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Restoration management of quarries is one of the major tasks in global restoration ecology due to the magnitude of impacts link with extraction activities and the potential conservation value of these post-industrial sites. However, identifying a target to reach can be challenging as ecological issues can be numerous and post-exploitation state can differ from the original due to ecosystems removal or topography alterations caused by exploitation. Here, we assess the restoration potential of gravel-sand pits for Bats, a targeted group for conservation, using data from 21 gravel-sand pits monitored by the ROSELIERE scheme and we selected external data from 76 sites of the French Bat Monitoring. We analysed the relative attractiveness of 17 habitats and 5 gravel-sand pit operating statuses (before quarrying, during quarrying, rehabilitation post-quarrying younger than 5 years, rehabilitation post-quarrying between 5 and 10 years and, finally, rehabilitation post-quarrying older than 10 years). We paid close attention to comparison between gravel-sand pits states and aquatic habitats, because the restoration process in the gravel-sand pits studied often leads to bodies of water and these habitats are among the most favorable for numerous bats species. In addition, we focus our comparisons on arable land because new gravel-sand pit settlements are usually planned on such agricultural land and furthermore because it represents the major land-use pressure for bats. We found that bat activity in gravel-sand pit displays a range comparable to what is observed in numerous habitats, though it does appear both slightly lower than in bodies of water and greater than arable land. Bat activity appears increasing during the gravel-sand pit life's cycle. However, only quarries which had been rehabilitated for more than 10 years exhibited significantly greater bat activity than observed in the four other gravel-sand pit states. Our results, highlight the length of time required to detect obvious changes in the attractiveness of site being rehabilitated and the magnitude of the gap between the current state and the target (i.e. aquatic habitat). Such results should be take into account when sizing offsetting measures of quarries.
Context According to the current trend of biodiversity loss, information on population trends at large temporal and spatial scales is necessary. However, well documented animal population dynamics are generally based on intensive protocols requiring animal manipulation, which can be impossible to conduct in species for which conservation is a concern. Aims For many bat species, an alternative approach entails performing an appropriate analysis of counts in roost cavities. Because of managers’ perception of chaotic variations through time, relatively few count monitoring surveys are regularly analysed. Here, we present the analysis of a twenty-two-year survey of a large hibernaculum of pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) located in a railway tunnel in Paris, France. Methods We propose that using combinations of population-dynamics modelling using demographic parameters from the literature and statistical analyses helps with identifying the biological and methodological effects underlying the dynamics observed in census analyses. Key results We determined that some of the observed year-to-year variations of population size cannot be explained only by the intrinsic dynamics of the population. In particular, in 1993–94, the population size increased by >40%, which should have implied a massive immigration. This change coincided with the end of the operation of the railway line. After consideration of a drastic trend of population decline (7% year–1), we were able to detect this event and several environmental effects. Specifically, the winter conditions and the temperature in July affected the colony size, presumably because of aggregative behaviour and reproduction success, respectively. Conclusions Emigration–immigration processes might have preponderant effects on population dynamics. In addition, our analysis demonstrated that (1) the study population suffered a large decline, (2) a combination of human disturbance and meteorological variation explains these dynamics and (3) emigration–immigration processes have preponderant effects on the population dynamics. Implications To conduct a meaningful analysis of non-standard time series and provide a source of data for implementing biodiversity indicators, it is necessary to include (1) the local knowledge of the people involved in the field surveys in these analyses (the existence of disturbances and site protections) and (2) meteorological information for the appropriate seasons of the year.
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