Relatedness within and among northern long-eared bat (<i>Myotis septentrionalis</i>) colonies at a local scale

Olivera-Hyde, Miluska; Silvis, Alexander; Hallerman, Eric M.; Ford, W. Mark; Britzke, Eric R.

doi:10.1139/cjz-2018-0229

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 84 publications

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“…While this can be partly explained by the temporal stability and sparse distribution of the roosts used by cave-dwelling species (Lewis, 1995;Kerth, 2008), it is still common in tree-and foliage-roosting bats, for which roost availability may not constitute a limiting factor (Kerth, 2008). Philopatry in female temperate tree-roosting bats has thus been attributed to familiarity with the natal area, roost and foraging locations, or the maintenance of social relationships (Kerth, 2008;Olivera-Hyde et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kin structure and roost fidelity in greater noctule bats

Santos

Meyer

Ibáñez

et al. 2021

Basic and Applied Ecology

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Roost fidelity is an important aspect of mammalian biology. Studying the mechanisms underlying philopatry can help us understand a species' energetic requirements, ecological constraints and social organisation. Temperate bat species notably exhibit a high degree of female philopatry considering their size, resulting in maternity colonies segregated at the mitochondrial level. We focus on the greater noctule, Nyctalus lasiopterus, to study this behaviour in more depth. We make use of microsatellite data for 11 markers across 84 individuals residing in Maria Luisa Park in Seville, Spain. At the time of sampling this urban park boasted the highest number of bats of any known colony of this species, among which three social groups were observed to segregate spatially. We studied the distribution of pairs of individuals across filial relationship categories and relatedness estimates relative to the social group of each individual. This analysis was complemented by information on roost-use frequency among a subset of genotyped bats. We found no significant relationship between roost use and genetic distance, but there was evidence that more closely related bats are more likely to be found in the same social group. Mother-daughter pairs shared the same group more often than expected, as did pairs of individuals of relatedness above 0.43. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of the behavioural ecology of temperate bats and for conservation efforts aimed at preserving them.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kin structure and roost fidelity in greater noctule bats

Santos

Meyer

Ibáñez

et al. 2021

Basic and Applied Ecology

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Network analysis of a northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) maternity colony in a suburban forest patch

Gorman

Barr

Nocera

et al. 2023

Journal of Urban Ecology

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Many bat species are highly social, forming groups of conspecifics, particularly during the maternity season. In temperate North America, these social groups are typically comprised of closely related individuals or individuals that share some common trait (i.e. reproductive state or shared hibernacula from the previous winter). In the summer, when bats use forests for day-roosts, these social groups often demonstrate nonrandom patterns of periodically associating in common roosts and disassociating using different roosts as a ‘fission–fusion society’. As cave hibernating bat species in North America continue to decline due to the impacts of White-nose Syndrome, opportunities to describe these dynamics are becoming rare. Unfortunately, these patterns often are still poorly documented, yet understanding these behaviors is critical for species-specific habitat conservation and management. In our study, we tracked female northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) to their day-roosts in a small, suburban forest fragment in coastal New York, USA, in the summers of 2018 and 2019. We confirmed that the bats shared roost sites and, using network analyses, analyzed social dynamics and space use. In contrast to previous research on this imperiled species in large, unfragmented core forests, we found a more dense, connected roost network that concentrated around forest patch edges. Unusual for this species, primary roosts were anthropogenic structures. Our findings suggest that northern long-eared bats can utilize small forest patches and that incorporation of specific types of anthropogenic roosts might be an effective strategy for long-term conservation in more urbanized landscapes where forest management actions to enhance day-roosting conditions are impractical and the risk of stochastic loss of roosts is high.

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Kin structure and roost fidelity in greater noctule bats

Santos

Meyer

Ibáñez

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Tel: +33623720645 Running Header: Kin structure of the giant noctule Santos et al. Understanding social behavior in mammals: Kin structure and roost fidelity in giant noctule bats ABSTRACTRoost fidelity is an important aspect of mammalian biology. Studying the mechanisms underlying philopatry can help us understand a species' energetic requirements, ecological constraints and social organisation. Temperate bat species notably exhibit a comparatively high degree of female philopatry, resulting in maternity colonies segregated at the mitochondrial level. While cooperative behaviours between colony members are well documented across temperate genera, evidence for a genetic basis to these traits is limited. We focus on the greater noctule, Nyctalus lasiopterus, to study this behaviour in more depth. We make use of microsatellite data for 11 markers across 84 individuals residing in Maria Luisa Park in Seville, Spain. At the time of sampling, this site boasted the highest number of registered bats of this species, among which three social groups were observed to segregate spatially. We studied the distribution of pairs of individuals across relation categories and relatedness estimates relative to the social group of each individual. This analysis was complemented by information on roost-use frequency among a subset of genotyped bats. We found no significant relationship between roost use and genetic distance, but there was evidence of higher group-sharing with increased levels of relatedness. Mother-daughter pairs shared the same group more often than expected, as did pairs of individuals of relatedness above 0.36. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of the behavioural ecology of temperate bats and for conservation efforts aimed at preserving them.

show abstract

Relatedness within and among northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) colonies at a local scale

Cited by 5 publications

References 84 publications

Kin structure and roost fidelity in greater noctule bats

Kin structure and roost fidelity in greater noctule bats

Network analysis of a northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) maternity colony in a suburban forest patch

Kin structure and roost fidelity in greater noctule bats

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