**1. Introduction to the knowledge and the importance of bats**

The last few decades have witnessed the progressive impact of humans on global biodiversity [1], not only through simple loss of habitat but also through habitat fragmentation and a reduction in the quality of the habitat that remains [2, 3]. As a result, many species, including bats, are currently threatened with extinction around the world. The 1232 species of bats are found across most of the world other Antarctica and some remote oceanic islands [4]; the number and diversity of species is highest in tropical regions and decreases as they approach the poles (French Society for the Protection and Study of Mammals, 2003). Nearly half of all bat species are listed as threatened or vulnerable by IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) [5]. The main causes of this situation are increased urbanization, the destruction of natural habitats and the fragmentation of what remains of them into relatively isolated islands of varying sizes [6, 7]. The degree of human 'improvement' of green spaces has led to a lack of 'natural' vegetation and the consequent reduction in insect fauna [8–11]. These changes in

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

available habitat have resulted in bats exploiting "man-made structures" such as bridges [12], abandoned warehouses and mines and the attics and eaves of houses [13]; some of these animals benefit from the concentration of prey present under electric lighting [14, 15].

mosquitoes carry, such as malaria or dengue fever. Whatever their geographical distribution,

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A decline in bats may therefore induce greater demands for insecticides, raising the cost of the production of many crops such as rice, maize and cotton because without them considerable additional volumes of insecticides would be used. Foresters have also realized that bats are a valuable ally of the forest ecosystem and are increasingly involved in protective approaches,

Bats also play a significant economic role: They allow biological discoveries that ensure the development and exploitation of many products and raw materials. Even their feces can be exploited by agriculture or help with research [22]. While the Executive Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of Bat Populations of Europe (Eurobats) had launched 2012 as the year of the bat, a study published in the journal Science made the link between the decline of bats in the United States and the financial impact for agriculture. According to researchers, the disappearance of bats could cost farmers \$ 3.7 billion a year as a result of increased pesticide use. This is a "conservative estimate" of environmental services rendered by bats, warn researchers. By studying their eating habits, they have also been able to establish the positive impact of these mammals on crops. In Texas, for example, bats eat up to 8 grams of caterpillars each night, while Midwest caterpillars eat *Chrysomeles*, including corn, and pentatomidae. Services provided range from \$ 12 to 174 per acre (about 40 acres), depending on the nature of production and the type of cultural practice. Scientists hope that "some will disagree with

According to Tuttle, fruit bats (Megachiroptera) are just as important in maintaining entire plant life ecosystems; their contribution to seed dispersal and pollination is essential to the

Many of the plants that depend on these bats are also of great economic value; their products

Chiroptera are useful for more than one reason and they have a very important ecological role. For 30 million years, bats have been helping entire ecosystems to live and regenerate. In island environments, endemic species often play a vital role in the survival of island ecosystems. On oceanic islands, fruit bats are often the only species capable of pollinating certain plant species or carrying fruit over great distances. Cox, an American biologist, says that 30% of trees in Samoa are directly dependent on bats. During the dry season, in these same territories, 80–100% of the seeds deposited on the ground are transported by bats. Today, this essential role of pollination and seed dispersal is known and recognized. An American study conducted in the 1990s has also shown that breeding of 300 tropical Old World plants

In Texas, 1.5 million bats now live in crevices under the only bridge in the city center. When they started to colonize this bridge, the health authorities warned they were dangerous and could spread diseases. However, thanks to BCI's (Bat Conservation International) outreach work, there was widespread public awareness of the situation. In 30 years, not one person has been attacked or contracted an illness. The fear has been replaced by the love of these animals who eat 15 tons of nocturnal insects and which bring in 12 million dollars each summer

all authors agree that bats are one of the most powerful natural insecticides [22].

with increasingly ecological management approach [23].

this estimate in order to open a scientific debate on the subject."

ranging from wood to fruit, spices, nuts and natural pesticides.

depends totally or partially on bats [22].

regeneration of tropical forests, which are the lungs of our planet [21].

