Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats
1. Bats are important components of agricultural ecosystems. However, little is known about the extent to which bats use linear features when foraging and commuting in agricultural settings, when compared to the interior of fields. 2. As part of a large-scale citizen science project, bat detectors w...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-2615/10/10/1856/ 2023-08-20T04:08:52+02:00 Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats Domhnall Finch Henry Schofield Fiona Mathews agris 2020-10-12 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101856 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Ecology and Conservation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani10101856 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Animals; Volume 10; Issue 10; Pages: 1856 agriculture agri-environmental scheme bats connectivity fragmentation habitat degradation hedgerow management Pipistrellus pipistrellus Pipistrellus pygmaeus Rhinolophus ferrumequinum Text 2020 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101856 2023-08-01T00:15:35Z 1. Bats are important components of agricultural ecosystems. However, little is known about the extent to which bats use linear features when foraging and commuting in agricultural settings, when compared to the interior of fields. 2. As part of a large-scale citizen science project, bat detectors were placed in the centre of agricultural fields (arable and pasture) and along linear features (intensively managed hedgerows, sympathetically managed hedgerows and treelines). 3. Our results show that all 10 of the bat species groups identified were found both along linear features and in the middle of agricultural fields. Of the five species groups analysed further, all had significantly more bat activity along linear features compared to the middle of fields, except for Nyctalus noctula. However, our results showed that 29% of calls from Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were recorded in the middle of agricultural fields, compared to only 10% for Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Bat activity was more likely to be associated with treelines compared to other linear feature types. 4. Our results highlight the importance of linear feature management to bat conservation, but also the need to consider field centres during survey design and Environmental Impact Assessments. Text Nyctalus noctula Pipistrellus pipistrellus MDPI Open Access Publishing Animals 10 10 1856 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
agriculture agri-environmental scheme bats connectivity fragmentation habitat degradation hedgerow management Pipistrellus pipistrellus Pipistrellus pygmaeus Rhinolophus ferrumequinum |
spellingShingle |
agriculture agri-environmental scheme bats connectivity fragmentation habitat degradation hedgerow management Pipistrellus pipistrellus Pipistrellus pygmaeus Rhinolophus ferrumequinum Domhnall Finch Henry Schofield Fiona Mathews Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats |
topic_facet |
agriculture agri-environmental scheme bats connectivity fragmentation habitat degradation hedgerow management Pipistrellus pipistrellus Pipistrellus pygmaeus Rhinolophus ferrumequinum |
description |
1. Bats are important components of agricultural ecosystems. However, little is known about the extent to which bats use linear features when foraging and commuting in agricultural settings, when compared to the interior of fields. 2. As part of a large-scale citizen science project, bat detectors were placed in the centre of agricultural fields (arable and pasture) and along linear features (intensively managed hedgerows, sympathetically managed hedgerows and treelines). 3. Our results show that all 10 of the bat species groups identified were found both along linear features and in the middle of agricultural fields. Of the five species groups analysed further, all had significantly more bat activity along linear features compared to the middle of fields, except for Nyctalus noctula. However, our results showed that 29% of calls from Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were recorded in the middle of agricultural fields, compared to only 10% for Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Bat activity was more likely to be associated with treelines compared to other linear feature types. 4. Our results highlight the importance of linear feature management to bat conservation, but also the need to consider field centres during survey design and Environmental Impact Assessments. |
format |
Text |
author |
Domhnall Finch Henry Schofield Fiona Mathews |
author_facet |
Domhnall Finch Henry Schofield Fiona Mathews |
author_sort |
Domhnall Finch |
title |
Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats |
title_short |
Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats |
title_full |
Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats |
title_fullStr |
Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Habitat Associations of Bats in an Agricultural Landscape: Linear Features Versus Open Habitats |
title_sort |
habitat associations of bats in an agricultural landscape: linear features versus open habitats |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101856 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Nyctalus noctula Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
genre_facet |
Nyctalus noctula Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
op_source |
Animals; Volume 10; Issue 10; Pages: 1856 |
op_relation |
Ecology and Conservation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani10101856 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101856 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1856 |
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1774721415135625216 |