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Informing wind energy development: Land cover and topography predict occupancy for Arizona bats. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0268573. [PMID: 35657796 PMCID: PMC9165840 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Wind energy is a growing source of renewable energy with a 3-fold increase in use globally over the last decade. However, wind turbines cause bat mortality, especially for migratory species. The southwest United States has high bat species diversity and is an important area for migratory species, although little is known about their seasonal distribution. To examine potential risk to bats in areas proposed for wind energy development, we characterized bat occupancy spatially and temporally across northern Arizona, identifying use during summer when bats are reproductively active and fall during the migratory season. Our objectives were to determine occupancy of migratory species and species of greatest conservation need and develop a probability of occupancy map for species to identify areas of potential conflict with wind energy development. We selected 92 sites in 10 clusters with potential for development and used acoustic detectors to sample bats in the summer and fall of 2016 and 2017 for 6 nights per site per year. We predicted response of migratory bat species and species of special concern to 9 landscape variables using Program MARK. During summer, higher densities of forest on the landscape resulted in a higher probability of occupancy of migratory species such as hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus), silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans), big free-tailed bats (Nyctinomops macrotis), and species of conservation need such as spotted bats (Euderma maculatum). During the fall, higher concentration of valleys on the landscape predicted occupancy of hoary bats, big free-tailed bats, and spotted bats. High bat occupancy in the fall was also associated with higher elevation and close proximity to forests. We recommend that wind turbines be placed in open, flat grasslands away from forested landscapes and concentrations of valleys or other topographic variation.
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MacDonald C, Pinheiro HT, Shepherd B, Phelps TAY, Rocha LA. Disturbance and distribution gradients influence resource availability and feeding behaviours in corallivore fishes following a warm-water anomaly. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23656. [PMID: 34880357 PMCID: PMC8654952 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03061-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding interactions between spatial gradients in disturbances, species distributions and species’ resilience mechanisms is critical to identifying processes that mediate environmental change. On coral reefs, a global expansion of coral bleaching is likely to drive spatiotemporal pulses in resource quality for obligate coral associates. Using technical diving and statistical modelling we evaluated how depth gradients in coral distribution, coral bleaching, and competitor density interact with the quality, preference and use of coral resources by corallivore fishes immediately following a warm-water anomaly. Bleaching responses varied among coral genera and depths but attenuated substantially between 3 and 47 m for key prey genera (Acropora and Pocillopora). While total coral cover declined with depth, the cover of pigmented corals increased slightly. The abundances of three focal obligate-corallivore butterflyfish species also decreased with depth and were not related to spatial patterns in coral bleaching. Overall, all species selectively foraged on pigmented corals. However, the most abundant species avoided feeding on bleached corals more successfully in deeper waters, where bleaching prevalence and conspecific densities were lower. These results suggest that, as coral bleaching increases, energy trade-offs related to distributions and resource acquisition will vary with depth for some coral-associated species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chancey MacDonald
- Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 90118, USA.
| | - Hudson T Pinheiro
- Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 90118, USA.,Center of Marine Biology, University of São Paulo, Rod. Dr. Manoel Hipólito do Rego, km 131.5, São Sebastião, SP, 11612-109, Brazil
| | - Bart Shepherd
- Steinhart Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 90118, USA
| | - Tyler A Y Phelps
- Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 90118, USA.,Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94132, USA
| | - Luiz A Rocha
- Department of Ichthyology, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, 90118, USA
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Mirts HE, McLaughlin JP, Weller TJ, White AM, Young HS, Sollmann R. Bats in the megafire: assessing species’ site use in a postfire landscape in the Sierra Nevada. J Mammal 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Large high-severity fires are increasing in frequency in many parts of the world, including the coniferous forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains. These “megafires” alter vegetation and environmental conditions in forests, yet their impacts on native wildlife remain poorly understood. Bats play an important role in forest ecosystems, but their responses to megafires likewise are understudied. We investigated bat responses to the King Fire, a megafire that burned nearly 40,000 ha within the Eldorado National Forest in 2014, half of it at high severity. From June to September 2017, we used remote acoustic recorders to survey bats at 26 sites with varying fire severity (unburned, mixed, and high severity). We analyzed data with Royle–Nichols occupancy models to investigate how bat space use was influenced by megafires, and whether this response was driven by prey availability, fire severity, or fire-altered habitat conditions. We calculated prey species richness, biomass, and abundance, from moths sampled with blacklight surveys. Vegetation covariates included tree density, canopy cover, and shrub density, measured along vegetation transects. To capture general effects of fire, we also included fire severity and the percentage of dead trees as potential covariates on space use. Prey variables were highest in unburned forests, were the most common predictors of, and generally had positive effects on bat space use. Responses to tree density and canopy cover varied by species; the most common vegetation covariate, shrub density, had weak positive effects on bat space use. In spite of the varying prey and vegetation conditions across fire severity categories, most bats showed weak to no response in space use to fire severity and tree mortality. We attribute this to the highly mobile nature of bats, which reduces the impact of potentially negative local conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haley E Mirts
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - John P McLaughlin
- Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Theodore J Weller
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Arcata, CA, USA
| | - Angela M White
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Hillary S Young
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Rahel Sollmann
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Department of Ecological Dynamics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
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Ancillotto L, Bosso L, Conti P, Russo D. Resilient responses by bats to a severe wildfire: conservation implications. Anim Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- L. Ancillotto
- Wildlife Research Unit Dipartimento di Agraria Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Portici Italy
| | - L. Bosso
- Wildlife Research Unit Dipartimento di Agraria Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Portici Italy
| | - P. Conti
- Ente Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio Ottaviano Italy
| | - D. Russo
- Wildlife Research Unit Dipartimento di Agraria Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Portici Italy
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