Winter roost selection of Lasiurine tree bats in a pyric landscape

Jorge, Marcelo H.; Ford, W. Mark; Sweeten, Sara E.; Freeze, Samuel R.; True, Michael C.; Germain, Michael J.; Taylor, Hila; Gorman, Katherine M.; Garrison, Elina P.; Cherry, Michael J.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245695

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…However, a bat hidden in leaf litter may feel safer from the threat of fire than an exposed perched bat. Radio-tracked lasurine species roosting in trees in areas that were subsequently managed with prescribed fire were able to arouse and fly to safety [47]. More studies could be performed to determine response times of other species that may occur in the same forest type as eastern red bats during the winter, but utilize different roosting strategies (e.g., silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans)).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eastern Red Bat Responses to Fire during Winter Torpor

Layne

Green

Scesny

et al. 2021

Forests

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Prescribed fires are a forest management tool used to improve natural areas for a variety of benefits including increased plant diversity, reduced competition for desired species, decreased fuel loads, and improved wildlife habitat. The post-fire results in landscapes have shown positive benefits for bat populations. However, prescribed fires set in the winter may cause direct mortality of eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) populations that use leaf litter for roosting during periods of colder (<10 °C) temperatures. Therefore, we used controlled laboratory techniques to explore if eastern red bats arouse from torpor when exposed to cues associated with fire (i.e., smoke and the sound of fire). Through subsequent field trials, we confirmed latencies of first response (i.e., movement or increased respiration), arousal, and flight behaviors to the stimuli of fire. We provide evidence of smoke influencing eastern red bat first response and arousal through laboratory and field trial results. Latencies of all behaviors were negatively correlated with temperatures and wind speeds prior to and during field trials. We recommend prescribing winter fires on days when temperatures are >10 °C to provide eastern red bats with a better chance to passively rewarm and react to an approaching fire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eastern Red Bat Responses to Fire during Winter Torpor

Layne

Green

Scesny

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…In Kentucky, two M. septentrionalis (Trouessart) left their roosts within 10 min of a spring prescribed fire being ignited during the late afternoon approximately 20 m from their roosts (Dickinson et al 2009). Similarly, one L. seminolus and one L. borealis flushed approximately 10 min after a prescribed burn was ignited near their roost (also during the late afternoon) in Florida (Jorge et al 2021). Both the L. seminolus and L. borealis flew to roost trees in nearby mesic forests.…”

Section: Bat Responses To Burned Versus Unburned Sitesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Only one study examined the effects of prescribed fire return interval. During winter, L. seminolus in northern Florida select day roosts in areas with longer mean fire return intervals particularly in mesic sites (Jorge et al 2021). Since prescribed fires are usually conducted in winter in this area, the use of areas with longer fire return intervals may reduce the need to evacuate roosts during burning.…”

Section: Bat Responses To Burned Versus Unburned Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on laboratory experiments of Australian and U.S. bat species, bats may take > 20 min to respond to smoke and sound cues of fire when in torpor, with longer times to arousal at lower ambient temperatures (Scesny 2006;Layne 2009;Doty et al 2018;Geiser et al 2018). Nonetheless, bats in both Kentucky and Florida evacuated their roosts within approximately 10 min after prescribed fires were set nearby (Dickinson et al 2009;Jorge et al 2021). However, the temperatures under which these field experiments took place were warmer than the laboratory experiments.…”

Section: Bat Mortality From Fire Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Direct effects include immediate mortality as well as carbon monoxide toxicity and tissue damage such as ear burns (Dickinson et al 2010). Fires may also result in the need to abandon roosts (Moorman et al 1999;Dickinson et al 2009;Jorge et al 2021), making bats more vulnerable to predation. Indirect effects result from changes in the habitat and include the creation or loss of suitable roost sites, changes in foraging habitat structure, and changes in the insect prey base (Perry 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bats and fire: a global review

