Artificial illumination influences niche segregation in bats ...

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a pervasive form of pollution largely affecting wildlife, from individual behaviour to community structure and dynamics. As nocturnal mammals, bats are often adversely affected by ALAN, yet some "light-opport...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Salinas-Ramos, Valeria B, Ancillotto, Leonardo, Cistrone, Luca, Nastasi, Chiara, Bosso, Luciano, Smeraldo, Sonia, Sánchez Cordero, Víctor, Russo, Danilo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Zenodo 2021
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Chordata
Animalia
bats
bat
Pipistrellus pipistrellus
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13431676
https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13431676
Description
Summary:(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Artificial light at night (ALAN) is a pervasive form of pollution largely affecting wildlife, from individual behaviour to community structure and dynamics. As nocturnal mammals, bats are often adversely affected by ALAN, yet some "light-opportunistic" species exploit it by hunting insects swarming near lights. Here we used two potentially competing pipistrelle species as models, Kuhl's (Pipistrellus kuhlii) and common (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) pipistrelles, both known to forage in artificially illuminated areas. We set our study in a mountainous area of central Italy, where only recently did the two species become syntopic. We applied spatial modelling and radiotracking to contrast potential vs. actual environmental preferences by the two pipistrelles. Species distribution models and niche analysis showed a large interspecific niche overlap, including a preference for illuminated areas, presenting a potential competition scenario. Pipistrellus ...

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