Generalists yet different: distributional responses to climate change may vary in opportunistic bat species sharing similar ecological traits

External morphology is commonly used to identify bats as well as to investigate flight and foraging behavior, typically relying on simple length and area measures or ratios. However, geometric morphometrics is increasingly used in the biological sciences to analyse variation in shape and discriminate among species and populations. Here we compare the ability of traditional versus geometric morphometric methods in discriminating between closely related bat species – in this case European horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae, Chiroptera) – based on morphology of the wing, body and tail. In addition to comparing morphometric methods, we used geometric morphometrics to detect interspecies differences as shape changes. Geometric morphometrics yielded improved species discrimination relative to traditional methods. The predicted shape for the variation along the between group principal components revealed that the largest differences between species lay in the extent to which the wing reaches in the direction of the head. This strong trend in interspecific shape variation is associated with size, which we interpret as an evolutionary allometry pattern.

/pdf/bat-species-comparisons-based-on-external-morphology-a-test-4cf63gluvf.pdf

Bat Species Comparisons Based on External Morphology: A Test of Traditional versus Geometric Morphometric Approaches

© 2018 The Authors Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd The rapid global spread of artificial light at night is causing unprecedented disruption to ecosystems. In otherwise dark environments, street lights restrict the use of major flight routes by some bats, including the threatened lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros, and may disrupt foraging. Using radio tracking, we examined the response of individual female R.hipposideros to experimental street lights placed on hedgerows used as major flight routes. Hedgerows were illuminated on one side over four nights using lights with different emission spectra, while the opposite side of the hedge was not illuminated. Automated bat detectors were used to examine changes in overall bat activity by R.hipposideros and other bat species present. R.hipposideros activity reduced significantly under all light types, including red light, challenging a previously held assumption that red light is safe for bats. Despite this, R.hipposideros rapidly adapted to the presence of lights by switching their flight paths to the dark side of the hedgerow, enabling them to reach foraging sites without restriction. Red light had no effect on the activity of the other species present. Slow-flying Myotis spp. avoided orange, white and green light, while more agile Pipistrellus spp. were significantly more active at these light types compared to dark controls, most probably in response to accumulations of insect prey. No effect of any light type was found for Nyctalus or Eptesicus spp. Our findings demonstrate that caution must be used when promoting forms of lighting that are thought to be safe for wildlife before they are tested more widely. We argue that it is essential to preserve dark corridors to mitigate the impacts of artificial light at night on bat activity and movements.

/pdf/experimentally-manipulating-light-spectra-reveals-the-40j3bjt0o4.pdf

Experimentally manipulating light spectra reveals the importance of dark corridors for commuting bats.

Concurrent recordings of bat calls at the ground and canopy levels were compared to analyse the vertical stratification of habitat use in a broad-leaved deciduous forest in central Europe. The recording effort was 48 nights, by sampling 16 sites three times in 2010. Overall, 2170 call sequences were recorded; 40% of them at the canopy level. Sixteen bat species were identified, 13 of which occurred at ground level and 14 in the canopy. By fitting generalized linear mixed models for seven species and all calls sequences combined, the effects of stratum, time period, ambient temperature and forest structure on bat-calling activity were assessed. Four species preferred the ground level (Barbastella barbastellus,Eptesicus serotinus,Myotis daubentonii,Pipistrellus pygmaeus). M. bechsteinii was the only species which had a significant preference for the canopy level in the pregnancy, lactation and post-lactation period, whereas two further species (M. alcathoe,P. pipistrellus) showed a significant canopy preference in at least one period. Therefore, canopy sampling should be undertaken when aiming at monitoring such species for conservation purposes. Populations of certain target species will be underestimated by ground recordings alone.

Use of forest strata by bats in temperate forests

Bats are unusual among mammals in showing great ecological diversity even among closely related species and are thus well suited for studies of adaptation to the ecological background Here we investigate whether behavioral flexibility and simple- and complex-rule learning performance can be predicted by foraging ecology We predict faster learning and higher flexibility in animals hunting in more complex, variable environments than in animals hunting in more simple, stable environments To test this hypothesis, we studied three closely related insectivorous European bat species of the genus Myotis that belong to three different functional groups based on foraging habitats: M capaccinii, an open water forager, M myotis, a passive listening gleaner, and M emarginatus, a clutter specialist We predicted that M capaccinii would show the least flexibility and slowest learning reflecting its relatively unstructured foraging habitat and the stereotypy of its natural foraging behavior, while the other two species would show greater flexibility and more rapid learning reflecting the complexity of their natural foraging tasks We used a purposefully unnatural and thus species-fair crawling maze to test simple- and complex-rule learning, flexibility and re-learning performance We found that M capaccinii learned a simple rule as fast as the other species, but was slower in complex rule learning and was less flexible in response to changes in reward location We found no differences in re-learning ability among species Our results corroborate the hypothesis that animals’ cognitive skills reflect the demands of their ecological niche

/pdf/foraging-ecology-predicts-learning-performance-in-4cn6p46k8h.pdf

Foraging Ecology Predicts Learning Performance in Insectivorous Bats

Winter foraging activity of Central European Vespertilionid bats

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

We radio-tracked Myotis emarginatus in Upper Bavaria, Germany to identify the key-foraging habitats and to enable an adequate habitat management for this endangered species. The studied females foraged at a distance of up to 8.1 km around their colony roost. The average distance of the foraging area was 3.7 km, where 70% of foraging areas were located within a distance of 5 km and 90% within 6 km of the nurseries. Moreover, these bats spent about 75% of their foraging time within 5 km and 85% within a 6-km radius. To reach the foraging areas, the bats usually used riparian woodlands, hedges and tree lines as flight paths. Specifically, 46.9% of the foraging areas were located in forests, 24.5% in cow sheds, 18.4% in riparian woodlands along streams and 10.2% in fields, villages, orchards, hedges and groves on open land. On average, the bats foraged in forests for 56.2% of the time, during which habitat allocation was possible. In cow sheds the percentage was 29.2%, in riparian deciduous woodland 11.5% and in the other habitats 3.1%. Within forests M. emarginatus avoided foraging in spruce monocultures. Pure stands of spruce covered 45% of the total forest area, but only 10% of the foraging areas were located in this forest type. Deciduous forests on the other hand were much more common as foraging sites (40% versus 11%). Therefore, the availability of native deciduous forest and of fly-infested stables within a radius of 6 km around the colony roosts should be the focus of conservation concepts for M. emarginatus.

/pdf/foraging-habitats-of-myotis-emarginatus-in-central-europe-3jdji7uvfg.pdf

Foraging habitats of Myotis emarginatus in Central Europe.

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Winter foraging activity of Central European Vespertilionid bats

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

Foraging habitats of Myotis emarginatus in Central Europe.