Roost selection in the pipistrelle bat,Pipistrellus pipistrellus(Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), in northeast Scotland ...

• Main Authors: Jenkins, E.V, Laine, T, Morgan, S.E, Cole, K.R, Speakman, J.R
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 1998
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Pipistrellus pipistrellus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13460321; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13460321

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) Availability of suitable roost sites may limit bat distribution and abundance. We compared nine internal and 26 external features of 21 known roost buildings with those of 17 random buildings in northeast Scotland, U.K. (57 N) to assess whether pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus pipistrellus (55-kHz phonotype) are selective in their use of roosts. Bats did not select roosts with specific structural attributes. Compared with random buildings, roosts were closer to a tree over 10 m tall and had a greater percentage cover (of trees over 10 m tall) within a radius of 50 m. Trees may provide benefits by providing shelter and thus ameliorating the microclimate of the roost. Cover may also provide protection from predators so that bats are able to emerge earlier, thus increasing foraging time. Bats in the present study emerged 11 min earlier from roosts with 29% cover than from roosts with 3% cover, potentially gaining as much as 10% of their daily energy requirements ...