Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The structure of a micro-bat community in relation to gradients of environmental variation in a tropical urban area

  • Published:
Urban Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We investigated patterns of community structure (species composition, foraging activity, and nightly foraging patterns) of bats in relation to gradients of environmental variation in a tropical urban area. A total of 32 sites spread equally across eight habitat types were sampled in the city of Townsville, North Queensland, Australia. Each site was sampled on 3 non-consecutive occasions using automated AnaBat systems. Eleven species were confidently identified while a possible four more were identified only to the genus level. Ordination of environmental variables measured at these sites identified two distinct environmental gradients reflecting the degree of urbanisation and foliage density. With increasing urbanisation there was a decline in species richness and total foraging activity. We used regression trees to characterise foraging preferences of each species. This analysis suggested that only one species of Mormopterus was able to exploit the resources provided by urbanisation. This species foraged in areas with higher numbers of white streetlights. The remaining species of bats preferred to forage within close proximity to natural vegetation and with low numbers of streetlights. The density of vegetation in long-established suburbs did not substantially reverse the trend for urban areas to have fewer bat species than original habitats.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams M, Reardon TR, Baverstock PR, Watts CHS (1988) Electrophoretic resolution of species boundaries in Australian Microchiroptera IV. The Molossidae (Chiroptera). Aust J Biol Sci 41:315–326

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blake D, Hutson AM, Racey PA, Rydell J, Speakman JR (1994) Use of lamp lit roads by foraging bats in southern England. J Zool (Lond) 234:453–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bredt A, Uieda W (1996) Bats from the urban and rural environments of the Distrito Federal, mid-western Brazil. Chiroptera Neotropical 2:54–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosset A, Charles-Dominique P, Cockle A, Cosson J, Masson D (1996) Bat communities and deforestation in French Guiana. Can J Zool 74:1974–1982

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill S (1998) Australian bats. Reed New Holland Publishers, Sydney, Australia

  • Crome FHJ, Richards GC (1988) Bats and gaps: Microchiropteran community structure in a Queensland rainforest. Ecology 69:1960–1969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De’ath G, Fabricius KE (2000) Classification and regression trees: A powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology 81:3178–3192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Oliveira M (1998) AnaBat System Practical Guide: Survey techniques, collection and characterization of reference bat echolocation calls, common field problems and problem solving. Department of Natural Resources, Brisbane, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenton MB (1982) Echolocation calls and patterns of hunting and habitat use of bats (Microchiroptera) from Chillagoe, North Queensland. Aust J Zool 30:417–425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenton MB (1990) The foraging behaviour and ecology of animal-eating bats. Can J Zool 68:411–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenton MB (1997) Science and the conservation of bats. J Mammal 78:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenton MB, Boyle NG, Harrison TM, Oxley DJ (1977) Activity patterns, habitat use and prey selection by some African insectivorous bats. Biotropica 9:73–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fullard JH, Koehler C, Surlykke A, McKenzie NL (1991) Echolocation ecology and flight morphology of insectivorous bats (Chiroptera) in south-western Australia. Aust J Zool 39:427–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaisler J, Bauerova Z (1985–1986) The life of bats in a city. Myotis 23–24:209–215

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaisler J, Zukal J, Rehak Z, Homolka M (1998) Habitat preference and flight activity of bats in a city. J Zool (Lond) 244:439–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Geggie J, Fenton MB (1985) A comparison of foraging by Eptesicus fuscus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in urban and rural environments. Can J Zool 63:263–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall LS, Richards GC (1985) The bats of Chillagoe. Tower Karst 5:13–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes JP (1997) Temporal variation in activity of bats and the design of echolocation monitoring studies. J Mammal 78:514–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes JP (2000) Assumptions and practical considerations in the design and interpretation of echolocation monitoring studies. Acta Chiropterol 2:225–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones G, Corben C (1993) Echolocation calls from six species of microchiropteran bats in south-eastern Queensland. Aust Mammal 16:35–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones KE, Altringham JD, Deaton R (1996) Distribution and population densities of seven species of bat in northern England. J Zool 240:788–798

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones G, Jayne AF (1991) Bats in Avon: their distribution in relation to the urban environment. Proc Brist Nat Soc 48:31–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones G, Rydell J (1994) Foraging strategies and predation risk as factors influencing emergence time in echolocating bats. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Biol Sci 346:445–455

