In a study recently published in the journal Mammalian Biology, a team of researchers from the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) has documented, for the first time in Europe, the presence of the Maghrebian bent-wing bat (Miniopterus maghrebensis), a species previously thought to be restricted to North Africa.

In a study recently published in the journal Mammalian Biology, a team of researchers from the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC) has documented, for the first time in Europe, the presence of the Maghrebian bent-wing bat (Miniopterus maghrebensis), a species previously thought to be restricted to North Africa.

Lampedusa, a small island located in the Strait of Sicily between Europe and Africa, represents a strategic outpost for studying biogeographical dynamics. Here, researchers from Cnr-Irsa (Verbania), Cnr-Iret (Florence) and NBFC conducted an in-depth survey of the island bat fauna using non-invasive techniques, including automatic acoustic monitoring, inspections of underground sites, and genetic analyses from guano samples. The goal was to clarify the faunal composition of a poorly known area, yet potentially of great conservation interest.

Small islands generally host extremely fragile ecosystems, sensitive to even minimal environmental or climatic disturbances. In particular, the increasing scarcity of freshwater resources caused by climate change may critically threaten bat populations, which strongly depend on access to water for hydration and thermoregulation.

Despite sporadic historical records of various bat species in Lampedusa, suggesting the presence of a potentially rich community, it had never been studied systematically. However, increasing anthropogenic pressure, tourism, and ongoing environmental changes raised serious doubts about the current persistence of many of these species, some of which are now recognised as cryptic groups or are known to have undergone severe population declines at regional level.

In October 2024, researchers explored the island inspecting many natural and artificial underground sites, including many World War II bunkers, often used by bats as roosts. Fieldwork focused not only on locating day-roosting bats, but also on indirect signs of their presence, such as guano or feeding remains. And it was from these small traces that the most significant discovery of the study emerged.

Genetic analyses conducted at the Cnr-Iret (laboratories on guano collected at Lampedusa cemetery confirmed, for the first time in Europe, the presence of the Maghrebian bent-wing bat (Miniopterus maghrebensis), a species previously known only from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. This finding extends the known geographic range of the species and carries important conservation implications.

It is not just about adding a name to a list. In Europe, all bat species are legally protected. The inclusion of M. maghrebensis among the species present on European territory implies the automatic

extension of conservation measures, such as those outlined in the Bat Agreement (https://www.eurobats.org/), an international treaty under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) to promote the protection and conservation of bats and their habitats. The formal recognition of M. maghrebensis as a European species would bring the number of species listed in Annex I of the agreement to 56.

Beyond this key finding, the study documented at least seven additional bat species on the island. These include Gaisler’s long-eared bat (Plecotus gaisleri), previously confirmed in Europe only on Malta and Pantelleria, and Mehely’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi), a species with a fragmented distribution limited to the Mediterranean basin. For both species, the genetic sequences identified correspond to new mitochondrial haplotypes endemic to Lampedusa, suggesting genetic isolation from nearby insular or mainland populations. This highlights the unique value of bat populations on small islands, which often serve as reservoirs of critical genetic diversity and therefore require specific conservation attention. As is often the case in such environments, some of the most valuable components of biodiversity may vanish before we fully understand their importance.

This newly published study demonstrates how fragmentary our knowledge still is regarding the distribution of European bat fauna. It also underscores the urgent need to increase research efforts on wildlife of small Mediterranean islands, true natural laboratories of biodiversity that are increasingly in need of protection.

Lampedusa Bunker (Credits: Fabrizio Gili)	Miniopterus_maghrebensis (Credits: J.Schacht)
Part of Lampedusa coasts with bunker (Credits: Fabrizio Gili)

La natura selvatica nell’Orto botanico: un percorso di scoperta. Presentazione al pubblico e spettacolo di reading poetico-

L’Orto botanico “Giardino dei Semplici”, fondato nel 1545 da Cosimo I dei Medici a Firenze, è il terzo orto botanico universitario al mondo per istituzione e da alcuni anni è impegnato nell’approfondire la conoscenza della biodiversità delle specie spontanee, sia vegetali che animali, in esso ospitata.

Se gestite in maniera attenta ed ecologicamente sostenibile, le aree verdi urbane possono rivestire un ruolo fondamentale nella conservazione della biodiversità all’interno delle città, offrendo luoghi di rifugio e riproduzione per la fauna animale ma anche habitat idonei per la sopravvivenza di specie floristiche rare e in declino, come le orchidee spontanee.

Un futuro sostenibile e città più vivibili e inclusive si costruiscono anche grazie ad una corretta gestione degli spazi verdi e alla costruzione di una cultura scientifico-naturalistica nei cittadini.

Il 22 maggio 2025 abbiamo celebrato la Giornata mondiale della biodiversità e i 480 anni dalla fondazione dell’Orto botanico di Firenze con un percorso di visita dedicato alla biodiversità ed uno spettacolo di reading poetico.