Chiroptera are the only flying mammals, representing a quarter of all known mammal species. Despite being the most diverse group of mammals after rodents, there is relatively limited published information available on this group. Bats were historically divided into 2 suborders: the Microchiroptera, which have about 800 species, are relatively small in size and capable of echolocation, and the Megachiroptera, which include about 170 species of relatively large and non-echolocating Old World fruit bats [16]. However, recent molecular studies [17, 18] suggest that this classification should be reviewed, as some families previously attributed to the microchiroptera are closely related to the Old World fruit bats. These include families of temperature insectivorous bats, such as the Rhinolophids. The suggested new classification places the Old World fruit bats and their relatives in a sub-order called the Yinpterochiroptera, with the remaining species attributed to the Yangochiroptera.

Bats are thought to have appeared in a warm climate, probably at the beginning of the Eocene; the earliest known fossil, *Icaronycteris index*, dates back to about 60 million years [12]. In the world, according to phylogenetic work, all existing research support the hypothesis that they appeared during the lower Eocene (52–50 million years) coinciding with a significant global rise in temperature, suggesting that they are from Laurasia, possibly from North America, and Gondwana [18]. In 2011, Ravel et al. found the oldest occurrence of bats in Africa (5.8 to 48.6 million years) in Algeria—El Kohol, in the Brezina region of the southeast the Atlas Mountains—demonstrating that the basal group of bats had a distribution worldwide at the beginning of the Paleogene [19].

Thanks to their longevity, a fairly high position in the food web and a very wide distribution, Chiroptera are a good candidate for being a biodiversity indicator [20]. The year 2012 was declared International Year of the Bat by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), to acknowledge the many services provided by bats and to make people overcome some of the prejudices that persist about these harmless animals.

According to Tuttle, Honorary Ambassador for this global event, this initiative was taken in light of the essential role of bats [21]. They provide invaluable services that humans cannot afford to lose, they play a role in maintaining the health of ecosystems and they have a very important impact on the human economy. The order of Chiroptera is the richest in mammal species, nevertheless, in recent decades, populations have declined alarmingly and many species are now endangered. For example, white-nose syndrome, which affects bat populations in most parts of the United States, has killed more than 1 million bats.

Because they are only active at night and difficult to observe and understand, bats are ranked among the most misunderstood and intensely persecuted mammals on our planet. The insectivorous species (Microchiroptera for the majority and the only ones present in Algeria) are the main predators of a large number of insects that fly at night. All over the planet, bats prey on mosquitoes and consume hundreds of other species of insects that humans consider detrimental to their health or economy as they cause losses estimated at billions of dollars a year. To some extent, bats thus participate in the prophylactic means of controlling the diseases mosquitoes carry, such as malaria or dengue fever. Whatever their geographical distribution, all authors agree that bats are one of the most powerful natural insecticides [22].

available habitat have resulted in bats exploiting "man-made structures" such as bridges [12], abandoned warehouses and mines and the attics and eaves of houses [13]; some of these ani-

Chiroptera are the only flying mammals, representing a quarter of all known mammal species. Despite being the most diverse group of mammals after rodents, there is relatively limited published information available on this group. Bats were historically divided into 2 suborders: the Microchiroptera, which have about 800 species, are relatively small in size and capable of echolocation, and the Megachiroptera, which include about 170 species of relatively large and non-echolocating Old World fruit bats [16]. However, recent molecular studies [17, 18] suggest that this classification should be reviewed, as some families previously attributed to the microchiroptera are closely related to the Old World fruit bats. These include families of temperature insectivorous bats, such as the Rhinolophids. The suggested new classification places the Old World fruit bats and their relatives in a sub-order called the

mals benefit from the concentration of prey present under electric lighting [14, 15].

Yinpterochiroptera, with the remaining species attributed to the Yangochiroptera.

beginning of the Paleogene [19].

22 Bats

the prejudices that persist about these harmless animals.

in most parts of the United States, has killed more than 1 million bats.

Bats are thought to have appeared in a warm climate, probably at the beginning of the Eocene; the earliest known fossil, *Icaronycteris index*, dates back to about 60 million years [12]. In the world, according to phylogenetic work, all existing research support the hypothesis that they appeared during the lower Eocene (52–50 million years) coinciding with a significant global rise in temperature, suggesting that they are from Laurasia, possibly from North America, and Gondwana [18]. In 2011, Ravel et al. found the oldest occurrence of bats in Africa (5.8 to 48.6 million years) in Algeria—El Kohol, in the Brezina region of the southeast the Atlas Mountains—demonstrating that the basal group of bats had a distribution worldwide at the

Thanks to their longevity, a fairly high position in the food web and a very wide distribution, Chiroptera are a good candidate for being a biodiversity indicator [20]. The year 2012 was declared International Year of the Bat by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), to acknowledge the many services provided by bats and to make people overcome some of

According to Tuttle, Honorary Ambassador for this global event, this initiative was taken in light of the essential role of bats [21]. They provide invaluable services that humans cannot afford to lose, they play a role in maintaining the health of ecosystems and they have a very important impact on the human economy. The order of Chiroptera is the richest in mammal species, nevertheless, in recent decades, populations have declined alarmingly and many species are now endangered. For example, white-nose syndrome, which affects bat populations

Because they are only active at night and difficult to observe and understand, bats are ranked among the most misunderstood and intensely persecuted mammals on our planet. The insectivorous species (Microchiroptera for the majority and the only ones present in Algeria) are the main predators of a large number of insects that fly at night. All over the planet, bats prey on mosquitoes and consume hundreds of other species of insects that humans consider detrimental to their health or economy as they cause losses estimated at billions of dollars a year. To some extent, bats thus participate in the prophylactic means of controlling the diseases A decline in bats may therefore induce greater demands for insecticides, raising the cost of the production of many crops such as rice, maize and cotton because without them considerable additional volumes of insecticides would be used. Foresters have also realized that bats are a valuable ally of the forest ecosystem and are increasingly involved in protective approaches, with increasingly ecological management approach [23].

Bats also play a significant economic role: They allow biological discoveries that ensure the development and exploitation of many products and raw materials. Even their feces can be exploited by agriculture or help with research [22]. While the Executive Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of Bat Populations of Europe (Eurobats) had launched 2012 as the year of the bat, a study published in the journal Science made the link between the decline of bats in the United States and the financial impact for agriculture. According to researchers, the disappearance of bats could cost farmers \$ 3.7 billion a year as a result of increased pesticide use. This is a "conservative estimate" of environmental services rendered by bats, warn researchers. By studying their eating habits, they have also been able to establish the positive impact of these mammals on crops. In Texas, for example, bats eat up to 8 grams of caterpillars each night, while Midwest caterpillars eat *Chrysomeles*, including corn, and pentatomidae. Services provided range from \$ 12 to 174 per acre (about 40 acres), depending on the nature of production and the type of cultural practice. Scientists hope that "some will disagree with this estimate in order to open a scientific debate on the subject."

According to Tuttle, fruit bats (Megachiroptera) are just as important in maintaining entire plant life ecosystems; their contribution to seed dispersal and pollination is essential to the regeneration of tropical forests, which are the lungs of our planet [21].

Many of the plants that depend on these bats are also of great economic value; their products ranging from wood to fruit, spices, nuts and natural pesticides.

Chiroptera are useful for more than one reason and they have a very important ecological role. For 30 million years, bats have been helping entire ecosystems to live and regenerate. In island environments, endemic species often play a vital role in the survival of island ecosystems. On oceanic islands, fruit bats are often the only species capable of pollinating certain plant species or carrying fruit over great distances. Cox, an American biologist, says that 30% of trees in Samoa are directly dependent on bats. During the dry season, in these same territories, 80–100% of the seeds deposited on the ground are transported by bats. Today, this essential role of pollination and seed dispersal is known and recognized. An American study conducted in the 1990s has also shown that breeding of 300 tropical Old World plants depends totally or partially on bats [22].

