Since the end of 2019, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has attracted much attention on bats (Chiroptera), and even people are frequently frowned upon when talking about bats. Bats are extremely diverse in ecology and taxonomy, accounting for ~20% of mammalian diversity worldwide. Bats play an important role in pest control, seed transmission, plant pollination, offering a great economic benefit to human society. Moreover, bats bear important scientific research value in health and longevity, biomimetic, language evolution, and more. There are more than 140 species of bats in China, ranking China one of the top countries in terms of bat species diversity of the world. In recent decades, Chinese researchers have made great progresses in diverse fields such as bat taxonomy, ecology, ethology, evolutionary biology, neurobiology, and viral pathogens in China. However, researches focusing on ecosystem services and conservation of bats were very scarce. Due to logging and plants harvesting, over-hunting, habitat destruction, urbanization, agricultural activities, climate change, and so forth, bats in China are largely threatened: 51% of bat species have been listed as Near Threatened or above (Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable). We argue that successful bat conservation in China must first strengthen basic research, particularly in assessing the population status and trends of bat species and establishing a monitoring network for bat diversity. Additionally, a combination of conservation efforts, including the protection of bat habitats,

construction of artificial bat habitats, improvement of relevant laws and regulations, and enhancement of public education on bats, are vital to ensuring sustainable bat populations in China.

自2019年末，新冠肺炎的全球大流行使蝙蝠（翼手目动物）倍受关注，甚至人们“谈蝠色变”。蝙蝠在生态和分类上多样性极高，占哺乳动物种类的20%左右。蝙蝠不仅在害虫控制、种子传播、植物授粉等方面具有重要的生态作用和经济价值，也在健康长寿、生物仿生和语言进化等方面具有重要的科研价值。中国是全世界蝙蝠物种多样性最丰富的国家之一，已知的物种超过了140种。近几十年来，中国学者在蝙蝠分类学、生态学、行为学、进化生物学、神经生物学和病毒病源学等研究领域取得了丰硕的成果，然而涉及蝙蝠的生态系统服务和资源保护的相关研究比较少。由于生境退化、过度捕杀、栖息地破坏、城市化、杀虫剂使用、气候变化等原因，中国蝙蝠受到极大的威胁，约51%的物种位于近危等级之上。为了有效地保护中国蝙蝠物种的多样性，建议加强基础研究，建立中国蝙蝠多样性监测网络，加强蝙蝠栖息地保护，完善相关法律法规，加强蝙蝠公众教育，以促进中国蝙蝠生物学研究和保护。