miniopterus schreibersii, consumes crop-damaging insects at a continental scale, and ii) tested whether its dietary niche is shaped by the extension and type of agricultural fields. We employed a dual-primer DNA metabarcoding approach to characterise arthropod 16S and COI DNA sequences within bat faecal pellets collected across 16 Southern European localities, to first characterise the bat species’ dietary niche, secondly measure the incidence of agricultural pests across their ranges, and thirdly assess whether geographical dietary variation responds to climatic, landscape diversity, agriculture type and vegetation productivity factors. We detected 12 arthropod orders, among which lepidopterans were predominant. We identified >200 species, 44 of which are known to cause agricultural damage. Pest species were detected at all but one sampling site and in 94% of the analysed samples. Furthermore, the dietary diversity of M. schreibersii exhibited a negative linear relation with the area of intensive agricultural fields, thus suggesting crops restrict the dietary niche of bats to prey taxa associated with agricultural production within their foraging range. Overall our results imply that M. schreibersii might be a valuable asset for biological pest suppression in a variety of agricultural productions, and highlight the dynamic interplay between wildlife and agricultural systems.

农业生产与野生动物之间的交互作用，可塑造甚至调控两者生态系统的运行功能。本研究开展了两项核心工作：其一，探究广布欧洲的普通长翼蝠（Miniopterus schreibersii）在大陆尺度上取食农作物害虫的程度；其二，检验其食物生态位是否受农田的分布范围与类型调控。
本研究采用双引物DNA元条形码（dual-primer DNA metabarcoding）技术，对南欧16个采样点采集的蝙蝠粪便颗粒中的节肢动物16S与COI DNA序列进行表征，依次完成三项分析：一是明确该蝙蝠的食物生态位，二是量化其分布范围内农业害虫的检出率，三是评估地理尺度下的食物组成差异是否响应气候、景观多样性、农田类型及植被生产力等环境因素。
研究共检出12个节肢动物目，其中鳞翅目占主导地位。共鉴定出200余种节肢动物，其中44种为已知农业害虫。除1个采样点外，其余所有采样点的样本中均检出害虫，害虫样本总检出率达94%。此外，普通长翼蝠的食物多样性与集约化农田面积呈负线性相关，这表明农田会将蝙蝠的食物生态位限制在其觅食范围内与农业生产相关的猎物类群中。
综上，本研究结果表明普通长翼蝠可作为多种农业生产系统中生物害虫防治的宝贵资源，同时凸显了野生动物与农业生态系统之间的动态互作关系。