Plecotus

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The Experts below are selected from a list of 1122 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform

Mustaqim Malka - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Tahseen Qudsia - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Sonia Sancheznavarro - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • age of enlightenment long term effects of outdoor aesthetic lights on bats in churches
    Royal Society Open Science, 2017
    Co-Authors: Jenss Rydell, Johan S Eklof, Sonia Sancheznavarro
    Abstract:

    We surveyed 110 country churches in south-western Sweden for presence of brown long-eared bats Plecotus auritus in summer 2016 by visual inspection and/or evening emergence counts. Each church was also classified according to the presence and amount of aesthetic directional lights (flood-lights) aimed on its walls and tower from the outside. Sixty-one of the churches had previously been surveyed by one of us (J.R.) between 1980 and 1990, before lights were installed on Swedish churches, using the same methods. Churches with bat colonies had decreased significantly in frequency from 61% in 1980s to 38% by 2016. All abandoned churches had been fitted with flood-lights in the period between the two surveys. The loss of bat colonies from lit churches was highly significant and most obvious when lights were applied from all directions, leaving no dark corridor for the bats to leave and return to the roost. In contrast, in churches that were not lit, all of 13 bat colonies remained after 25+ years between the surveys. Lighting of churches and other historical buildings is a serious threat to the long-term survival and reproduction of light-averse bats such as Plecotus spp. and other slow-flying species. Bat roosts are strictly protected according to the EU Habitats Directive and the EUROBATS agreement. Lighting of buildings for aesthetic purposes is becoming a serious environmental issue, because important bat roosts are destroyed in large numbers, and the problem should be handled accordingly. As a start, installation of flood-lights on historical buildings should at least require an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Johan S Eklof - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • age of enlightenment long term effects of outdoor aesthetic lights on bats in churches
    Royal Society Open Science, 2017
    Co-Authors: Jenss Rydell, Johan S Eklof, Sonia Sancheznavarro
    Abstract:

    We surveyed 110 country churches in south-western Sweden for presence of brown long-eared bats Plecotus auritus in summer 2016 by visual inspection and/or evening emergence counts. Each church was also classified according to the presence and amount of aesthetic directional lights (flood-lights) aimed on its walls and tower from the outside. Sixty-one of the churches had previously been surveyed by one of us (J.R.) between 1980 and 1990, before lights were installed on Swedish churches, using the same methods. Churches with bat colonies had decreased significantly in frequency from 61% in 1980s to 38% by 2016. All abandoned churches had been fitted with flood-lights in the period between the two surveys. The loss of bat colonies from lit churches was highly significant and most obvious when lights were applied from all directions, leaving no dark corridor for the bats to leave and return to the roost. In contrast, in churches that were not lit, all of 13 bat colonies remained after 25+ years between the surveys. Lighting of churches and other historical buildings is a serious threat to the long-term survival and reproduction of light-averse bats such as Plecotus spp. and other slow-flying species. Bat roosts are strictly protected according to the EU Habitats Directive and the EUROBATS agreement. Lighting of buildings for aesthetic purposes is becoming a serious environmental issue, because important bat roosts are destroyed in large numbers, and the problem should be handled accordingly. As a start, installation of flood-lights on historical buildings should at least require an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

  • testing the performances of automated identification of bat echolocation calls a request for prudence
    Ecological Indicators, 2017
    Co-Authors: Jens Rydell, Gareth Jones, Stefan Nyman, Johan S Eklof, Danilo Russo
    Abstract:

    Echolocating bats are surveyed and studied acoustically with bat detectors routinely and worldwide, yet identification of species from calls often remains ambiguous or impossible due to intraspecific call variation and/or interspecific overlap in call design. To overcome such difficulties and to reduce workload, automated classifiers of echolocation calls have become popular, but their performance has not been tested sufficiently in the field. We examined the absolute performance of two commercially available programs (SonoChiro and Kaleidoscope) and one freeware package (BatClassify). We recorded noise from rain and calls of seven common bat species with Pettersson real-time full spectrum detectors in Sweden. The programs could always (100%) distinguish rain from bat calls, usually (68–100%) identify bats to group (Nyctalus/Vespertilio/Eptesicus, Pipistrellus, Myotis, Plecotus, Barbastella) and usually (83–99%) recognize typical calls of some species whose echolocation pulses are structurally distinct (Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Barbastella barbastellus). Species with less characteristic echolocation calls were not identified reliably, including Vespertilio murinus (16–26%), Myotis spp. (4–93%) and Plecotus auritus (0–89%). All programs showed major although different shortcomings and the often poor performance raising serious concerns about the use of automated classifiers for identification to species level in research and surveys. We highlight the importance of validating output from automated classifiers, and restricting their use to specific situations where identification can be made with high confidence. For comparison we also present the result of a manual identification test on a random subset of the files used to test the programs. It showed a higher classification success but performances were still low for more problematic taxa.

