Recent Advances in Bat Migration Research

Krauel, Jennifer J.; McCracken, Gary F.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-7397-8_15

Cited by 38 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…Many populations of T . brasiliensis in North America are migratory [125], although little is known about migratory movements of T . brasiliensis in California.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Bat Distribution and Foraging Activity in a Highly Urbanized Temperate Environment

Krauel

LeBuhn

2016

PLoS ONE

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Understanding how to manage biodiversity in urban areas will become increasingly important as density of humans residing in urban centers increases and urban areas expand. While considerable research has documented the shifts in biodiversity along urbanization gradients, much less work has focused on how characteristics of dense urban centers, effectively novel environments, influence behavior and biodiversity. Urban bats in San Francisco provide an opportunity to document changes in behavior and biodiversity to very high-density development. We studied (1) the distribution and abundance of bat foraging activity in natural areas; and (2) characteristics of natural areas that influence the observed patterns of distribution and foraging activity. We conducted acoustic surveys of twenty-two parks during 2008–2009. We confirmed the presence of four species of bats (Tadarida brasiliensis, Myotis yumanensis, Lasiurus blossevillii, and M. lucifugus). T. brasiliensis were found in all parks, while M. yumanensis occurred in 36% of parks. Results indicate that proximity to water, park size, and amount of forest edge best explained overall foraging activity. Proximity to water best explained species richness. M. yumanensis activity was best explained by reduced proportion of native vegetation as well as proximity to water. Activity was year round but diminished in December. We show that although bats are present even in very densely populated urban centers, there is a large reduction in species richness compared to that of outlying areas, and that most habitat factors explaining their community composition and activity patterns are similar to those documented in less urbanized environments.

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“…Many populations of T . brasiliensis in North America are migratory [125], although little is known about migratory movements of T . brasiliensis in California.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of Bat Distribution and Foraging Activity in a Highly Urbanized Temperate Environment

Krauel

LeBuhn

2016

PLoS ONE

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“…Though <1 percentage of bat species undertake long‐distance migrations (Bisson, Safi, & Holland, ; Krauel & McCracken, ), the need to better understand bat migration is paramount to their conservation. Most mass mortality events of bats are attributable to human activity, and migratory bats may be particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances (O'Shea, Cryan, Hayman, Plowright, & Streicker, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species distribution modelling supports “nectar corridor” hypothesis for migratory nectarivorous bats and conservation of tropical dry forest

Burke

Frey

Ganguli

et al. 2019

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim:The Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana), Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) and lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) (Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) undertake long-distance migrations from southcentral Mexico to the south-western United States. It is proposed that these bats migrate along a nectar corridor of columnar cacti and Agave species, but this has not been tested with independent data and the spatiotemporal nature of this relationship is poorly understood. Our goal was to test this nectar corridor hypothesis and determine the relative importance of food plant and abiotic variables to the distribution and seasonal movements of these migratory nectarivores.Location: Mexico and the south-western United States. Methods:We generated species distribution models (SDMs) of documented food plants for these bats. We then created SDMs for each bat following a model selection approach, using food plant and abiotic predictor variables. We modelled migration pathways for C. mexicana and L. yerbabuenae using circuit theory and seasonal SDMs based on seasonally available food plants. Main conclusions: Food plants were more important than climatic and topographic variables in shaping the distribution of these bats. The most important predictors of distribution were Agave, columnar cacti and species richness of food plants. Species richness of food plants was the most consistently important variable, but the components of this diversity varied by bat species: Choeronycteris mexicana was influenced by Agave and cacti; Leptonycteris nivalis was influenced solely by Agave; Leptonycteris yerbabuenae was influenced more generally by cacti, Agave and C3 plants. Migration models for C. mexicana and L. yerbabuenae provided independent support for the nectar corridor hypothesis and indicate shifts in relative importance of specific food plants throughout the year. These results suggest that conservation of these bats should focus more broadly on management for species richness of food plants, especially in tropical dry forests.

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“…). Moreover, synchronization in migratory timing between bats and volant insects can promote en route pest suppression by these comigrating populations (Krauel & McCracken, ; Krauel et al., ; McCracken et al., ). In this light, the bats of Bracken Cave may serve the role of sentinels, regulating the passage of insects through the region, and reducing the impact of future generations downwind (Federico et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecosystems around the globe have been changing in response to anthropogenic stimuli (Walther et al., ), but with the inherent challenges in quantifying fundamental characteristics of bat ecology, detecting trends in these changing migration systems has remained infeasible (Cryan & Diehl, ; Sherwin, Montgomery, & Lundy, ; Voigt & Kingston, ). Most studies of anthropogenic change have focused on avian migration (e.g., Both, Bouwhuis, Lessells, & Visser, ; Cotton, ; Kelly et al., ; Krauel & McCracken, ; Schmaljohann & Both, ), and birds have remained a convenient analog for bats in lieu of a direct alternative. With the ongoing rise in threats to bats such as habitat fragmentation, human encroachment, wind energy development, climate change, and the spread of infectious diseases such as white nose syndrome, establishing baseline population measurements and real‐time monitoring systems is vital for guiding management strategies and informing conservation policy (Loeb et al., ; Voigt & Kingston, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ongoing changes in migration phenology and winter residency at Bracken Bat Cave

Stepanian

Wainwright

2018

Global Change Biology

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Bats play an important role in agroecology and are effective bioindicators of environmental conditions, but little is known about their fundamental migration ecology, much less how these systems are responding to global change. Some of the world's largest bat populations occur during the summer in the south-central United States, when millions of pregnant females migrate from lower latitudes to give birth in communal maternity colonies. Despite a relatively large volume of research into these colonies, many fundamental questions regarding their abundance-including their intra- and interseasonal variability-remain unanswered, and even estimating the size of individual populations has been a long-running challenge. Overall, monitoring these bat populations at high temporal resolution (e.g., nightly) and across long time spans (e.g., decades) has been impossible. Here, we show 22 continuous years of nightly population counts at Bracken Cave, a large bat colony in south-central Texas, enabling the first climate-scale phenological analysis. Using quantitative radar monitoring, we found that spring migration and the summer reproductive cycle have advanced by approximately 2 weeks over the study period. Furthermore, we quantify the ongoing growth of a newly-established overwintering population that indicates a system-wide response to changing environmental conditions. Our observations reveal behavioral plasticity in bats' ability to adapt to changing resource availability, and provide the first long-term quantification of their response to a changing climate. As aerial insectivores, these changes in bat phenology and propensity for overwintering indicate probable shifts in prey availability, with clear implications for pest management across wider regional agrisystems.

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Recent Advances in Bat Migration Research

Cited by 38 publications

References 129 publications

Patterns of Bat Distribution and Foraging Activity in a Highly Urbanized Temperate Environment

Patterns of Bat Distribution and Foraging Activity in a Highly Urbanized Temperate Environment

Species distribution modelling supports “nectar corridor” hypothesis for migratory nectarivorous bats and conservation of tropical dry forest

Ongoing changes in migration phenology and winter residency at Bracken Bat Cave

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