Increased diet breadth of little brown bats (<i>Myotis lucifugus</i>) at their northern range limit: a multimethod approach

Shively, Rachel D.; Barboza, Perry S.; Doak, Patricia; Jung, Thomas S.

doi:10.1139/cjz-2017-0017

Cited by 28 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…In concordance with dietary studies on insectivorous bats, we also revealed a high frequency of lepidopteran and Dipteran species in the diets of the sampled species (Clare et al, ; Shively et al, ; Vesterinen et al, ). In fact, combined, these two orders constitute the majority of all predation records in the whole study, regardless of the data type (read counts, frequency, or presence/absence).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Here, we unravel the resource partitioning of five resident vesper bats in southwestern Finland through deep dietary analysis, including prey species identification, an estimate for prey body size and temporal changes in diet using fecal DNA barcoding. At high northern latitudes, the distribution of bats is constrained by extreme environmental demands and prey availability is more seasonal than elsewhere in their range (Clare et al, ; Shively & Barboza, ; Shively, Barboza, Doak, & Jung, ). The ranges of these five species ( Eptesicus nilssonii [Keyserling & Bläsius, 1839], Myotis daubentonii [Kuhl, 1817], M. mystacinus [Kuhl, 1817], M. brandtii [Eversmann, 1845], and Plecotus auritus [Linnaeus, 1758]) show considerable overlap, suggesting that trophic resource partitioning is important in supporting the species in Fennoscandia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Table for five, please: Dietary partitioning in boreal bats

Vesterinen

Puisto

Blomberg

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Differences in diet can explain resource partitioning in apparently similar, sympatric species. Here, we analyzed 1,252 fecal droppings from five species (Eptesicus nilssonii, Myotis brandtii, M. daubentonii, M. mystacinus, and Plecotus auritus) to reveal their dietary niches using fecal DNA metabarcoding. We identified nearly 550 prey species in 13 arthropod orders. Two main orders (Diptera and Lepidoptera) formed the majority of the diet for all species, constituting roughly 80%–90% of the diet. All five species had different dietary assemblages. We also found significant differences in the size of prey species between the bat species. Our results on diet composition remain mostly unchanged when using either read counts as a proxy for quantitative diet or presence–absence data, indicating a strong biological pattern. We conclude that although bats share major components in their ecology (nocturnal life style, insectivory, and echolocation), species differ in feeding behavior, suggesting bats may have distinctive evolutionary strategies. Diet analysis helps illuminate life history traits of various species, adding to sparse ecological knowledge, which can be utilized in conservation planning.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Table for five, please: Dietary partitioning in boreal bats

Vesterinen

Puisto

Blomberg

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…, Shively et al. ). Other studies have found that insect biomass declined with increasing housing density, causing reduced foraging rates by bats in urban areas (Geggie and Fenton , Threlfall et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, recent work suggests that little brown bats at high latitudes do not rely on aerial prey in times of scarcity; rather, they will switch to gleaning terrestrial prey (e.g., spiders), a unique strategy among northern populations (Kaupas and Barclay , Shively et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life in a northern town: rural villages in the boreal forest are islands of habitat for an endangered bat

Thomas

Jung

2019

Ecosphere

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Citation: Thomas, J. P., and T. S. Jung. 2019. Life in a northern town: rural villages in the boreal forest are islands of habitat for an endangered bat.Abstract. Urban development is detrimental to many wildlife species; however, endangered little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) may be attracted to human settlements, making them a synurbic species. Buildings likely provide high-quality roosting habitat, which may be a limiting factor in the boreal forest where trees are typically small and potentially unsuitable for hosting large maternity colonies. In the boreal forest, there are relatively few urban developments in a matrix of wilderness and apparently suboptimal natural roosting habitat; thus, we hypothesized that isolated rural villages were islands of summer habitat for little brown bats that may be important for their conservation and recovery. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between little brown bat activity, foraging rates, and proximity to rural villages. We expected bat activity and foraging rates to increase with proximity to villages, as bats should optimally forage near their roosts to minimize flight costs. We used ultrasonic detectors to passively monitor bat activity near three rural villages in Yukon, Canada, and characterized bat habitat with forest measurements and remotely sensed data. Bat activity increased with proximity to village centers, but foraging activity did not, suggesting that human settlements in the boreal forest were important as roosting rather than foraging habitat. Bat activity was higher near water bodies and areas with relatively high densities of linear features (e.g., roads and transmission lines), perhaps because prey were most abundant near water features and along forest edges. The island phenomenon we observed (i.e., higher bat activity near villages) has also been documented in larger human settlements at lower latitudes, where urban areas provided better roosting habitat than surrounding agricultural matrices. Given that little brown bats were concentrated near rural villages, small human settlements should be a focus of conservation efforts in the boreal forest-particularly the identification and protection of buildings used as maternity colonies. Our study advances knowledge of little brown bat habitat requirements in the boreal forest and identifies habitats that may be important for their recovery.

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Rapidly declining body size in an insectivorous bat is associated with increased precipitation and decreased survival

Davy

Zuben

Kukka

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Reduced food availability is implicated in declines in avian aerial insectivores, but the effect of nutritional stress on mammalian aerial insectivores is unclear. Unlike birds, insectivorous bats provision their young through lactation, which might protect nursing juveniles when prey availability is low but could increase the energetic burden on lactating females. We analyzed a 15-year capture-mark-recapture data set from 5312 individual little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) captured at 11 maternity colonies in northwestern Canada, to test the hypothesis that nutritional stress is impacting these mammalian aerial insectivores. We used long-bone (forearm [FA]) length as a proxy for relative access to nutrition during development, and body mass as a proxy for access to nutrition prior to capture. Average FA length and body mass both decreased significantly over the study period in adult females and juveniles, suggesting decreased access to nutrition. Effect sizes were very small, similar to those reported for declining body size in avian aerial insectivores. Declines in juvenile body mass were only observed in individuals captured in late summer when they were foraging independently, supporting our hypothesis that lactation provides some protection to nursing young during periods of nutritional stress. Potential drivers of the decline in bat size include one or both of (1) declining insect (prey) abundance, and (2) declining prey availability. Echolocating insectivorous bats cannot forage effectively during rainfall, which is increasing in our study area. The body mass of captured adult females and juveniles in our study was lower, on average, after periods of high rainfall, and higher after warmer-than-average periods. Finally, survival models revealed a positive association between FA length and survival, suggesting a fitness consequence to declines in body size. Our study area has not yet been impacted by bat white-nose syndrome (WNS), but research elsewhere has suggested that fatter bats are more likely to survive infection. We found evidence for WNSindependent shifts in the body size of little brown myotis, which can inform

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Increased diet breadth of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) at their northern range limit: a multimethod approach

Cited by 28 publications

References 41 publications

Table for five, please: Dietary partitioning in boreal bats

Table for five, please: Dietary partitioning in boreal bats

Life in a northern town: rural villages in the boreal forest are islands of habitat for an endangered bat

Rapidly declining body size in an insectivorous bat is associated with increased precipitation and decreased survival

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