Citizen science data from Berlin show that urban areas can be a refuge
for bats, if certain conditions are met

Date:
January 13, 2022
Source:
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)
Summary:
Urbanization is a notable threat to bat populations all over the
world, especially through artificial light and the reduction
of habitat and food supply. If certain conditions are met,
some spaces within metropolitan areas can be suitable for bats,
so managing these spaces appropriately could contribute to bat
conservation. With the help of more than 200 citizen scientists
in Berlin, a team of scientists examined these conditions and
investigated how they affect the abundance and distribution of bat
species. They conclude that maintaining a low level of artificial
light at night is important for all bats in cities. In addition,
access to vegetation and water bodies is essential for many of them.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Urbanisation is a notable threat to bat populations all over the world, especially through artificial light and the reduction of habitat and food supply. If certain conditions are met, some spaces within metropolitan
areas can be suitable for bats, so managing these spaces appropriately
could contribute to bat conservation. With the help of more than 200
citizen scientists in Berlin, a team of scientists from the Leibniz
Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) examined these
conditions and investigated how they affect the abundance and distribution
of bat species. They conclude that maintaining a low level of artificial
light at night is important for all bats in cities. In addition, access
to vegetation and water bodies is essential for many of them. The results
and conclusions are published in the scientific journalEnvironmental
Pollution.


========================================================================== Biodiversity loss jeopardises important ecosystem functions and hence
human health and well-being at magnitudes comparable to other processes of global change such as climate change. Major drivers of biodiversity loss
are habitat loss and degradation through agriculture and logging, but also through urbanisation, which causes a dramatic transformation from natural
to extremely anthropogenic landscapes. These processes continue to have
severe detrimental effects on many of the more than 1400 species of bats,
a substantial proportion of the entire mammalian diversity. "Increasing
our knowledge about the conditions under which bats suffer or thrive in
these different ecosystems - - including cities -- is crucial for bat conservation," says Dr Daniel Lewanzik from the Leibniz-IZW Department
of Evolutionary Ecology. Lewanzik and his colleagues teamed up with more
than 200 citizen scientists to record ultrasonic vocalisations of five bat species up to six times at 600 sampling sites in Berlin over the course
of two years. "This large dataset allowed us to investigate how features
of the urban landscape influenced the presence of bats. This helped us
to identify those environmental variables which are favourable for bat populations," explains PD Dr Christian Voigt, head of the Leibniz-IZW Department of Evolutionary Ecology and senior author of the paper.

The results underpin the suspicion that artificial light at night
negatively affects all bat species, even decreasing the occurrence of
species previously considered "light tolerant." Soprano pipistrelles
were particularly light sensitive: Already at medium light levels they
were rarely detected in urban areas and they disappeared completely at
higher levels of illumination.

Additionally, soprano pipistrelles were almost four times more likely to
occur in areas with white light than with orange light, whereas Nathusius' pipistrelles and mouse-eared bats did not show a preference for any light colour. In addition, the response of mouse-eared bats to increasing light levels was subject to seasonal influences: While their activity decreased
with increasing light levels in summer, this was not the case in autumn.

Canopy cover, open water and the level of impervious surfaces such as
streets and buildings also had a significant effect on some species
which was modulated by their foraging habits. Species that forage along vegetation edges (such as pipistrelles) require trees for commuting and foraging, those that hunt directly above water surfaces (e.g. Daubenton's
bat) depend on the presence of open water. Most investigated species, particularly open-space foraging species, avoided high levels of
impervious surfaces, for example streets framed by building blocks.

"Our findings highlight the importance of an extensive reduction of
artificial light at night to the absolute minimum needed for human
activities and of using dimming protocols, for example triggered by
motion sensors wherever and whenever applicable," Lewanzik and Voigt
summarise. They further recommend maintaining existing and creating new vegetation patches where possible. It is essential to connect these
fragments with each other and with water bodies via uninterrupted
vegetation and dark corridors (e.g. residential gardens and tree
lines). The investigation shows that even cities can provide suitable
habitat for protected and threatened species when these recommendations
are followed.

Collecting data together with citizen scientists had different positive effects, the authors say. "Collaborating with more than 200 highly
motivated helpers made it possible to collect data simultaneously
over the entire urban area of Berlin," says Dr Miriam Brandt, head of
the Leibniz-IZW unit Science Management unit and leader of the project "WTimpact." WTimpact, in the frame of which the research on bats in Berlin
was conducted, is a collaborative project funded by the German Federal
Ministry of Education and Research from 2017 to 2021. "At the same time,
we were able to introduce interested citizens to a part of urban nature
that usually remains unnoticed -- many participants were surprised to
find bats in urban environments where they would not have expected them." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Leibniz_Institute_for_Zoo_and_Wildlife_Research_(IZW).

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Daniel Lewanzik, Tanja M. Straka, Julia Lorenz, Lara Marggraf, Silke
Voigt-Heucke, Anke Schumann, Miriam Brandt, Christian C. Voigt.

Evaluating the potential of urban areas for bat conservation with
citizen science data. Environmental Pollution, 2022; 297: 118785
DOI: 10.1016/ j.envpol.2021.118785 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220113111503.htm
--- up 5 weeks, 5 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)