Sown wildflower fields create temporary foraging habitats for bats in agricultural landscapes

Peter, Franziska; Brucia, Lisa; Carstens, Finn; Göttsche, Matthias; Diekötter, Tim

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109364

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…For this reason, efforts are made to protect and increase diversity for economic and biological reasons. The list of agricultural landscape elements important for maintaining diversity is still expanding 43 – 47 , and bats are one of the subjects of interest 48 – 53 , both as an element of the ecosystem and as a factor regulating the number of insects 54 – 60 . Willows are a frequent element of Europe's rural landscape (which includes agricultural areas often mixed with tree stands and fragmented woodlands) appearing both as large trees and as shrubs, especially in meadows and wetlands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic relationship between Salix flowers, Orthosia moths and the western barbastelle

Apoznański

Carr

Gelang

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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We present the results of a study which describes the relationship between the western barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus a highly specialised moth predator, and its prey—moths of the genus Orthosia, another selective animal known to converge around a dominant producer of pollen and nectar in early spring—willow trees Salix sp. In order to describe this trophic relationship, we conducted acoustic recordings at five paired sites (willow/control tree) in proximity to known barbastelle hibernation sites (Natura 2000: PLH080003 and PLH200014) beginning in mid-March 2022 after the first willow blossom sighting. Our study confirms a relationship between willow trees and barbastelles during early spring, as their activity around them was significantly higher than control sites. We also explore the activity of barbastelles over time, finding that activity levels around willows significantly decrease from the night of the first recorded bat, while the abundance of non-moth specialist bats remains consistent. Short-time importance (directly after hibernation) of willows for a moth specialist bat is probably due to other species blossom, attracting alternative prey, and in consequence—the bat. This newly described relationship should influence current conservation measures aimed at barbastelles.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic relationship between Salix flowers, Orthosia moths and the western barbastelle

Apoznański

Carr

Gelang

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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“…As the exact mechanisms triggering the effects we documented remain unknown, reduction levers seem to be limited, and efforts should thus be made firstly, to avoid using sites with the greatest feeding potential for bats as solar farms, and secondly, to offset the residual effects by improving the carrying capacity of the food web within and around solar farms development projects (Tölgyesi et al., 2023). For example, the composition of plant communities at solar farms could be improved by sowing native flowering plant species (Peter et al., 2021) by creating agroecological infrastructures, such as hedgerows and flower fields supporting insects (Froidevaux et al., 2019; Krings et al., 2022), or by livestock grazing providing dung‐feeding insects and avoiding the need to cut and remove the vegetation (Zaplata, 2023), that are widely known to benefit feeding bats. In this way, the transition to renewable energy can continue while negative effects on bats are minimised.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insectivorous bats alter their flight and feeding behaviour at ground‐mounted solar farms

Barré,

Baudouin,

Froidevaux

et al. 2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Efforts to mitigate the climate crisis result in a green‐green dilemma: the development of renewable energy technology is required worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but can have negative impacts on biodiversity. Impacts are being documented for wind farms, but effects of solar farms (photovoltaic power stations) on habitat use of vertebrates remain extremely poorly known. Using insectivorous bats as a biological model for high trophic levels, we tested whether the presence of ground‐mounted solar farms affected flight and feeding behaviour. We assessed behaviour using three‐dimensional flight path reconstruction systems from echolocation calls, via standardised paired sampling of 16 control and 16 solar farm (treatment) sites. We quantified bat flight and feeding behaviour as flight speed, sinuosity of flight trajectories, and the probability of emission of feeding buzzes (acoustic signatures of prey capture attempts), and demonstrated that feeding was characterised by slow, sinuous flight with feeding buzzes. We recorded 15,273 three‐dimensional bat positions, resulting in 1317 flight trajectories. We found strong behavioural responses to ground‐mounted solar farms in two of three bat guilds and five of seven taxa. Specifically, bats shifted their flight towards faster (+10 to +44%) and straighter trajectories (+33%) with lower probability of prey capture attempts (−18 to −39%) at solar farms. Since these changes in flight features are explicit indicators of a decrease in bat feeding behaviour, the implementation of ground‐mounted solar farms is likely to result in reduced feeding habitat quality for bats. Synthesis and applications: The negative effects of solar farms on bat flight and feeding behaviour should be considered when solar energy projects are planned. Research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects; for example, shading underneath solar panels may reduce plant biomass and therefore insect prey availability. Until exact mechanisms are identified, efforts should be made, first to avoid building solar farms on sites with great feeding potential for bats, and second to offset residual effects by improving the surrounding land and/or solar farms to provide better foraging opportunities. In this way, populations of bats can be supported alongside the generation of renewable energy.

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“…For this reason, efforts are made to protect and increase diversity, both for economic and biological reasons. The list of agricultural landscape elements important for maintaining diversity is still expanding [44,45,46,47,48] and bats are one of the subjects of interest [49,50,51,52,53,54], both as an element of the ecosystem and as a factor regulating the number of insects [55,56,57,58,59,60,61]. Willows Salix sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The early bat catches the moth –relationship between Salix flowers, Orthosia moths and the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus (Schreber 1774)

Apoznański

Carr²,

Gelang

et al. 2022

Preprint

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We present the results of a study which describes the relationship between the western barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus a highly specialised moth predator and its prey – moths of the genus Orthosia, another selective animal known to converge around a dominant producer of pollen and nectar in early spring – willow trees Salix sp.. In order to describe this trophic relationship we conducted acoustic recordings at five paired sites (willow / control tree), in proximity to known barbastelle hibernation sites (Natura 2000: PLH080003 & PLH200014) beginning mid-March 2022 after the first willow blossom sighting. Our study confirms a connection between willow trees and barbastelles during early spring as their activity around them was significantly higher than control sites. We also explore the relative abundance of barbastelles over time finding that activity levels around willows first increases, before decreasing from the night of the first recorded bat, while the activity of non-moth specialist bats remains consistent. We show decreasing importance of willows as other species blossomed attracting alternative prey. This newly described relationship should influence current conservation measures aimed at barbastelles.

show abstract

Sown wildflower fields create temporary foraging habitats for bats in agricultural landscapes

Cited by 5 publications

References 65 publications

Trophic relationship between Salix flowers, Orthosia moths and the western barbastelle

Trophic relationship between Salix flowers, Orthosia moths and the western barbastelle

Insectivorous bats alter their flight and feeding behaviour at ground‐mounted solar farms

The early bat catches the moth –relationship between Salix flowers, Orthosia moths and the barbastelle Barbastella barbastellus (Schreber 1774)

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