Guano morphology reveals ecological information in British bats

1.0.Bats are primary consumers of nocturnal insects, disperse nutrients across landscapes, and are excellent bioindicators of an ecosystems health, however four of the seventeen Great British species are listed as declining. In this study we aim to investigate the link between bat guano morphology and diet, specifically looking at the ability to predict 1) species, 2) dietary guild and 3) bat size, using guano morphology alone. It was found that guano morphology overlapped too much to make predictions on species however, in some cases, it could be used to predict dietary guild or size.