Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey
Agricultural expansion has led to the widespread destruction of habitats and the creation of fragmented landscapes. Woodland has been severely affected by habitat loss; remaining woodland is often highly fragmented and degraded, immersed in an agricultural matrix. Woodland is one of the most importa...
Published in: | Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |
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Online Access: | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/51159/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.03.019 |
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ftunivsussex:oai:sro.sussex.ac.uk:51159 2023-07-30T04:06:22+02:00 Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa Goulson, Dave Cavin, Liam Wallace, Jenny M Park, Kirsty J 2013-06 http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/51159/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.03.019 unknown Elsevier Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa, Goulson, Dave, Cavin, Liam, Wallace, Jenny M and Park, Kirsty J (2013) Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 172. pp. 6-15. ISSN 0167-8809 Article PeerReviewed 2013 ftunivsussex https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.03.019 2023-07-11T20:28:08Z Agricultural expansion has led to the widespread destruction of habitats and the creation of fragmented landscapes. Woodland has been severely affected by habitat loss; remaining woodland is often highly fragmented and degraded, immersed in an agricultural matrix. Woodland is one of the most important habitats for bats because it offers roosting and feeding opportunities for many species. A number of agri-environment schemes aim to increase the amount and quality of woodland on agricultural land; however, little is known about how woodland character relates to bat abundance/activity and recommendations for woodland creation and management for foraging bats are scarce. We studied temperate bat communities and examined bat foraging activity and relative abundance (and insect prey availability) in 34 woodland fragments in agricultural landscapes using two complementary methods (acoustic monitoring and trapping assisted by an acoustic lure). We evaluated the relative importance of woodland vegetation character, patch configuration and surrounding landscape in order to assess the importance of local- vs. landscape-scale woodland management to bat populations. Bat abundance and activity were influenced by both local and landscape-level attributes. At the local scale, woodland vegetation character appeared more important than patch configuration. High activity levels of aerial hawkers (e.g. Pipistrellus species) were related to low tree densities and an open understory, while gleaning species (e.g. Myotis bats) showed the opposite trend. Areas of cluttered vegetation were associated with high insect (mostly Diptera) abundance and could act as sources of prey for certain bat species. Bats' responses to the surrounding landscape depended on species mobility. For relatively low mobility species (e.g. Pipistrellus pygmaeus), local woodland character was more important than the landscape context, whereas the opposite was observed for higher mobility species (e.g. Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Myotis bats). Higher bat ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Pipistrellus pipistrellus University of Sussex: Sussex Research Online Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 172 6 15 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Sussex: Sussex Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftunivsussex |
language |
unknown |
description |
Agricultural expansion has led to the widespread destruction of habitats and the creation of fragmented landscapes. Woodland has been severely affected by habitat loss; remaining woodland is often highly fragmented and degraded, immersed in an agricultural matrix. Woodland is one of the most important habitats for bats because it offers roosting and feeding opportunities for many species. A number of agri-environment schemes aim to increase the amount and quality of woodland on agricultural land; however, little is known about how woodland character relates to bat abundance/activity and recommendations for woodland creation and management for foraging bats are scarce. We studied temperate bat communities and examined bat foraging activity and relative abundance (and insect prey availability) in 34 woodland fragments in agricultural landscapes using two complementary methods (acoustic monitoring and trapping assisted by an acoustic lure). We evaluated the relative importance of woodland vegetation character, patch configuration and surrounding landscape in order to assess the importance of local- vs. landscape-scale woodland management to bat populations. Bat abundance and activity were influenced by both local and landscape-level attributes. At the local scale, woodland vegetation character appeared more important than patch configuration. High activity levels of aerial hawkers (e.g. Pipistrellus species) were related to low tree densities and an open understory, while gleaning species (e.g. Myotis bats) showed the opposite trend. Areas of cluttered vegetation were associated with high insect (mostly Diptera) abundance and could act as sources of prey for certain bat species. Bats' responses to the surrounding landscape depended on species mobility. For relatively low mobility species (e.g. Pipistrellus pygmaeus), local woodland character was more important than the landscape context, whereas the opposite was observed for higher mobility species (e.g. Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Myotis bats). Higher bat ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa Goulson, Dave Cavin, Liam Wallace, Jenny M Park, Kirsty J |
spellingShingle |
Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa Goulson, Dave Cavin, Liam Wallace, Jenny M Park, Kirsty J Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
author_facet |
Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa Goulson, Dave Cavin, Liam Wallace, Jenny M Park, Kirsty J |
author_sort |
Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa |
title |
Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
title_short |
Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
title_full |
Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
title_fullStr |
Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
title_sort |
fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/51159/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.03.019 |
genre |
Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
genre_facet |
Pipistrellus pipistrellus |
op_relation |
Fuentes-Montemayor, Elisa, Goulson, Dave, Cavin, Liam, Wallace, Jenny M and Park, Kirsty J (2013) Fragmented woodlands in agricultural landscapes: the influence of woodland character and landscape context on bats and their insect prey. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 172. pp. 6-15. ISSN 0167-8809 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.03.019 |
container_title |
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |
container_volume |
172 |
container_start_page |
6 |
op_container_end_page |
15 |
_version_ |
1772818935761076224 |