In Texas, 1.5 million bats now live in crevices under the only bridge in the city center. When they started to colonize this bridge, the health authorities warned they were dangerous and could spread diseases. However, thanks to BCI's (Bat Conservation International) outreach work, there was widespread public awareness of the situation. In 30 years, not one person has been attacked or contracted an illness. The fear has been replaced by the love of these animals who eat 15 tons of nocturnal insects and which bring in 12 million dollars each summer thanks to the tourism. Hence the deduction that it is now well-proved that people and bats can share even our cities to great mutual benefit.

in Kenya on February 15, 2013. This had the participation of 19 African countries, Algeria not having been present; the organization was created to contribute to the preservation of the bats of Africa and the Western Indian Ocean Islands and is known as BCA (Bat Conservation Africa). The causes of the reduction in the density of bats are many; the image of the bat in the popular culture can be beneficial or evil, according to culture. Because of their "strange" appearance and their nightlife and, as a result, the mystery surrounding their way of life, they are often victims of popular beliefs and have long been persecuted by humans [17, 18].

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In addition to the concerns for its survival, a health warning has come in recent years threatening their rehabilitation with the general public, leaving the threat of zoonosis to be the most feared such as rabies and the fear of bats being the origin of emerging viruses in the Old and New World such as the Ebola virus. The causes of the disappearance of Chiroptera are multiple; it seems to be explained also by the strict ecological requirements of the species in terms of habitats. In fact, a population of bats can only sustainably live in a region if it offers a coherent network of hunting grounds rich in prey and wintering, breeding and transition sites connected by functional circulation corridors, that is to say without any physical interruption. The reproduction and wintering roosts, free from any pollution, are at most 20 km distant from each other [26], within a rich bocage landscape in diversified environments: mainly grazed meadows, wooded areas, wetlands and orchards [27–31]. The animals also hunt large insects, mainly Lepidoptera, Coleoptera (Aphodius, Melolontha, Geotrupes) and

Diptera (Tipulidae), which are key prey for some species [27, 28, 32, 33].

Algeria is the largest country bordering the Mediterranean (2,381,741 km2

Threatened Species (International Union for the Conservation of Nature).

country in Africa, and it offers a wide variety of biotopes that make the existence of a great diversity of species of bats possible. There are Mediterranean and desert regions, mountainous regions, highland areas and ancient volcanic regions. Each of these areas can host a particular bat fauna. Chiroptera are represented by 26 species in 7 families; most of these are considered vulnerable in many countries of the world and are listed on the IUCN Red List of

Although much work has been done on mammal fauna, very little work has been done on the bats of Algeria, despite their major ecological role in the maintenance of ecosystems [34]. Indeed, the valuable ecological services provided by bats are still ignored by the majority of the population and even by the authorities in charge of the management of fauna and flora [35]. The main consequence of this state of affairs is that bats are not taken into account in the conservation and management projects of the fauna and flora of ecosystems in many coun-

This lack of basic data on the chiropterofauna of Algeria is a barrier to knowledge and understanding of their role in maintaining the stability of natural ecosystems [34, 36]. Bats do indeed present systematic interests [37] including ecological [34, 38–40], veterinarian [41, 42], medical

) and the largest

**2. Presentation of Algeria and its Chiroptera**

tries where they are threatened or in decline [35].

[43], economic and pharmacological [39, 44] (**Table 1**).

It is determined that 450 products used by humans depend directly and indirectly on bats. This impressive list includes, among others, 110 foods or beverages, 72 medicines and 66 tree species used in cabinet making. Some pollinated fruits represent an important economic value for developing countries. This is the case of Durian fruit, *Durio zibhetinus* and Petai, *Parkia speciosa* and *P. javanica*, which are increasingly used as food for some Asian populations. In Africa, the Roussettes are the only species to disperse the seeds of Iroko, a rare species. In the Sonoran Desert, in the southwestern United States and in the arid areas of Mexico, the longnosed bat plays a major role in the pollination of agaves and large cacti. An entire economy is directly dependent on them, because from these cacti are drawn Tequila and Mescal, two alcohols which represent important currency flows for the local economy [22].

