Influence of insect abundance and vegetation structure on site-occupancy of bats in managed pine forests

Bender, Michael; Perea, Santiago; Castleberry, Steven B.; Miller, Darren A.; Wigley, T. Bently

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118839

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…For all forest bat species in our study except B. barbastellus, the proportion of broadleaved trees at plot level was the most important structural parameter explaining activity levels, a finding supported by for conifer-dominated landscapes. Basal area was as well 4.5 Discussion influential and shaped bat activity levels in all species except for M. nattereri, a finding in accordance with Bender et al (2021) and .…”

Section: Bat Activity In Relation To Old-growth Structural Attributes...supporting

confidence: 74%

“…Most European bat species are considered to be specialised on forested habitats for at least one part of their life cycle (Meschede and Heller 2000). In the last few years, impacts of forest management on insectivorous bats in A number of studies, especially from the United States, identified positive effects of management activities such as thinning or clear-cutting on bats , Bender et al 2021, Wright et al 2021. However, even while some thinning practices prove to be beneficial in the short term for e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bat activity and diversity in a temperate old-growth forest - Influence of horizontal and vertical structural heterogeneity on the bat assemblage of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus

Erasmy¹

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There are two different options to manage forests in the era of global climate warming, with partly opposing inferences. One is to reduce management or abandon it, as undisturbed forest ecosystems effectively store carbon and usually are relatively resilient against disturbance effects . Leaving forests untouched thus is an efficient climate change mitigation option. Another option is to reduce CO2 emissions by the replacement of fossil fuels through timber-derived raw materials.Expanded use of forest products however entails a more intense forest management. These two opposing management perspectives need to be intertwined to define a compromise leading to truly climate-smart forestry . Most temperate bats rely on forested habitats for hunting or roosting. As three-dimensionally moving animals, they are especially sensitive to habitat alterations and are directly affected by forest management. Indeed, vegetation structure and species composition determine species-specific habitat use, arthropod prey occurrences and the availability of natural tree roosts. Forest bats are thus sensitive indicators of forest biodiversity.The present thesis aimed at analysing horizontal and vertical activity patterns of temperate forest bats in a coherent temperate old-growth forest. The Belovezhskaya Pushcha (BP) lowland woodland complex can serve as a reference for the study of old-growth dynamics through the number of untouched forest patches present and its size stretching beyond the Polish-Belarusian border. Bat diversity in unmanaged stands was compared to managed stands in the Economic Activity Zone of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park (BPNP).Moreover, species-specific preferences for natural tree roost attributes were extracted in a meta-analytical framework combining own data with datasets from literature.We used automatically recording devices (batcorder) whose omnidirectional ultrasonic microphones are triggered by calls of echolocating or hunting bats. Bats were monitored simultaneously in natural canopy gaps and the adjacent forest interior within two forest communities in the Strictly Protected Zone of BP, namely Tilio-Carpinetum (broadleaved) and Querco-Pinetum (mixed-coniferous) stands. The impact of management was analysed by acoustically sampling managed Peucedano-Pinetum stands in the Economic Activity Zone of BPNP. A vertical batcorder setup in three forest heights analysed vertical stratification patterns of forest bats in canopy gaps and the adjacent forest interior. Summary vBat activity in canopy gaps was slightly higher for edge-space foraging bats compared to the forest interior, while bat richness was higher in gaps only in the species-poor mixedconiferous stands. Vertical stratification was more pronounced in the forest interior than in canopy gaps, and vertical forest use clearly showed species-specific and seasonal differences.Bat diversity in BPNP was impacted by management with especially evenness being lower in homogenized human-altered managed coniferous forests. The activity levels of four s...

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Section: Bat Activity In Relation To Old-growth Structural Attributes...supporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bat activity and diversity in a temperate old-growth forest - Influence of horizontal and vertical structural heterogeneity on the bat assemblage of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus

Erasmy¹

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“…When selecting foraging habitats in forested landscapes, bats value both the high abundance of arthropod prey as well as the appropriate vegetative structure. However, studies show that neither of these factors alone can reliably predict bat presence or activity [31,32]. Non-native plants further obfuscate these dynamics by influencing both arthropod abundance and vegetative structure [5,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Native Plants Influence Forest Vegetative Structure and the Activity of Eastern Temperate Insectivorous Bats

Mark,

Drake,

Kerwin

et al. 2024

Forests

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Temperate insectivorous bats value high prey abundance and appropriate vegetative structure when selecting foraging habitats. Forests, particularly in the eastern United States, provide prime foraging habitats for bats but can be heavily impacted by non-native plants, which may alter arthropod diversity and abundance, as well as vegetative structure. To investigate the associations between non-native plants and insect abundance, vegetative structure, and, consequently, bat activity, we performed vegetation surveys, insect trapping, and acoustic monitoring at 23 forested plots in northern New Jersey, USA. We predicted that non-native vegetation would either positively influence bat activity by increasing structural openness (thus, facilitating flight) or negatively influence bat activity by lowering the abundance of putative prey. We also hypothesized that vegetative characteristics, and therefore non-native vegetation, impact bats differently depending on their foraging habitat preferences. The percent of non-native cover of the ground and midstory vegetative layers of our study plots ranged from 0 to 92.92% (x¯ = 46.94 ± 5.77 SE) and was significantly correlated with structural vegetative characteristics, such as midstory clutter (β = 0.01 ± 0.006 SE), but not putative prey abundance (β = −0.81 ± 2.57 SE). Generalized linear models with only vegetative characteristics best predicted overall bat activity and foraging, which were greatest in areas with a high percent non-native vegetation and low midstory clutter. Although percent non-native vegetation and midstory clutter were also significant effects for bats that prefer to forage in open areas, neither vegetative characteristics nor prey abundance were significant effects for clutter-loving bats. Such findings suggest that vegetative structure is more important than prey availability for predicting overall insectivorous bat activity, but other factors, such as foraging strategy and life history traits, can impact how bat guilds respond to non-native vegetation. Therefore, more research is required to reveal additional mechanisms by which non-native plants impact bats.

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Bat responses to silviculture treatments: Activity over 13 years of regeneration

Wright

Rittenhouse

Moran

et al. 2021

Forest Ecology and Management

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Influence of insect abundance and vegetation structure on site-occupancy of bats in managed pine forests

Cited by 7 publications

References 70 publications

Bat activity and diversity in a temperate old-growth forest - Influence of horizontal and vertical structural heterogeneity on the bat assemblage of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus

Bat activity and diversity in a temperate old-growth forest - Influence of horizontal and vertical structural heterogeneity on the bat assemblage of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus

Non-Native Plants Influence Forest Vegetative Structure and the Activity of Eastern Temperate Insectivorous Bats

Bat responses to silviculture treatments: Activity over 13 years of regeneration

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