Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere
Aerial habitats present a challenge to find food across a large potential search volume, particularly for insectivorous bats that rely on echolocation calls with limited detection range and may forage at heights over 1000 m. To understand how bats use vertical space, we tracked one to five foraging...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsos.181942 2024-09-30T14:40:35+00:00 Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere O'Mara, M. Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K. N. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft University of Konstanz 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.181942 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.181942 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Royal Society Open Science volume 6, issue 2, page 181942 ISSN 2054-5703 journal-article 2019 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 2024-09-09T06:01:24Z Aerial habitats present a challenge to find food across a large potential search volume, particularly for insectivorous bats that rely on echolocation calls with limited detection range and may forage at heights over 1000 m. To understand how bats use vertical space, we tracked one to five foraging flights of eight common noctules ( Nyctalus noctula ). Bats were tracked for their full foraging session (87.27 ± 24 min) using high-resolution atmospheric pressure radio transmitters that allowed us to calculate height and wingbeat frequency. Bats used diverse flight strategies, but generally flew lower than 40 m, with scouting flights to 100 m and a maximum of 300 m. We found no influence of weather on height, and high-altitude ascents were not preceded by an increase in foraging effort. Wingbeat frequency was independent from climbing or descending flight, and bats skipped wingbeats or glided in 10% of all observations. Wingbeat frequency was positively related to capture mass, and wingbeat frequency was positively related to time of night, indicating an effect of load increase over a foraging bout. Overall, individuals used a wide range of airspace including altitudes that put them at increased risk from human-made structures. Further work is needed to test the context of these flight decisions, particularly as individuals migrate throughout Europe. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nyctalus noctula The Royal Society Royal Society Open Science 6 2 181942 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Aerial habitats present a challenge to find food across a large potential search volume, particularly for insectivorous bats that rely on echolocation calls with limited detection range and may forage at heights over 1000 m. To understand how bats use vertical space, we tracked one to five foraging flights of eight common noctules ( Nyctalus noctula ). Bats were tracked for their full foraging session (87.27 ± 24 min) using high-resolution atmospheric pressure radio transmitters that allowed us to calculate height and wingbeat frequency. Bats used diverse flight strategies, but generally flew lower than 40 m, with scouting flights to 100 m and a maximum of 300 m. We found no influence of weather on height, and high-altitude ascents were not preceded by an increase in foraging effort. Wingbeat frequency was independent from climbing or descending flight, and bats skipped wingbeats or glided in 10% of all observations. Wingbeat frequency was positively related to capture mass, and wingbeat frequency was positively related to time of night, indicating an effect of load increase over a foraging bout. Overall, individuals used a wide range of airspace including altitudes that put them at increased risk from human-made structures. Further work is needed to test the context of these flight decisions, particularly as individuals migrate throughout Europe. |
author2 |
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft University of Konstanz |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
O'Mara, M. Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K. N. |
spellingShingle |
O'Mara, M. Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K. N. Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
author_facet |
O'Mara, M. Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K. N. |
author_sort |
O'Mara, M. Teague |
title |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_short |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_full |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_fullStr |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_sort |
common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.181942 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsos.181942 |
genre |
Nyctalus noctula |
genre_facet |
Nyctalus noctula |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science volume 6, issue 2, page 181942 ISSN 2054-5703 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
181942 |
_version_ |
1811643087827501056 |