Abel Muoki Mutiso
The project will be conducted at Mount Suswa, a community-led conservancy area that has been under pressure from human activities for some time. Due to the abundance of grassland in the region, communities from within are largely pastoralists and small-scale crop farmers. However, due to an increase in both the human population and the demand for resources, there is widespread encroachment on the natural forests of Mount Suswa. This is manifested in the unprecedented clearing of trees and other forms of vegetation through logging, clear-cut felling, and charcoal burning, for the purpose of generating income or making way for crop farming, cattle grazing, pasturelands, or sedentary human settlements.
In addition, there are currently advanced plans by the Kenyan Government’s Geothermal Development Company Limited to drill geothermal wells within the Mt. Suswa Conservancy. Accompanying this activity will be the construction of high-voltage electricity lines and roads. These activities have altered the natural vegetation of bushland and woodlands, with disturbance levels increasing from Mount Suswa to the surrounding landscapes.
Mt. Suswa also has a multi-level system of tunnels, with more than 65 entry points to about 35 or more separate caves, which are home to cavernicolous bats, including Otomops harrisoni. This species has attracted attention because anecdotal evidence suggests that its populations are declining at their major roosts in Mt. Suswa and the Chyulu Hills. Thus, further investigation is required to ascertain not only its current status but also that of other bat species that inhabit the same area and might be adversely affected by heightened human activities. Bats are essential to the pollination and seed-dispersal processes that keep ecosystems functioning. Therefore, anthropogenic stresses—particularly the intensification of land-use practices—pose a threat to numerous bat species, resulting in population declines and consequent losses of ecosystem services.
The goal of this study is to determine the O. harrisoni population status so that the species' intricate network of cave systems can be better managed. Besides O. harrisoni, the identities of other bat species are largely unknown at Mt. Suswa Conservancy. As a result, this project will also assess bat habitat use and species richness along the complex gradient of environmental and human influences. This information will form the scientific basis for the management and conservation of imperilled bat species and their roosting and foraging habitats at Mt. Suswa Conservancy.