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalko EKV (1998) Organization and diversity of tropical bat communities through space and time. Zoology 101:281–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitchener DJ, Cooper N, Maryanto L (1995) The Myotis adversus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) species complex in Eastern Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Soloman Islands. Rec W Aust Mus 17:191–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirsten I, Klomp NI (1998) Microchiroptera in urban, rural and forest areas of southern NSW. Australas Bat Soc Newsl 11:28–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Kunz TH (1973) Resource utilization: temporal and spatial components of bat activity in Central Iowa. J Mammal 54:14–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurta A, Teramino JA (1992) Bat community structure in an urban park. Ecography 15:257–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavery HJ, Johnson PM (1968) Mammals and birds of the Townsville district, North Queensland. 1. Introduction and mammals. Qld J Agric Anim Sci 25:29–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Law B, Anderson J, Chidel M (1998) A bat survey in the state forests on the southwest slopes region of New South Wales with suggestions of improvements for future surveys. Aust Zool 30:467–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Legakis A, Papadimitriou C, Gaethlich M, Lazaris D (2000) Survey of the bats of the Athens metropolitan area. Myotis 38:41–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesinski G, Fuszara E, Kowalski M (2000) Foraging areas and relative density of bats (Chiroptera) in differently human transformed landscapes. Z Säugetierkd 65:129–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig JA, Reynolds JF (1988) Nonlinear Ordination. In: Ludwig JA, Reynolds JF (eds), Statistical ecology: A primer on methods and computing. Wiley, New York, USA, pp. 257–273

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackenroth T (2000) The Townsville/Thuringowa Strategy Plan. Queensland Department of Communication and Information, Local Government, Planning and Sport. Australia

  • McDonald JT, Rautenbach IL, Nel JAJ (1990) Foraging ecology of bats observed at De Hoop provincial nature reserve, southern Cape Province. S Afr J Wildl Res 20:33–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Norberg U (1987) Wing form and flight mode in bats. In: Fenton MB, Racey P, Rayner J (eds), Recent Advances in the Study of Bats, volume 316 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. pp. 335–427

    Google Scholar 

  • Norberg U, Rayner J (1987) Ecological morphology and flight in bats. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Biol Sci 316:335–427

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Farrell MJ, Miller BW, Gannon WL (1999) Qualitative identification of free flying bats using the AnaBat detector. J Mammal 80:11–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Reardon T (1999) Nomenclature of Tadarida australis (Gray 1838). Australas Bat Soc Newsl 12:22–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards G (1989) Nocturnal activity of insectivorous bats in relative to temperature and prey availability in tropical Queensland. Aust Wildl Res 16:151–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robson S (1984) Myotis adversus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae): Australia’s fish-eating bat. Aust Mammal 7:51–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydell J (1992) Exploitation of insects around streetlamps by bats in Sweden. Funct Ecol 6:744–750

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydell J, Bushby A, Cosgrove C, Racey PA (1994) Habitat use by bats along rivers in NE Scotland. Folia Zool 43:417–424

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydell J, Entwistle A, Racey PA (1996) Timing of foraging flights of three species of bats in relation to insect activity and predation risk. Oikos 76:243–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Rydell J, Racey PA (1995) Streetlamps and the feeding ecology of insectivorous bats. Symp Zool Soc Lond 67:291–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Safi K, Kerth G (2004) A comparative analysis of specialisation and extinction risk in temperate zone bats. Conserv Biol 18:1293–1303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savard JL, Clergeau P, Mennechez G (2000) Biodiversity concepts and urban ecosystems. Landsc Urb Plan 48:131–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor RJ, O’Neill MG (1988) Summer activity patterns of insectivorous bats and their prey in Tasmania. Aust Wildl Res 15:533–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Der Ree R, McCarthy MA (2005) Inferring persistence of indigenous mammals in response to urbanisation. Anim Conserv 8:309–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan N, Jones G, Harris S (1997) Habitat use by bats (Chiroptera) assessed by means of a broadband acoustic method. J Appl Ecol 34:716–730

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh AL, Harris S, Hutson AM (1995) Abundance and habitat selection of foraging vespertilionid bats in Britain: a landscape scale approach. Symp Zool Soc Lond 67:325–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh AL, Harris S (1996) Foraging habitat preferences of vespertilionid bats in Britain. J Appl Ecol 33: 508–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams SE, Pearson RG, Walsh PJ (1996) Distributions and biodiversity of the terrestrial vertebrates of Australia’s wet tropics: A review of current knowledge. Pac Conserv Biol 2:327–362

    Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1999) Biostatistical Analysis,4th edn. Prentice-Hall of Australia Pty. Limited, Sydney, Australia

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian School of Environmental Studies, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, 4111, Australia

    C. L. Hourigan

  2. Department of Zoology and Tropical Ecology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia

    C. Johnson & S. K. A. Robson

Authors
  1. C. L. Hourigan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S. K. A. Robson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. L. Hourigan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hourigan, C.L., Johnson, C. & Robson, S.K.A. The structure of a micro-bat community in relation to gradients of environmental variation in a tropical urban area. Urban Ecosyst 9, 67–82 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-006-7902-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-006-7902-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation