The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula
Tree cavities are a critical resource for most forest-dwelling bats. Yet, it is not known how bats search for new sites and, in particular, find entrances to cavities. Here, we evaluated the importance of different sensory channels for the detection of tree roosts by the noctule bat Nyctalus noctula...
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ftsmithonian:oai:repository.si.edu:10088/12151 2023-05-15T17:48:35+02:00 The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula Ruczynski, Ireneusz Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria Siemers, Bjorn M. 2007 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10088/12151 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.009837 unknown Journal of Experimental Biology Ruczynski, Ireneusz, Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria, and Siemers, Bjorn M. 2007. " The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula ." Journal of Experimental Biology . 210 (20):3607–3615. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.009837 0022-0949 http://hdl.handle.net/10088/12151 55659 doi:10.1242/jeb.009837 Journal Article 2007 ftsmithonian https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.009837 2020-09-09T18:31:30Z Tree cavities are a critical resource for most forest-dwelling bats. Yet, it is not known how bats search for new sites and, in particular, find entrances to cavities. Here, we evaluated the importance of different sensory channels for the detection of tree roosts by the noctule bat Nyctalus noctula. Specifically, we tested the role of three non-social cues (echo information, visual information and temperature-related cues) and two social sensory cues (conspecific echolocation calls and the presence of bat olfactory cues). We set up an experiment in a flight room that mimicked natural conditions. In the flight room, we trained wild-caught bats kept in captivity for a short while to find the entrance to an artificial tree cavity. We measured the bats' hole-finding performance based on echolocation cues alone and then presented the bat with one of four additional sensory cues. Our data show that conspecific echolocation calls clearly improved the bats' performance in finding tree holes, both from flying (long-range detection) and when they were crawling on the trunk (short range detection). The other cues we presented had no, or only weak, effects on performance, implying that detection of new cavities from a distance is difficult for noctules if no additional social cues, in particular calls from conspecifics, are present. We conclude that sensory constraints strongly limit the effectiveness of finding new cavities and may in turn promote sociality and acoustic information transfer among bats. As acoustic cues clearly increased the bats' detection performance, we suggest that eavesdropping is an important mechanism for reducing the costs of finding suitable roosts. BCI Barro Colorado Island Gatun Lake Panama Canal Encyclopedia of Life Forces of Change STRI filename_problems Article in Journal/Newspaper Nyctalus noctula Unknown Journal of Experimental Biology 210 20 3607 3615 |
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Tree cavities are a critical resource for most forest-dwelling bats. Yet, it is not known how bats search for new sites and, in particular, find entrances to cavities. Here, we evaluated the importance of different sensory channels for the detection of tree roosts by the noctule bat Nyctalus noctula. Specifically, we tested the role of three non-social cues (echo information, visual information and temperature-related cues) and two social sensory cues (conspecific echolocation calls and the presence of bat olfactory cues). We set up an experiment in a flight room that mimicked natural conditions. In the flight room, we trained wild-caught bats kept in captivity for a short while to find the entrance to an artificial tree cavity. We measured the bats' hole-finding performance based on echolocation cues alone and then presented the bat with one of four additional sensory cues. Our data show that conspecific echolocation calls clearly improved the bats' performance in finding tree holes, both from flying (long-range detection) and when they were crawling on the trunk (short range detection). The other cues we presented had no, or only weak, effects on performance, implying that detection of new cavities from a distance is difficult for noctules if no additional social cues, in particular calls from conspecifics, are present. We conclude that sensory constraints strongly limit the effectiveness of finding new cavities and may in turn promote sociality and acoustic information transfer among bats. As acoustic cues clearly increased the bats' detection performance, we suggest that eavesdropping is an important mechanism for reducing the costs of finding suitable roosts. BCI Barro Colorado Island Gatun Lake Panama Canal Encyclopedia of Life Forces of Change STRI filename_problems |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ruczynski, Ireneusz Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria Siemers, Bjorn M. |
spellingShingle |
Ruczynski, Ireneusz Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria Siemers, Bjorn M. The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
author_facet |
Ruczynski, Ireneusz Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria Siemers, Bjorn M. |
author_sort |
Ruczynski, Ireneusz |
title |
The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
title_short |
The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
title_full |
The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
title_fullStr |
The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
title_full_unstemmed |
The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
title_sort |
sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10088/12151 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.009837 |
genre |
Nyctalus noctula |
genre_facet |
Nyctalus noctula |
op_relation |
Journal of Experimental Biology Ruczynski, Ireneusz, Kalko, Elisabeth Klara Viktoria, and Siemers, Bjorn M. 2007. " The sensory basis of roost finding in a forest bat, nyctalus noctula ." Journal of Experimental Biology . 210 (20):3607–3615. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.009837 0022-0949 http://hdl.handle.net/10088/12151 55659 doi:10.1242/jeb.009837 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.009837 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
210 |
container_issue |
20 |
container_start_page |
3607 |
op_container_end_page |
3615 |
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1766154725925847040 |