Bat ecology and conservation in the Great Plains: a systematic review of research in the past 30 years and future directions

The Great Plains encompasses the majority of North America’s grassland ecosystems and supports diverse bat populations that provide critical ecosystem services through insect pest control. Over the past decades, these bats have faced growing conservation threats, including white-nose syndrome, wind energy development, and climate change. Despite this, no comprehensive review has synthesized existing knowledge of bat ecology in the Great Plains, hindering effective conservation strategies for grassland bats. We conducted a systematic search of primary field-based research published over the past 30 years to summarize information on: (1) species distribution and habitat associations, (2) foraging behavior and diet, (3) roosting sites and selection, and (4) winter ecology. Our search yielded only 94 publications, documenting 22 bat species—representing nearly half of all species occurring in the United States and Canada. However, insufficient publications prevented us from identifying consistent ecological patterns across most focal topics. We suggest that future research should adopt multi-scale approaches to examine ecological processes both within grassland ecosystems and across ecosystems by leveraging existing standardized baseline monitoring networks, such as the North American Bat Monitoring Program. Additionally, integration of emerging technologies and modern analytical tools is essential to advance grassland bat conservation.