Radio‐tracking reveals that lesser horseshoe bats (<i>Rhinolophus hipposideros</i>) forage in woodland

Bontadina, Fabio; Schofield, Henry; Naef‐Daenzer, Beat

doi:10.1017/s0952836902001401

Cited by 137 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…There is experience with radio-tagging small animals down to ~10·g (Naef-Daenzer et al, 2001;Bontadina et al, 2002), confirming the 5% rule for the acceptable transmitter load, at least for birds and bats. The new transmitter will allow the application of radio-telemetry to be expanded on taxa for which virtually no experience exists, for example insects and other invertebrates, and small amphibians.…”

Section: Research Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Miniaturization (0.2 g) and evaluation of attachment techniques of telemetry transmitters

Naef‐Daenzer

Früh

Stalder

et al. 2005

Journal of Experimental Biology

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We have developed a miniaturized very high frequency (VHF) transmitter design for radio-tagging small animals. The average mass of the circuitry is 0.084·g (range 0.081-0.087), hence, with the smallest power cell, complete tags weigh 0.2·g and have a life of 18-22 days. We further demonstrate that with such small tags the technique of attaching the device to the animal's body strongly affects the effective radiated power, and thus transmission ranges. Ideally the attachment couples the electronics to the animal's body as a ground plane for improved radiation. The transmitter allows the application of radiotracking to be expanded to new taxa whose spatial behaviour and population dynamics are largely unknown, for example arthropods, reptiles or amphibians. The new design is also suitable for miniature implants and signal modulation with sensors.

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Section: Research Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Miniaturization (0.2 g) and evaluation of attachment techniques of telemetry transmitters

Naef‐Daenzer

Früh

Stalder

et al. 2005

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Such habitats seem to be important for other populations too (Lutz and Mu¨hletaler 1997). Recent studies conducted in Belgium (Motte and Libois 2002) and England (Bontadina et al, 2002) indicate that woodlands are important feeding grounds for Rhinolophus hipposideros. In Austria, Reiter (2002Reiter ( , 2004 showed that the colonies were surrounded by areas with higher percentages of woodland areas than sites with no horseshoe bats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging activity of Rhinolophus hipposideros on the Island of Herrenchiemsee, Upper Bavaria

et al. 2008

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We studied the foraging behaviour of Rhinolophus hipposideros on the island ''Herrenchiemsee'' in Lake Chiemsee (Upper Bavaria) during summer 2001. The island offers extensively managed woodlands, highly structured open landscapes and a broad reed belt around the shore. On average the flight activity of the 6 radio tracked females outside the roost lasted 229 min per night. The home range size varied between 6.8 and 62.7 ha (mean 25.2 ha). The size of the activity centres varied between 2.8 and 8.2 ha (mean 5.3) and all except one were located almost exclusively in woodland. Within woodlands the bats did not select for specific spatial structures (different age classes of the stands or canopy densities). Only two bats regularly foraged in additional habitats outside woodlands. One of these bats used orchards and tree rows; the other foraged over artificial ponds and gardens adjoining to its woodland foraging area. We never found the bats foraging over the lake or the reed belt. Longer linear landscape elements as tree lines were used during commuting flights but there was no indication of a continuous foraging activity along these elements. Two females left the island to forage on the mainland in August after the fledging of juveniles. To reach the mainland shore, the bats had to fly at least 1.2 km across the lake.Assuming that most foraging flights on the island occur in woodlands, a bat density in this habitat type of 0.7 bats/ ha can be calculated. r

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“…We defined a 200 m buffer zone around all locations in accordance with the average location error of radiotracking data (see 'Radiotracking' above) (Harris et al 1990, Bontadina & NaefDaenzer 1996. Core foraging areas were calculated from the 50% kernel estimate of the utilisation distribution (Worton 1989); the smoothing factor h was set to 200 m according to the same average location error (Bontadina & Naef-Daenzer 1996, Bontadina et al 2002. The first locations of emerging bats were not recorded in order not to overestimate the vicinity of the roosts.…”

Section: Foraging Habitat Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hair between the scapulae was trimmed and the radiotag glued to the skin with surgical cement (SkinBond ® ). The tags used did not exceed 6% of body weight and should therefore not have affected flight manoeuvrability (Aldridge & Brigham 1988, Bontadina et al 2002. The hilly area made it extremely challenging to radiotrack the fast flying bats; therefore, we invested up to 9 nights for individual observations (mean: 5 nights).…”

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confidence: 99%

Factors underlying migratory bat aggregations in chestnut groves

Szentkuti¹,

Bontadina²,

Spada³

et al. 2013

Endang. Species. Res.

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Deciduous woodlands have undergone major structural changes in Europe in the course of the last century. Dense woodlands have, for instance, replaced traditionally managed, open sweet chestnut groves, and have led to biodiversity losses. Surveys carried out in the southern Alps have shown that the frequency of occurrence of the rare migratory Leisler's bat Nyctalus leisleri in bat boxes is much higher in managed than in unmanaged chestnut groves, pointing to the importance of traditional groves as stopover sites. To identify the reasons for this habitat preference we investigated whether managed chestnut groves constitute a more appropriate foraging ground than closed stands, and whether bat boxes in managed chestnut groves offer more suitable temperature conditions for roosting. Foraging habitat selection and roost usage were investigated by means of radiotracking and temperature loggers, respectively. Foraging Leisler's bats predominantly selected deciduous woodlands over other habitat types, but showed no distinct preference for either type of chestnut grove over other forest types. In managed chestnut groves, bats used cooler boxes than others available in the same habitat, but there was no difference in temperature between the boxes used in managed versus unmanaged groves. Our results provide no evidence that foraging opportunities or roost temperature dictate the forest-specific pattern of bat box occupancy. As an alternative explanation, we suggest that managed chestnut groves may represent optimal lekking arenas due to their open structure and high roost density. Whatever the reason for this habitat preference, partially maintaining traditional management, resulting in a semi-open, mosaic landscape, is likely key to maintaining chestnut groves attractive for this migratory bat.KEY WORDS: Habitat selection · Radiotracking · Open forest stand · Management · Chiroptera · Castanea sativa · Leislers bat · Nyctalus leisleri Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherEndang Species Res 21: [105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114] 2013 used habitats of the European sylvo-pastoral landscape in past centuries. These are characterised by open structures with single mature trees surrounded by a matrix of patches of regularly mowed or grazed unimproved grassland. Such groves and parkland habitats not only have a high cultural and recreational value (Slater 1977), but also act as biodiversity hotspots (Glendell & Vaughan 2002). They support populations of a variety of threatened species such as the saproxylic long-horned beetle Rosalia alpina (Russo et al. 2011), the dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius (Bright & Morris 1990), and the forest bat Barbastella barbastellus, which roosts under the loose bark of sun-exposed trees (Russo et al. 2004).In southern Switzerland the traditionally managed sweet chestnut Castanea sativa groves constitute a particular form of parkland habitat. These stands are semi-natural environments created and maintained by man. They are ch...

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

Cited by 137 publications

References 24 publications

Miniaturization (0.2 g) and evaluation of attachment techniques of telemetry transmitters

Miniaturization (0.2 g) and evaluation of attachment techniques of telemetry transmitters

Foraging activity of Rhinolophus hipposideros on the Island of Herrenchiemsee, Upper Bavaria

Factors underlying migratory bat aggregations in chestnut groves

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