Raphaël Arlettaz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • ORIGINAL PAPER Habitat
    2015
    Co-Authors: Sohrab Ashrafi, Raphaël Arlettaz, Fabio Bontadina, Martin K Obrist, Marianne Rutishauser, Klaus Ecker, S. Ashrafi, M. Rutishauser
    Abstract:

    selection of three cryptic Plecotus bat species in the European Alps reveals contrasting implications for conservatio

  • the shaping of genetic variation in edge of range populations under past and future climate change
    Ecology Letters, 2013
    Co-Authors: Orly Razgour, Raphaël Arlettaz, Javier Juste, Hugo Rebelo, Carlos F Ibanez, Andreas Kiefer, Sebastien J Puechmaille, Terry Burke, Deborah A Dawson, Mark A Beaumont
    Abstract:

    With rates of climate change exceeding the rate at which many species are able to shift their range or adapt, it is important to understand how future changes are likely to affect biodiversity at all levels of organisation. Understanding past responses and extent of niche conservatism in climatic tolerance can help predict future consequences. We use an integrated approach to determine the genetic consequences of past and future climate changes on a bat species, Plecotus austriacus. Glacial refugia predicted by palaeo-modelling match those identified from analyses of extant genetic diversity and model-based inference of demographic history. Former refugial populations currently contain disproportionately high genetic diversity, but niche conservatism, shifts in suitable areas and barriers to migration mean that these hotspots of genetic diversity are under threat from future climate change. Evidence of population decline despite recent northward migration highlights the need to conserve leading-edge populations for spearheading future range shifts.

  • the challenge posed by newly discovered cryptic species disentangling the environmental niches of long eared bats
    Diversity and Distributions, 2012
    Co-Authors: Marianne Rutishauser, Sohrab Ashrafi, Fabio Bontadina, Veronika Braunisch, Raphaël Arlettaz
    Abstract:

    Aim The discovery of cryptic species poses new challenges for species conservation. Species distributions and conservation status have to be re-evaluated, and the ecological requirements within the species complex have to be re-assessed to recommend adequate conservation guidelines. The recent discovery in Central Europe of the cryptic bat species Plecotus macrobullaris (Kuzjakin 1965) calls for a new appraisal of all three Plecotus species in that area. Location Switzerland. Methods Using mostly DNA-identified records, we investigated the environmental niches (ecological niche factor analysis) of the three long-eared bat species at the landscape scale and modelled their potential distributions. Discriminant analysis was used for interspecific niche comparisons. Results The occurrence of all three species was best explained by proximity to rural settlements and warm summer temperature. Plecotus auritus (Linnaeus, 1758) was positively associated with transition zones from forests to other habitats within heterogeneous landscapes; Plecotus austriacus (J. Fischer, 1829) was more frequently found in orchards and vineyards. Plecotus macrobullaris was linked mostly with deciduous forests. P. auritus had the broadest niche, with occurrence predicted in most forested regions throughout Switzerland. The slightly narrower niche of P. macrobullaris mainly encompassed areas in the Central and Southern Alps. P. austriacus showed a very narrow niche and was predicted mainly in the lowlands, with its habitat requirements overlapping those of P. macrobullaris. Although a range overlap was predicted between P. austriacus and P. macrobullaris, current observations suggest a mostly parapatric distribution in Switzerland. Main conclusions The projected distributions confirm previous knowledge for P. auritus, but shed new light on the other two species. In contrast to the newly discovered P. macrobullaris, which is actually widespread in the Southern Alps of Switzerland, P. austriacus is restricted to warmer cultivated lowlands and thus may have suffered from recent major land use changes. We suggest reclassifying P. austriacus to a higher conservation status.

  • Trophic niche partitioning of cryptic species of long-eared bats in Switzerland: implications for conservation
    European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2011
    Co-Authors: Sohrab Ashrafi, Andres Beck, Marianne D. Rutishauser, Raphaël Arlettaz, Fabio Bontadina
    Abstract:

    Dietary niche partitioning is postulated to play a major role for the stable coexistence of species within a community, particularly among cryptic species. Molecular markers have recently revealed the existence of a new cryptic species of long-eared bat, Plecotus macrobullaris, in the European Alps. We studied trophic niches as well as seasonal and regional variations of diet in eight colonies of the three Plecotus species occurring in Switzerland. Faeces were collected monthly from individuals returning to roost after foraging. Twenty-one arthropod categories were recognized from the faeces. All three species fed predominantly on Lepidoptera, which made up 41%, 87% and 88% (means across colonies) of the diet composition of P. auritus, P. macrobullaris and P. austriacus, respectively. The occurrence of numerous fragments of both diurnal and flightless insects in the diet of P. auritus (but rarely in the diet of the other two species) indicates that this species mostly gleans prey from substrates. P. austriacus and P. macrobullaris are more typical aerial feeders. The latter two species have narrow trophic niches, whilst P. auritus has a much broader diet. Comparison of intraspecific and interspecific niche overlaps in P. auritus and P. macrobullaris in sympatry suggests dietary niche partitioning between these two species. In contrast, the high similarity of the trophic niches of P. austriacus and P. macrobullaris, associated with a typical parapatric distribution, indicates competitive exclusion. The best conservation measures are preservation and restoration of habitats offering a high abundance of moths, the major prey of the three Plecotus species.

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