Bat Migration Intensifies Cave Fish Richness Loss Under Climate Change in China

Journal article

Aim: Cave fish, the largest aquatic vertebrates in karst ecosystems, rely heavily on bat guano as a nutrient source. However, ongoing environmental change is degrading cave habitats and altering bat distributions. This study aims to assess how climate‐driven bat migration affects cave fish distributions in China, providing insights for biodiversity conservation. Location: China. Methods: We developed ensemble species distribution models (ensemble SDMs) for cave bats and cave fish, integrating current and projected climate data to simulate historical and future distributions. Cave bat richness was used as a proxy for food resource availability for cave fish. We then quantified changes in cave fish richness under different climate scenarios and evaluated the amplifying effect of bat migration. Results: Both cave bats and cave fish exhibit overlapping richness hotspots in southern China, strongly associated with fragmented karst landscapes. Under future climate scenarios, the cave bat richness center is projected to shift northwestward, with greater displacement under high‐emission conditions. Cave fish richness is predicted to decline due to climate stress alone, but when accounting for bat migration, losses are amplified by 12–40 times. Main Conclusions: Climate‐induced shifts in cave bat distributions may drastically intensify habitat and nutrient limitations for cave fish, exacerbating biodiversity loss. These findings highlight the importance of integrating biotic interactions and trophic dependencies in species distribution modelling and conservation planning. The study provides a framework for prioritising cave ecosystem protection under future environmental change.

Authors: Bai, X; Zhang, P; Shipley, BR; Ju, T; Zhang, Y

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Diversity and Distributions
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 2
• Article number: e70148
• Publication date: 2026-01-28
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-15
• DOI: 10.1111/ddi.70148
• EISSN: 1472-4642
• ISSN: 1366-9516
• Language: English
• Keywords: biodiversity loss; climate change; trophic interaction; cave bats; species distribution model; cave ecosystems; vertebrate conservation; China; cave fish; karst landscape