DOI: 10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs6z
title: Temporal mismatches in flight activity patterns between Pipistrellus kuhlii and Prays oleae in Mediterranean olive farms: Implications for biocontrol services potential

description: Biocontrol services are widely recognized as providing key incentives for
 bat conservation. However, we have virtually no information on whether and
 how disruptions in bat-mediated biocontrol services are driven by
 mismatches between the temporal activity patterns of insectivorous bats
 and insect pests. 2. We investigated the temporal relationship between the
 nightly activity patterns of the common pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus
 kuhlii) and the olive fruit moth (Prays oleae). Temporal mismatches
 between species pairs were estimated as the time difference (expressed as
 a percentage of the night) at which P. kuhlii and P. oleae reached 50% of
 their abundance. The study was carried out during spring, summer, and fall
 between 2017 and 2019 in 60 olive farms representing increasing levels of
 structural simplification (as a surrogate of agricultural
 intensification). Olive farms were classified as exhibiting high (i.e.,
 HIGH olive farms; n = 27), intermediate (MID; n = 18), and low (LOW; n =
 15) structural complexity.  Temporal mismatches between the
 activity levels of P. kuhlii and P. oleae varied between seasons and types
 of olive farms, being comparatively lower in summer than in spring and
 fall. Furthermore, summer was the only season in which temporal mismatches
 between species pairs differed between types of olive farms, with higher
 temporal mismatches found in LOW than in HIGH and MID olive farms.
 Overall, our work demonstrates the existence of temporal mismatches
 between the nightly activity patterns of P. kuhlii and P. oleae.
 Furthermore, it demonstrates that the structural simplification of olive
 farms increases temporal mismatches between species pairs, particularly in
 summer when bat-mediated biocontrol services are most needed. Synthesis
 and applications. Future research should consider mismatches between the
 temporal activity patterns of insectivorous bats and insect pests.
 Otherwise, the actual impact of agricultural intensification on
 bat-mediated biocontrol services as well as the economic impact of their
 loss on the agriculture industry might be underestimated. To enhance
 biocontrol services, we propose increasing the availability of suitable
 roosting and foraging sites as well as conserving areas of remnant native
 woodland and scattered hollow-bearing trees.
description: # Temporal mismatches in flight activity patterns between Pipistrellus
 kuhlii and Prays oleae in Mediterranean olive farms: Implications for
 biocontrol services potential
 This dataset was used to
 evaluate temporal mismatches in flight activity patterns between
 *Pipistrellus kuhlii* and *Prays oleae* ## Description of the data and
 file structure This is a structured dataset with the following variables:
 * site: code number of the sites sampled * farm: code number of the farm
 to which the sites belong * season: sampling season with the following
 codes; 1-spring, 2-summer, 3-autumn * struct_complexity: structural
 complexity of the sample sites with the following codes; 1-low complexity,
 2-intermediate complexity, 3-high complexity * olive cover: percentage of
 olive grove cover in a 1km radius from the sampling points * forest cover:
 percentage of forest cover in a 1km radius from the sampling points *
 prays: number of captured Prays oleae * accum50: variable indicating the
 time after sunset (in percentage of the night length) of all bat passes in
 a given sampling * dif_accum50: variable indicating the difference (in
 percentage of the night length) between all bat passes and all captured
 indivduals of P. oleae in a given sampling