Harrington, AP et al. (2019) Novel real-time PCR species identification assays for British and Irish bats and their application to a non-invasive survey of bat roosts in Ireland

Detection and monitoring of extant bat populations are crucial for conservation success. Non-invasive genetic analysis of bat droppings collected at roosts could be very useful in this respect as a rapid, costefficient monitoring tool. We developed species-specific real-time PCR assays for 18 British and Irish bat species to enable non-invasive, large-scale distribution monitoring, which were then applied to a field survey in Ireland.