Fruit bats in a changing world

Bats are the second-largest order of mammals and key components of many ecosystems. They have ecosystem functions related to pollination, seed dispersal, nutrient flows and controlling insect populations.

Unfortunately, bats are also facing many threats; over a third of species are Threatened or Data Deficient. Mass die-offs of fruit bats have occurred during heatwaves, and other bats are changing their ranges and behaviours to cope with changing climates and habitat loss.

Bats are also persecuted by humans, in part because of their role in spreading severe diseases like Ebola and COVID-19.

Understanding how bat ranges are changing in response to global change and human activities is key to understanding the consequences of these changes for bats, the ecosystems they support, and the human populations that rely on them.

This project will use a combination of historical ecology and species distribution modelling to understand and forecast changes in bat distributions during the Anthropocene, using museum specimen metadata as a historical baseline. It will also use spatial models to forecast how global change might influence the ability of bats to provide ecosystem services and spread viruses.

The study system will be focused on tropical fruit bats (Pteropodidae). The project team includes experts in bat taxonomy, data science and spatial modelling, making this an exciting interdisciplinary project. The results will have implications for both bat conservation and human health.

Project-specific training

Georeferencing and museum specimen work. One-to-one instruction by the supervisory team.

Data science in R. One-to-one instruction by the supervisory team, and a week-long course at the Natural History Museum in London.

Spatial modeling and species distribution modeling in R. One-to-one instruction by supervisory team. Outreach. Training in-house at the Natural History Museum.

Potential career trajectory

This project would support the student to progress to various academic roles in bat conservation, ecology and evolution, or human health, or any role requiring skills in modelling, spatial analysis or species distribution models. Beyond academia, the student would gain skills that would suit them for work in museum collections, conservation NGOs, and in a wide range of data science jobs. Data science in R is used in the NHS, Civil Service, NGOs, and local authorities, as well as private companies.