Journal ArticleDOI
Foraging Strategy and Predation Risk as Factors Influencing Emergence Time in Echolocating Bats
Gareth Jones,Jens Rydell +1 more
TLDR
The evening emergence time among echolocating bats appears to be a function of dietary specializations and foraging strategy, and is probably also affected by the ability to avoid predation.Abstract:
We hypothesized that interspecific differences in evening emergence time among echolocating bats are subject to natural selection through effects of variation in food availability and predation risk, both of which are related to flight technique and foraging strategy. We predicted that bats that feed on small aerial insects emerge relatively early to get access to the peak in flight activity of small dipterans at dusk. By emerging well before dark, however, they expose themselves to increased risks of predation and/or harassment from raptorial or insectivorous birds which may still be active. Bats that can feed independently of the dusk peak of dipterans, i.e. those that are adapted to feed on moths, on flightless or diurnal prey or on plants, would be expected to emerge later, thus minimizing the predation risk. We tested these predictions by analysis of two data bases: one including European bats only and another including a worldwide sample. The predictions were largely supported. The evening emergence time appears to be a function of dietary specializations and foraging strategy, and is probably also affected by the ability to avoid predation.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Street lighting disturbs commuting bats.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that light pollution may have significant negative impacts upon the selection of flight routes by bats, the first evidence of a negative effect of artificial light pollution on the commuting behavior of a threatened bat species.
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Timing of foraging flights of three species of bats in relation to insect activity and predation risk
TL;DR: Protective tree cover may allow earlier evening emergence of bats and therefore provide access to more food, and have implications for the conservation ofbats and their habitats particularly at high latitudes.
Journal ArticleDOI
Habitat Exploitation by a Gleaning Bat, Plecotus auritus
TL;DR: The foraging behaviour of P. auritus reflected the morphological specializations of this species, but displayed a degree of intraspecific flexibility.
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Landscape connectivity, habitat structure and activity of bat guilds in farmland-dominated matrices
TL;DR: This study highlights the importance of connectivity in farmland landscapes for bats, with shorter-range echolocating bats being particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation and the reintroduction of structural elements to increase habitat heterogeneity should become part of agri-environment schemes.
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Conserving energy at a cost to biodiversity? Impacts of LED lighting on bats
TL;DR: The authors showed that LED street lights caused a reduction in activity of slow-flying bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros and Myotis spp.) using an experimental approach.
References
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Book
The comparative method in evolutionary biology
Paul H. Harvey,Mark Pagel +1 more
TL;DR: The comparative method for studying adaptation why worry about phylogeny?
Journal ArticleDOI
Ecological Morphology and Flight in Bats (Mammalia; Chiroptera): Wing Adaptations, Flight Performance, Foraging Strategy and Echolocation
TL;DR: Bat wing morphology is considered in relation to flight performance and flight behaviour to clarify the functional basis for eco-morphological correlations in flying animals, and adaptive trends in wing adaptations are predictably and closely paralleled by echolocation call structure.
Journal ArticleDOI
Feeding Strategies of the Little Brown Bat, Myotis Lucifugus, in Southern New Hampshire
TL;DR: It is suggested that increased resource availability allowed selective feeding in adult bats during July, as predicted by presy selection models, however, reduced discriminatory abilities may prevent similar levels of prey selection in juveniles.