Extended Data Fig. 5. Spatial and temporal changes in the roosting and foraging behaviors of Pteropus bats during the study period (1996–2019 comparisons); and coincident decline in the extent of winter habitat in the SEQ study area.

(a) Mean distance between nearest neighboring roosts and the distance between roosts and developed areas decreased. (b) Roost occupancy in built land in metropolitan centers increased; smaller foraging areas contained a higher proportion of urban land; (c) Annual change in the area of different land-cover types within the total winter foraging range of P. alecto. Data are the summed total of the area assigned to each land use type in the foraging areas of roosts occupied in winter. The total area of land in the winter foraging range increased over time, primarily as a result of expansion into agricultural areas. Although the number of winter roosts in urban areas increased substantially, the total area of built land in combined foraging areas did not. (d) Distribution of key winter habitat in the southeast Queensland study area (SEQ): pre-clearing, at the start of the study in 1996 and at the end of the study in 2018. (e) Percentage of pre-clearing winter habitat remaining (note that the y-axis is compressed). (f) Abundance of bats in the largest winter roosts within SEQ. Aggregations ≥100,000 were common pre-2005, rare after 2005, and none occurred from 2011 to 2020. (g) Annual rate of clearing of key winter habitat in the SEQ study area 1996–2018, the line is a LOESS best fit. Gray shading indicates 95% confidence intervals and (h) Cumulative area cleared (ha).