Prioritizing threats to bats in North America

Bats represent a major component of mammalian diversity, both globally and within North America, and play important ecological and economic roles. However, bats face many threats that have led to substantial population declines for many species, and several North American species are now designated as at risk of extinction in one or more countries. We asked experts across the continent to identify potential threats to bats and to assess their importance within different regions of North America. We classified threats into 21 categories, based on international standardized threat classification, which were then assessed by 194 experts. We found substantial variation among regions in the most serious threats. Pathogens and microbes were identified as the greatest threat across most regions, reflecting the rapid spread and devastating impact of white-nose syndrome. However, threats leading to habitat loss, including development, logging, and agriculture were identified as the biggest threats in Mexico. Renewable energy, related to collisions of bats with wind turbines, and climate change were identified as major threats in many regions. Other threats were assessed as important in some regions but not others. Most threats were identified as likely increasing over time. These results provide a baseline for measuring future changes in threats. They also highlight threats, such as white-nose syndrome, wind energy and climate change, that affect bats in many regions and would benefit most from international cooperation to implement mitigation measures. Sharing information and evidence related to effective management practices to address threats is an important next step.