Silence and reduced echolocation during flight are associated with social behaviors in male hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus)

Corcoran, Aaron J.; Weller, Theodore J.; Hopkins, Annalise; Yovel, Yossi

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97628-2

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…To obtain these absolute numbers, it is necessary to determine the detection probability of echolocation calls of bats, to quantify the size of the monitored area, and to obtain an estimate of a multiplier that translates the number of echolocation calls to an absolute number of individuals. This multiplier has to take into account that bats can reduce their echolocation output [ 74 , 75 ] or can even fly without echolocation for extended periods of time [ 76 ]. To account for this uncertainty, we used acoustic detections of bats expressed as presence/absence per night as a proxy for their occurrence, assuming the detection probability of an animal and the false detection rate are constant or at least random.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offshore Occurrence of a Migratory Bat, Pipistrellus nathusii, Depends on Seasonality and Weather Conditions

Lagerveld¹,

Poerink²,

Geelhoed³

2021

Animals

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Bats regularly migrate over the North Sea, but information on the environmental conditions when this occurs is scarce. Detailed information is urgently needed on the conditions under which bats can be expected offshore, as the number of offshore windfarms that can cause fatalities amongst bats in the North Sea is increasing rapidly. We performed ultrasonic acoustic monitoring at multiple nearshore locations at sea between 2012 and 2016 for, in total, 480 monitoring nights. We modelled the offshore occurrence of Nathusius’ pipistrelle in autumn as a function of weather conditions, seasonality, and the lunar cycle using a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM). We investigated which covariates are important using backward selection based on a likelihood ratio test. Our model showed that important explanatory variables for the offshore occurrence of Nathusius’ pipistrelle are seasonality (night in year), wind speed, wind direction, and temperature. The species’ migration is strongest in early September, with east-northeasterly tailwinds, wind speeds < 5 m/s, and temperatures > 15 °C. Lunar cycle, cloud cover, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric pressure change, rain, and visibility were excluded during the model selection. These results provide valuable input to reduce bat fatalities in offshore wind farms by taking mitigation measures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offshore Occurrence of a Migratory Bat, Pipistrellus nathusii, Depends on Seasonality and Weather Conditions

Lagerveld¹,

Poerink²,

Geelhoed³

2021

Animals

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“…Recent research suggests that echolocating bats can cease producing commuting calls under different conditions, including avoiding sonar jamming or vision being available [ 5 , 85 , 86 , 87 ]. When and why bats might cease or reduce vocalizing are not completely known.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator-Prey Relationship between Urban Bats and Insects Impacted by Both Artificial Light at Night and Spatial Clutter

Wilkins

2022

Biology

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Predators respond to the increase of prey by aggregation in space or foraging more often. However, foraging habitat suitability limits predators’ responses. For nocturnal insectivorous bats, artificial light at night (ALAN) can trigger insect prey aggregation. It is not clear how ALAN might affect predator-prey relationships in the urban setting, where urban bats could have adapted to the city, and novel spatial complexity introduced by man-made objects might alter foraging habitat suitability. We strategically selected sites to represent different levels of ALAN and spatial complexity. We recorded bat commuting and foraging activities and collected aerial insects to examine how ALAN and spatial complexity affected bat-insect relationships. We found that insect biomass was positively correlated with ALAN, but was not affected by spatial complexity. Large-sized big brown bats and hoary bats positively responded to change of prey in open sites whereas small-sized eastern red bats and silver-haired bats positively responded in cluttered sites, suggesting that the impact of ALAN could vary when ALAN is coupled with urban spatial complexity. Our study demonstrates that foraging habitat suitability can alter which species might benefit from ALAN. Predator-prey relationships in cities are complex, but general ecological principles still apply in novel urban ecosystems.

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“…Likewise, despite these differences, smart curtailment reduced AEP losses incurred by blanket curtailment by 50 to 100%. Assuming that bats frequently echolocate during migration (but see Corcoran and Weller 2018, Corcoran et al 2021), and are only at risk of collision when exposed to rotating turbine blades (Peterson 2020, Peterson et al 2021), smart curtailment appears to be a promising strategy for maximizing energy production and minimizing potential bat fatalities. However, we did not attempt to estimate the cost of implementing and maintaining a smart curtailment system, which may be non‐trivial to some wind energy producers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating the influences of bat curtailment on power production at wind energy facilities

Hayes

Lindsay

Solick

et al. 2022

Wildlife Society Bulletin

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The development and expansion of wind energy is considered a key threat to bat populations in North America and globally. Several approaches to mitigating the impacts of wind energy development on bat populations have been developed, including curtailing wind turbine operation at night during lower wind speeds when bats are thought to be more active. Blanket curtailment approaches have shown substantial promise in reducing bat fatalities at wind energy facilities, but they also reduce the amount of energy extracted from the wind by turbines. A related approach, referred to as smart curtailment, uses bat activity and other variables to predict when bats will be at the greatest risk at a given wind facility. In some contexts, a smart curtailment approach might reduce bat fatalities while also reducing energy loss relative to blanket curtailment. However, it has not been clear how to compare blanket curtailment and smart curtailment approaches in terms of annual energy production at wind facilities. Here, we describe a new approach to simulating the influence of blanket and smart curtailment approaches on energy production at wind energy facilities, and demonstrate the approach using 6 wind energy development areas in the Canadian province of Alberta. We show how stakeholders involved can explore the potential influences of various kinds of bat activity on energy production. We present the results of our Alberta analysis and conclude with some caveats and recommendations for future work on simulating the influences of bat curtailment on energy production at wind energy facilities.

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Silence and reduced echolocation during flight are associated with social behaviors in male hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus)

Cited by 14 publications

References 36 publications

Offshore Occurrence of a Migratory Bat, Pipistrellus nathusii, Depends on Seasonality and Weather Conditions

Offshore Occurrence of a Migratory Bat, Pipistrellus nathusii, Depends on Seasonality and Weather Conditions

Predator-Prey Relationship between Urban Bats and Insects Impacted by Both Artificial Light at Night and Spatial Clutter

Simulating the influences of bat curtailment on power production at wind energy facilities

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