DNA analysis reveals 87 rice pests in bird and bat diets in West Africa

Rice is a staple food for nearly half of the world’s population. A study tested the droppings of 502 birds and bats caught in lowland rice fields in northern Guinea-Bissau.

According to the researchers, insect DNA in the samples revealed 2,276 feeding interactions between 34 predator species, 18 bats and 16 birds, and 1,347 types of prey. According to the study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, titled ‘Ecological networks reveal strong pest suppression complementarity between birds and bats within rice-dominated agroecosystems in West Africa’, of the prey identified to genus or species level, 87 were rice pests.

The authors report that bats and birds ate a similar number of pest species when compared at the same sample size, but mostly different ones.How did researchers identify rice pests in bird and bat droppingsAccording to the authors, the work took place in the Oio region of northern Guinea-Bissau, between the towns of Farim and Mansaba. They describe a flat landscape dominated by small family farms.