Assessing some essential trace elements concentration in micro chiropteran bat (Megaderma lyra): A study in Barak Valley of Assam, India Anisur Rahman a , Nazimur Rahman Talukdar a,b , Parthankar Choudhury a, ⁎ a Wildlife Research and Conservation Laboratory, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar 788011, Assam, India b Centre for Biodiversity and Climate Change Research, Udhayan, Hailakandi 788155, Assam, India ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 5 January 2020 Received in revised form 17 February 2020 Accepted 24 February 2020 Available online 27 February 2020 Bioaccumulation of essential trace elements in the living systems is a common phenomenon. Although sufficient infor- mation is available on their accumulation in insects and higher animals, information on trace elements accumulation in bats is relatively scanty. Keeping this in the backdrop, the present study was carried out to assess Zn, Cu, Mn, and Fe in the tissues of four different organs of Megaderma lyra collected from Barak Valley, Assam (India). All the four essen- tial elements from the tissues and organs like the kidney, liver, lungs, and patagium of M. lyra were analyzed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer. Concentrations of essential trace elements were measured in terms of μg/g dry weight (dw). The study revealed that Zn and Mn concentration did not differ significantly among the studied body tissues whereas the concentration of Cu and Fe varied significantly among the studied organs. The concentration of Zn and Fe was high in the body of M. lyra while Mn and Cu were found as trace amounts. ANOVA revealed that essential trace elements differ significantly in all the studied tissues of M. lyra. The study concluded that the essential trace elements in the body tissues of M. lyra were within the threshold limits and the data presented can be used as baseline values for non-polluting sites. © 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Keywords: Barak valley Insectivorous Megaderma lyra Trace elements 1. Introduction Bats (order Chiroptera) are one of the largest group of mammals com- prising 20% (925 species) of all mammalian species living on earth, and thus in terms of number, they are placed in the second position, i.e., next to rodents. Although their occurrences have been reported from both trop- ical and temperate areas, the diversity is much more in tropical regions [1,2]. Orientation of Microchiroptera is guided by sophisticated echoloca- tion, and roosts and lives in tree hollows, caves, mines, and rooftops. Being nocturnal, they orient and capture prey based on echolocation [3,4]. Bats can impact the communities where they live because of their high metabolic needs and diverse diets. They play crucial roles in pollinat- ing angiosperms and also act as seed dispersal agents. Insectivorous bats also contribute to the biological control process of integrated pest manage- ment in agro-ecosystems by predating insects [5–7] and thereby increase yield and reduce the utility of chemical pesticides [8]. Coleopterans, He- mipterans, Lepidopterans, and Trichopterans are the most common preys of insectivorous bats [6]. On the other hand, sometimes bats (e.g., pteropodids) are eaten by human beings as well for their meat [9]. They are more diverse in the tropics and act as keystone species in many commu- nities [1,4]. Bats around the world face a variety of threats [10,11]. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) currently listed 22% of the bat species as threatened and 23% are near threatened (NT) [12]. Among them 24 bat species are considered as Critically Endangered (CR), 53 spe- cies are endangered (EN), and 104 species are considered Vulnerable (VU) indicating the need and attention for their more conservation. Several causes for declining bat species are roost destruction [13], habitat alter- ation; environmental pollution [14], bush meat [15] and hunting for me- dicinal use [16]. Furthermore, deficiency of essential trace elements (ETE) can lead to adverse health effects [17–22]. ETE accumulate in their body tissues along with food, contamination with polluted air, water and soil [23–25] and pose harmful effects to all the Chiropterans in general [26,27]. However, among others, habitat destruction and effect of contam- inated ETE are the main causes of bat decline [28]. Majority of microchiropteran bats depend on insects, other large arthropods and small vertebrates such as frogs, geckos, lizards, fish, mice, birds, and even smaller bats for their food supplement [29–32]. Megaderma lyra can con- sume as many as 500 insects in just 1 h or nearly 3000 insects in every flight at night, similar to other insectivorous bat [33]. Trace element releases from the sources like air pollution, soil pollution and consequently water Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 2 (2020) 56–63 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: parthankar@rediffmail.com. (P. Choudhury). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enceco.2020.02.002 2590-1826/© 2020 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 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