Bats in livestock farms—effects of farm characteristics and landscape composition on bat activity

Abstract Context Animal farming is a key driver of rural landscape structure, ecosystem processes and economy. Over recent decades, traditional management practices have largely shifted toward modern industrialized systems, altering habitat composition and influencing the abundance and distribution of many taxa, including bats. Objectives This study investigates the interaction between livestock farms and insectivorous bats, focusing on bat activity and foraging behaviour in relation to livestock farm characteristics (stock size and species) as well as landscape-composition. We also compared bat activity on farms with that in other habitats, including cropland, grassland, oak and pine forests, roads within settlements, and green areas in settlements. Methods We conducted passive acoustic surveys across livestock farms and six other habitats in Hungary. We identified the bat species based on the echolocation calls and obtained the overall number of echolocation sequences and feeding buzzes. We tested the between-farm and between-habitat differences considering the landscape composition in different scales. Results Our findings revealed the presence of seven bat taxa, with synurbic species being the most commonly observed in livestock farms. We found that Pipistrellus kuhlii/nathusii activity was significantly higher on cattle farms compared to horse farms. Additionally, Nyctalus spp. activity increased with the proportion of artificial environments, while overall bat activity rose with the proportion of green areas within artificial environments. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the activity of several bat species was higher on livestock farms than in various other habitat types. Conclusions This study highlights the potential of livestock farms to support bat populations, contributing to pest suppression and the maintenance of healthy ecosystems. Further research is needed to optimize management practices for bat conservation and to enhance ecosystem services.