Whilst climate change is recognised as a major future threat to biodiversity, most species are
currently threatened by extensive human-induced habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation.
Tropical high altitude alpine and montane forest ecosystems and their biodiversity are
particularly sensitive to temperature increases under climate ...
Whilst climate change is recognised as a major future threat to biodiversity, most species are
currently threatened by extensive human-induced habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation.
Tropical high altitude alpine and montane forest ecosystems and their biodiversity are
particularly sensitive to temperature increases under climate change, but they are also subject
to accelerated pressures from land conversion and degradation due to a growing human
population. We studied the combined effects of anthropogenic land-use change, past and
future climate changes and mountain range isolation on the endemic Ethiopian Highlands
long-eared bat, Plecotus balensis, an understudied bat that is restricted to the remnant natural
high altitude Afroalpine and Afromontane habitats. We integrated ecological niche
modelling, landscape genetics and model-based inference to assess the genetic, geographic
and demographic impacts of past and recent environmental changes. We show that mountain
range isolation and historic climates shaped population structure and patterns of genetic
variation, but recent anthropogenic land-use change and habitat degradation are associated
with a severe population decline and loss of genetic diversity. Models predict that the suitable
niche of this bat has been progressively shrinking since the last glaciation period. This study
highlights threats to Afroalpine and Afromontane biodiversity, squeezed to higher altitudes
under climate change while losing genetic diversity and suffering population declines due to
anthropogenic land-use change. We conclude that the conservation of tropical montane
biodiversity requires a holistic approach, using genetic, ecological and geographic
information to understand the effects of environmental changes across temporal scales and
simultaneously addressing the impacts of multiple threats.