Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere
Aerial habitats present a challenge to find food across a large potential search volume, particularly for insectivorous bats that rely on echolocation calls with limited detection range and may forage at heights over 1000 m. To understand how bats use vertical space, we tracked one to five foraging...
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Online Access: | https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/1/rsos.181942.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-184129 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 |
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ftunivzuerich:oai:www.zora.uzh.ch:184129 2024-09-30T14:40:35+00:00 Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere O'Mara, M Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K N 2019-02-28 application/pdf https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/1/rsos.181942.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-184129 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 eng eng Royal Society Publishing https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/1/rsos.181942.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-184129 doi:10.1098/rsos.181942 urn:issn:2054-5703 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ O'Mara, M Teague; Wikelski, Martin; Kranstauber, Bart; Dechmann, Dina K N (2019). Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere. Royal Society Open Science, 6(2):181942. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies 570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) Journal Article PeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2019 ftunivzuerich https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-18412910.1098/rsos.181942 2024-09-11T00:49:02Z Aerial habitats present a challenge to find food across a large potential search volume, particularly for insectivorous bats that rely on echolocation calls with limited detection range and may forage at heights over 1000 m. To understand how bats use vertical space, we tracked one to five foraging flights of eight common noctules (Nyctalus noctula). Bats were tracked for their full foraging session (87.27 ± 24 min) using high-resolution atmospheric pressure radio transmitters that allowed us to calculate height and wingbeat frequency. Bats used diverse flight strategies, but generally flew lower than 40 m, with scouting flights to 100 m and a maximum of 300 m. We found no influence of weather on height, and high-altitude ascents were not preceded by an increase in foraging effort. Wingbeat frequency was independent from climbing or descending flight, and bats skipped wingbeats or glided in 10% of all observations. Wingbeat frequency was positively related to capture mass, and wingbeat frequency was positively related to time of night, indicating an effect of load increase over a foraging bout. Overall, individuals used a wide range of airspace including altitudes that put them at increased risk from human-made structures. Further work is needed to test the context of these flight decisions, particularly as individuals migrate throughout Europe. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nyctalus noctula University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivzuerich |
language |
English |
topic |
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies 570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) |
spellingShingle |
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies 570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) O'Mara, M Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K N Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
topic_facet |
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies 570 Life sciences biology 590 Animals (Zoology) |
description |
Aerial habitats present a challenge to find food across a large potential search volume, particularly for insectivorous bats that rely on echolocation calls with limited detection range and may forage at heights over 1000 m. To understand how bats use vertical space, we tracked one to five foraging flights of eight common noctules (Nyctalus noctula). Bats were tracked for their full foraging session (87.27 ± 24 min) using high-resolution atmospheric pressure radio transmitters that allowed us to calculate height and wingbeat frequency. Bats used diverse flight strategies, but generally flew lower than 40 m, with scouting flights to 100 m and a maximum of 300 m. We found no influence of weather on height, and high-altitude ascents were not preceded by an increase in foraging effort. Wingbeat frequency was independent from climbing or descending flight, and bats skipped wingbeats or glided in 10% of all observations. Wingbeat frequency was positively related to capture mass, and wingbeat frequency was positively related to time of night, indicating an effect of load increase over a foraging bout. Overall, individuals used a wide range of airspace including altitudes that put them at increased risk from human-made structures. Further work is needed to test the context of these flight decisions, particularly as individuals migrate throughout Europe. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
O'Mara, M Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K N |
author_facet |
O'Mara, M Teague Wikelski, Martin Kranstauber, Bart Dechmann, Dina K N |
author_sort |
O'Mara, M Teague |
title |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_short |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_full |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_fullStr |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
title_sort |
common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere |
publisher |
Royal Society Publishing |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/1/rsos.181942.pdf https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-184129 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181942 |
genre |
Nyctalus noctula |
genre_facet |
Nyctalus noctula |
op_source |
O'Mara, M Teague; Wikelski, Martin; Kranstauber, Bart; Dechmann, Dina K N (2019). Common noctules exploit low levels of the aerosphere. Royal Society Open Science, 6(2):181942. |
op_relation |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/184129/1/rsos.181942.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-184129 doi:10.1098/rsos.181942 urn:issn:2054-5703 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-18412910.1098/rsos.181942 |
_version_ |
1811643087997370368 |