Even the excrement of bats is important, like that of birds. The guano of bats represents a significant source of income for low-income countries. Natural and of very good quality, this fertilizer can, moreover, be exploited on the spot at very low costs [22]. As long as the bats remain present and the environment allows them to feed, this commodity will also be renewable. The guano harvest offers economic benefits to developing countries as it prevents them from importing phosphate fertilizers, often bought in hard currency, which increases their external debt. But bat droppings also have other interests. Millions of unknown bacteria live in the guano and contribute to its degradation. Discovered in the enormous piles of excrement in the southern caves of the United States, bacteria have been isolated and subjected to research programs [22]. The use of these new organisms could make it possible to optimize landfill waste disposal, to partially abandon certain fossil fuels and to produce even more efficient detergents. Only a small part of the microorganisms contained in bat guano has been studied so far and new applications may be discovered in the coming years. The destruction of a colony of bats may eliminate these millions of organisms at the same time even before they have been studied [22].

Pure guano is a good fertilizer for plants, it has a composition of 10-3-1 in NPK and it is also a soil conditioner because it improves its texture and richness. In addition, it contributes to the detoxification of the soil because it is a bio-corrector favoring the proliferation of microorganisms that eliminate toxic residues and it plays at the same time the role of fungicide by eliminating phytopathogenic fungi and nematocide by promoting the development of decomposing micro-organisms that contribute to the control of nematodes, and it is also an activator of compost: decomposer micro-organisms accelerate the composting process [24, 25].

Bats are also given special attention due to some of their characteristics, which are either unique or important. One can quote their surprising morphology, with their aptitude to flight, as well as their echolocation system. The ecological value of the bats justifies that all their species be considered as "species of fauna strictly protected" by the Bern Convention, 1979, relative to the Conservation of the Wild Life and the Natural Environment. Bats are also listed in Appendix II of the Bonn Convention, 1979, on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wildlife. Bats are studied and monitored by many international and national organizations, including BCI (Bat Conservation International), Batcon (Bats conservation) and Eurobats (European bats), and in 2013, Africa saw its organization created after the Naivasha summit in Kenya on February 15, 2013. This had the participation of 19 African countries, Algeria not having been present; the organization was created to contribute to the preservation of the bats of Africa and the Western Indian Ocean Islands and is known as BCA (Bat Conservation Africa). The causes of the reduction in the density of bats are many; the image of the bat in the popular culture can be beneficial or evil, according to culture. Because of their "strange" appearance and their nightlife and, as a result, the mystery surrounding their way of life, they are often victims of popular beliefs and have long been persecuted by humans [17, 18].

In addition to the concerns for its survival, a health warning has come in recent years threatening their rehabilitation with the general public, leaving the threat of zoonosis to be the most feared such as rabies and the fear of bats being the origin of emerging viruses in the Old and New World such as the Ebola virus. The causes of the disappearance of Chiroptera are multiple; it seems to be explained also by the strict ecological requirements of the species in terms of habitats. In fact, a population of bats can only sustainably live in a region if it offers a coherent network of hunting grounds rich in prey and wintering, breeding and transition sites connected by functional circulation corridors, that is to say without any physical interruption. The reproduction and wintering roosts, free from any pollution, are at most 20 km distant from each other [26], within a rich bocage landscape in diversified environments: mainly grazed meadows, wooded areas, wetlands and orchards [27–31]. The animals also hunt large insects, mainly Lepidoptera, Coleoptera (Aphodius, Melolontha, Geotrupes) and Diptera (Tipulidae), which are key prey for some species [27, 28, 32, 33].
