Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: David Jacobs Lientjie Cohen Leigh Rosanne Richards Ara Monadjem Corrie Schoeman Kate MacEwan Theresa Sethusa Peter Taylor
Contributors: Matthew Child Domitilla Raimondo
Reviewers: David Jacobs Lientjie Cohen Leigh Rosanne Richards Ara Monadjem Corrie Shoeman Kate MacEwan Theresa Sethusa Peter Taylor

Rationale (Changed due to Knowledge of criteria)

Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution (estimated extent of occurrence for the assessment region is 1,196,606 km2), known large population and local abundance (colonies can comprise thousands of individuals), it being recorded from many protected areas in the assessment region and because no major threats have been identified that could cause widespread population decline. However, taxonomic resolution is required as genetic evidence suggests five distinct clades exist within South Africa largely corresponding to different biomes and should be considered as evolutionarily significant units in conservation planning. If cryptic species are described, reassessment will be necessary as distinct units may be facing unique threats.

Regional population effects: While habitats are largely connected across regions, wing-loading is low (Jacobs et al. 2007), so dispersal effects are presumed to be limited, and thus rescue effects are uncertain. This is compounded by taxonomic uncertainty (Stoffberg et al. 2012). For example, specimens of this species from Namibia have been reclassified as R. damarensis, thus R. clivosus is now not known to occur in Namibia (Monadjem et al. 2010; Jacobs et al. 2013).

Distribution

R. clivosus sensu lato has a disjunct distribution from Algeria to Egypt and southwards through most countries in East Africa through to South Africa, and also occurs in parts of southwest Asia, including western and southeastern areas of the Arabian Peninsula. In North Africa it has been recorded from Algeria, Libya and Egypt; in East Africa, it ranges from Sudan in the north, through all East African countries to Malawi in the south; in southern Africa, it is present in Mozambique and Zambia in the north, ranging southwards into South Africa. While previously thought to occur in Namibia and Angola (for example, Skinner & Chimimba 2005), specimens from these regions have now been reclassified as a new species called R. damarensis (Stoffberg 2007; Monadjem et al. 2010; Jacobs et al. 2013). It is also absent from Botswana (Monadjem et al. 2010).

In the assessment region, the species is widespread in the eastern regions, recorded from Lesotho, Swaziland and all provinces in South Africa, absent only from parts of the arid interior (Monadjem et al. 2010). However, if R. clivosus comprises a complex of several species, then Stoffberg et al. (2012) should be consulted to provide the composite species distributions in South Africa where five genetically distinct groups are largely linked to different biomes, similar to those reported for Miniopterus natalensis (Miller-Butterworth et al. 2003). Roberts (1951) recognised southern African R. clivosus s.l. as an endemic southern African species R. geoffroyi where four of the lineages identified by Stoffberg et al. (2012) correspond to the geographical distributions of his proposed R. geoffroyi subspecies: clade 1 (R. g. geoffroyi) in the Cape Floral Kingdom (CFK) that covers the extreme southwestern and southern parts of South Africa (winter rainfall season); clade 3 (R. g. augur) in the arid areas on the central plateau of the western half of the country; clade 4 (R. g. zuluensis) in the eastern mesic parts of South Africa; and clade 5 (R. g. zambesiensis) occurring in the northern parts of South Africa (Stoffberg et al. 2012). An additional lineage, clade 2, may represent a unique taxon that occurs in the Knysna Forest comprising patches of indigenous forest in the southeastern parts of the CFK (Stoffberg et al. 2012). The estimated extent of occurrence for R. clivosus s.l. within the assessment region is 1,196,606 km2.

Population trend

Trend

While abundance is uncertain throughout most of its range, it is generally common in southern Africa (besides Zimbabwe) (Taylor 2000), and can be locally abundant in certain caves (Herselman & Norton 1985), such as De Hoop Guano Cave, where it may form colonies of several thousand individuals (McDonald et al. 1990). Similarly, in Swaziland, three separate populations contained over a thousand individuals (Monadjem 1998; ACR 2015). It is well represented in museums, with over 380 specimens examined in Monadjem et al. (2010).

Threats

Although there are generally considered to be no major threats to the species as a whole, some populations are locally threatened by disturbance to their roosting sites, and indirect poisoning resulting from the mainly agricultural use of insecticides, pesticides and similar chemicals (ACR 2015). If cryptic species are revealed (Stoffberg et al. 2012), taxon-specific threats will have to be more accurately identified and quantified.

Uses and trade

This species is not known to be traded or utilised in any form.

Conservation

R. clivosus sensu lato occurs in many protected areas within the assessment region including Kruger National Park, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, Garden Route National Park, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Agulhas National Park, Table Mountain National Park and West Coast National Park. Bats of the genus Rhinolophus are generally susceptible to indirect poisoning through the use of insecticides and thus there is a need to evaluate the impact of this threat on populations and to investigate alternative methods of insect control (D. Kock pers. comm. 2004). The strong concordance between genetic and ecological diversity suggests that the five distinct clades are adapted to their respective habitats and should be considered as separate units in conservation planning (Stoffberg et al. 2012).

Recommendations for land managers and practitioners:
  • Identify and protect important roost sites for this species according to conservation units identified by Stoffberg et al. (2012).
  • Reduce pesticide use in agricultural landscapes.
Research priorities:
  • Taxonomic resolution is required by incorporating multilocus DNA sequence data, as well as morphological data, into future research (Stoffberg et al. 2012).
Encouraged citizen actions:
  • Minimise disturbance at caves when visiting.
  • Citizens can report sightings on virtual museum platforms (for example, iSpot and MammalMAP).

References 

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 publisher = {Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom},
 title = {The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion},
 year = {2005}
}
,@book{19529,
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 title = {Bats of Southern Africa: Guide to Biology, Identification, and Conservation},
 year = {2000}
}
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 publisher = {University of Witwatersrand Press},
 title = {Bats of Southern and Central Africa: a biogeographic and taxonomic synthesis},
 year = {2010}
}
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 title = {The allometry of echolocation call frequencies of insectivorous bats: why do some species deviate from the pattern?},
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 author = {McDonald JT, Rautenbach IL, Nel JAJ},
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 author = {Benda, P.and Vallo, P.},
 journal = {Vespertilio},
 pages = {69--96},
 title = {New look on the geographical variation in Rhinolophus clivosus with description of a new horseshoe bat species from Cyrenaica, Libya. },
 volume = {16},
 year = {2012}
}
,@article{19531,
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 title = {Strong population substructure is correlated with morphology and ecology in a migratory bat},
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,@article{19531,
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 title = {The distribution and status of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in the Cape Province.},
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,@article{19531,
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,@phdthesis{19531,
 author = {Stoffberg S.},
 school = {University of Cape Town},
 title = {Molecular phylogenetics and the evolution of high frequency echolocation in horseshoe bats (Genus <i>Rhinolophus</i>).Ph.D. Thesis.},
 year = {2007}
}
,]
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