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Bat boxes in urban non-native forests: a popular practice that should be reconsidered

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Abstract

Impact mitigation practices are currently one of the hottest topics in conservation and regarded as priorities worldwide. Forest bat populations are known to provide important ecosystem services such as pest control and bat boxes have become one of the most popular management options for counteracting the loss of roosts. However, bat boxes tend to be employed in non-native forests near highly humanized areas where human disturbance is higher. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the surrounding landscape composition affects bat box occupancy in urban non-native forests along the Mediterranean corridor in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Two hundred wooden bat boxes were monitored in young non-native forests in the period 2004–2012. The influence of land cover on occupancy rate of bat boxes was analysed at the landscape level in a 5 km buffer around bat-box stations. In total, 1659 inspections were carried out, in which a 15 % occupancy rate was detected. Bat boxes hosted three different species (Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Pipistrellus kuhlii and Nyctalus leisleri). More than 70 % of the occupancy can be explained by habitat and spatial composition. The presence of urban areas around bat boxes tends to have a negative impact on bat occupation rates; by contrast, forest coverage has a positive effect, especially for the tree-dwelling bats. These patterns could be associated with the large number of available roosts in buildings, microhabitat or phylopatry. Thus, to increase success, we suggest that landscape composition should be considered when using bat boxes for conservation.

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Acknowledgments

This project received financial support from the Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputació de Barcelona). We are especially thankful to Parc de Collserola, Parc del Foix, Parc Natural del Montnegre i el Corredor, Parc de la Serralada de Marina and the Parc de la Serralada Litoral. The Comissionat per a Universitats i Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya provided the material necessary for this research. We are also greatly indebted for their support to the following people: A. Cabrerizo, C. Perez, D. Guinart, F. Llimona, G. Llimós, I. Cabrera, I. Pac, J. Capdevila, J. Torrentó, L. C. Cabañeros, M. Vila, P. Mundó, P. Panon, R. Loireand and T. Bombí. Finally, we would like to make special mention of Dr. Danilo Russo, who has acted as our mentor during this formative period of our research (which is still underway!).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Granollers Museum of Natural Sciences, Av. Francesc Macià 51, 08402, Granollers, Catalonia, Spain

    Adrià López-Baucells, Ignasi Torre, Lídia Freixas, Maria Mas, Antoni Arrizabalaga & Carles Flaquer

  2. Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício C2, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Adrià López-Baucells

  3. Galanthus Association, Carretera de Juià 46, 17460, Celrà, Catalonia, Spain

    Xavier Puig-Montserrat

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  1. Adrià López-Baucells
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  2. Xavier Puig-Montserrat
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Correspondence to Adrià López-Baucells.

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López-Baucells, A., Puig-Montserrat, X., Torre, I. et al. Bat boxes in urban non-native forests: a popular practice that should be reconsidered. Urban Ecosyst 20, 217–225 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-016-0582-9

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