It is increasingly important from both a theoretical and a practical viewpoint to understand the patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in agricultural areas, especially in
areas that were cleared from rich tropical rainforest. The Western Ghats of India are one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world, yet only 6% of the Ghats remain under original vegetation. Much of the Ghats are planted with coffee – often grown under heavy shade provided by native trees – and tea, which is grown under scant shade provided by exotic trees. Bat species distributions are poorly known from the Western Ghats; no data exists on the response of bats to tea plantations anywhere in the world; and there is little data on how Old World bats respond to coffee plantations.

Bats play important roles in ecosystem functioning. They occupy many different trophic niches, so are likely to show a wide range of responses to habitat degradation and conversion. We
looked at changes in bat species composition from reserve forests to forest fragments, and again from coffee plantations to tea plantations. We assessed the functional diversity of bats retained in various habitats within the modified landscape - using a multiple trait space based approach to functional diversity for the first time in bats - by quantifying a range of traits from
diet to wingspan that affect a species’ ecological role. We also assessed the degree of trait filtering occurring in heavily modified plantation types. Further spatial analyses revealed how bats are using the mosaic landscape under study, and help assess the degree to which further habitat modification could impact different bat species.