Loeb

Blakey

2021

fire ecol

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Background Bats are important components of forested ecosystems and are found in forests worldwide. Consequently, they often interact with fire. Previous reviews of the effects of fire on bats have focused on prescribed fire effects, in part due to the limited number of studies on bat responses to wildfire. However, over the past several years, studies on bat responses to wildfire and prescribed fire have increased considerably. We reviewed this rapidly expanding body of literature to determine whether bats respond differently to prescribed fire and wildfire, and the important factors driving those differences. We also examined regional similarities and differences in bat response to prescribed fire and wildfire and identified areas in need of further research. Results Our review included 52 studies (29 prescribed fire, 23 wildfire) from North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Africa, although studies from Europe, South America, and Africa were limited. In general, we found that bats show positive or neutral responses to prescribed fire, whereas a greater proportion of negative responses were reported for wildfire. However, some of the negative responses to wildfire are short-lived or local, suggesting that bats may be resilient to the effects of fire. Factors such as fire severity, fire frequency, time since last burn, burn extent, season of burn, and pyrodiversity were all found to be important drivers of bats’ responses to both prescribed fire and wildfire. Conclusions The importance of the spatial and temporal aspects of fire suggests that these factors need to be considered when designing future studies and interpreting results. Pyrodiversity may be a particularly important concept to further our understanding of bats’ responses to fire. We found several gaps in our knowledge including lack of information on direct effects of fire (e.g., mortality), regional and taxonomic biases, effects of wildfire on roosting habitat, and the effects of climate change. Although current studies suggest that fire may be an important management tool for improving bat habitat, the threat of more frequent, extensive, and severe wildfires may put additional stress on some bat populations, particularly those being impacted by disease, habitat loss and fragmentation, and climate change.

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Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

Hutchinson,

Adams,

Dickinson

et al. 2024

Ecological Applications

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Across much of the eastern United States, oak forests are undergoing mesophication as shade‐tolerant competitors become more abundant and suppress oak regeneration. Given the historical role of anthropogenic surface fires in promoting oak dominance, prescribed fire has become important in efforts to reverse mesophication and sustain oaks. In 2000 we established the Ohio Hills Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study to examine whether repeated prescribed fire (Fire), mechanical partial harvest (Mech), and their combined application (Mech + Fire) reduced the dominance of subcanopy mesophytic competitors, increased the abundance of large oak–hickory advance regeneration, created a more diverse and productive ground‐layer flora, and produced fuel beds more conducive to prescribed fire, reducing the risk of high‐severity wildfire. Here we report on the ~20‐year effects of treatments on vegetation and fuels and examine the support for interactive effects across a topographic‐moisture and energy gradient. In general, we found that Fire and Mech + Fire treatments tended to reverse mesophication while the Mech‐only treatment did not. The moderate and occasionally high‐intensity fires resulted in effects that were ultimately very similar between the two fire treatments but were modulated by topography with increasing fire severity on drier sites. In particular, we found support for an interaction effect between treatment and topography on forest structure and tree regeneration responses. Fire generally reduced mesophytic tree density in the midstory and sapling strata across all site conditions, while leading to substantial gains in the abundance of large oak–hickory advance regeneration on dry and intermediate landscape positions. Fire also promoted ground‐layer diversity and created compositionally distinct communities across all site conditions, primarily through the increased richness of native perennial herbs. However, the fire had limited effects on fine surface fuel loading and increased the loading of large woody fuels, potentially increasing the risk of high‐severity wildfire during drought conditions. We conclude that two decades of repeated fires, with and without mechanical density reduction, significantly shifted the trajectory of mesophication across most of the landscape, particularly on dry and intermediate sites, highlighting the capacity of a periodic fire regime to sustain eastern oak forests and promote plant diversity but modulated by topography.

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Winter roost selection of Lasiurine tree bats in a pyric landscape

Cited by 11 publications

References 57 publications

Eastern Red Bat Responses to Fire during Winter Torpor

Eastern Red Bat Responses to Fire during Winter Torpor

Bats and fire: a global review

Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

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