Habitat preference and overnight and seasonal variation in the foraging activity of lesser horseshoe bats

Mcaney, C. M.; Fairley, J. S.

doi:10.4098/at.arch.88-33

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Jones (1990) pointed out that with light traps, certain categories of prey, such as Coleoptera, are not caught in proportion to availability. According to Muirhead‐Thomson (1991), this bias does not apply to Lepidoptera and Diptera, two major prey categories of lesser horseshoe bats (McAney & Fairley 1988; Arlettaz et al . 2000; this study).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in prey abundance unlikely to explain the demography of a critically endangered Central European bat

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Beck³

et al. 2007

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary 1.Recognizing the factor(s) that caused a demographic crash is a prerequisite to the development of a tailored population restoration plan. While habitat destruction leaves little scope for population persistence, cryptic habitat deterioration (for example through reduction of food resources) may similarly render an area totally inhospitable, while it still appears to have a suitable habitat configuration. 2. Most European bat species have undergone dramatic declines over the past decades. Once among the most widespread and abundant bat species of Central Europe, the lesser horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros (Bechstein 1800), is today extinct in many regions. Although changes in the agricultural landscape have been suggested as the major cause of decline, recent studies have shown that this bat forages almost exclusively in woodland, a habitat that has increased in area across continental Europe over the past decades. This suggests that habitat eradication per se is unlikely to be the main cause of decline. But could cryptic habitat deterioration play a harmful role? 3. We looked at the abundance of insect prey in woodland in the vicinity of colonial roosts with diverging demographic status (extinct, declining or recovering populations), both in the Swiss lowlands (Swiss Plateau) and in the Alps. We predicted that population size correlates positively with prey abundance. 4. Diet composition mirrored local insect prey abundance, confirming an opportunistic foraging strategy. Prey abundance showed marked seasonal variation, but did not differ between sites harbouring extinct, declining or recovering populations. There was also no difference in food abundance between extinct populations in the lowlands and recovering populations in the Alps. 5. Synthesis and applications. Cryptic habitat deterioration through a reduction in prey abundance is unlikely to preclude recolonization of abandoned areas by presently recovering populations. However, sufficient areas of natural forest should be preserved or created around potential nursery roosts. Moreover, connectivity between forest patches must be ensured (by creation of hedges and tree lines) to prevent any spatial gap in recolonization within semi-open agricultural landscapes. Other threatened European forest bats may also benefit from these measures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diet of lesser horseshoe bats has been investigated from remains in faecal pellets in Ireland (McAney & Fairley 1988), Switzerland (Beck, Stutz & Ziswiler 1989; Arlettaz, Godat & Meyer 2000) and Germany (Biedermann et al . 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in prey abundance unlikely to explain the demography of a critically endangered Central European bat

Bontadina

Schmied

Beck³

et al. 2007

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Moreover, such criteria should always be clearly stated, see e.g. McAney & Fairley (1988) for R. hipposideros, Russo & Jones (1999) for P. kuhlii, and Waters, Jones et al (1999) for N. leisleri. The use of social calls should be used as an aid to identi®cation whenever these are proved to be diagnostic, as in European Pipistrellus species (Barlow & Jones, 1996, 1997aRuss, 1999a;Russo & Jones, 1999, 2000Jones, Vaughan et al, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of twenty‐two bat species (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Italy by analysis of time‐expanded recordings of echolocation calls

2002

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Spectral and temporal features of echolocation calls emitted by 22 bat species from Italy (three rhinolophids, 18 vespertilionids and the molossid Tadarida teniotis) are described. Time-expanded recordings of calls from 950 bats of known identity were examined. Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, R. euryale and T. teniotis could be identi®ed by measuring the call frequency of highest energy (FMAXE). Quadratic discriminant function analysis with cross-validation was applied to calls from the remaining 18 species. A function based on start frequency (SF), end frequency (EF), FMAXE and duration (D) provided a correct overall classi®cation of approximately 82%. A classi®cation model at genus level that also comprised middle frequency (MF) and inter-pulse interval (IPI) reached 94% correct classi®cation. Two separate discriminant functions were devised for species emitting FM (frequency modulated) and FM/QCF calls (i.e. calls consisting of a frequency-modulated component followed by a terminal part whose frequency is almost constant) respectively. The former function included SF, EF, FMAXE and D and provided an overall classi®cation rate of 71%; the latter comprised EF, MF, D and IPI, and reached 96%. The functions may be applied to bat habitat surveys in southern Italy since they cover most of the species occurring in the area.

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“…In order to plan and implement adequate protection measures for this species, a basic knowledge of its habitat selection is required. To date several attempts have been made to study habitat use in lesser horseshoe bats either using ultrasound detectors or by lighttagging animals (McAney & Fairley, 1988;Scho®eld, 1996). However, the very weak and highly directional echolocation calls of this bat make it dif®cult to detect in the ®eld.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radio‐tracking reveals that lesser horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros) forage in woodland

2002

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Over the past 50 years European populations of the lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros have severely declined, probably because of the loss of foraging habitat. To date, studies of the foraging behaviour of this species have been limited as its low mass (4±8 g) precluded the use of radio-telemetry because commercially available radio-transmitters exceeded 10% of its body mass. In this study, radiotransmitters weighing < 0.35 g were built. These increased the body mass of the animals from 4.5% to 8.1%, with no demonstrable adverse effect on their¯ight behaviour. The habitat selection of eight female lesser horseshoe bats was studied in Monmouthshire, U.K. The bats had foraging ranges between 12 and 53 ha (100% kernel). Although one bat foraged 4.2 km from the roost, for 50% of the time tracked bats were recorded within 600 m of the nursery roost. The estimated density within 200 m of the roost was 5.8 foraging bats/ha. This decreased to 0.01 bats/ha at 1200 m. Compositional analysis revealed that this species used woodlands, predominately broadleaf, more than any other habitat. In addition, the bats foraged in areas of high habitat diversity. Conservation management of this species should concentrate on such areas within 2.5 km of the nursery roost.

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Habitat preference and overnight and seasonal variation in the foraging activity of lesser horseshoe bats

Cited by 30 publications

References 11 publications

Changes in prey abundance unlikely to explain the demography of a critically endangered Central European bat

Changes in prey abundance unlikely to explain the demography of a critically endangered Central European bat

Identification of twenty‐two bat species (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Italy by analysis of time‐expanded recordings of echolocation calls

Radio‐tracking reveals that lesser horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros) forage in woodland

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