WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
A review synthesizes how habitat fragmentation, stress and altered behavior can diminish bat-mediated pollination, seed dispersal and insect control even when species are still locally present. Species persistence and the frequency or quality of ecological interactions are different measures.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Population counts and occupancy are useful but insufficient proxies for functional recovery. Monitoring needs to ask which interactions occur, at what frequency and in what spatial context.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
A conceptual evidence synthesis, not a new global measurement of functional decline or a causal experiment. Functional redundancy, taxa and ecosystem context vary.
SOURCE
Nature Reviews Biodiversity — Russo and Knörnschild (29 Oct 2026)
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