Genetic Approaches Are Necessary to Accurately Understand Bat-Wind Turbine Impacts

Austin S Chipps,Dean A Williams,Sara P Weaver,Amanda M Hale

doi:10.3390/d12060236

Austin S Chipps, Dean A Williams + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/d12060236

Copy DOI

Journal: Diversity	Publication Date: Jun 11, 2020
Citations: 12	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Texas Christian University, Texas State University

Abstract

Bats are killed at wind energy facilities worldwide and we must improve our understanding of why this is happening and implement effective strategies to minimize impacts. To this end, we need accurate assessments of which individuals from which bat species are being killed at individual wind projects and at regional and range-wide scales. Traditional fatality searches have relied on physical characteristics to ascertain species and sex of bat carcasses collected at wind turbines; however, the resulting data can be incomplete and inaccurate. In contrast, the use of readily available and low-cost molecular methods improves both the quality and quantity of available data. We applied such methods to a bat fatality dataset (n = 439 bats) from far-south Texas, USA. Using DNA barcoding, we increased accurate species identification from 83% to 97%, and discovered the presence of 2 bat species outside of their known geographic ranges. Using a PCR-based approach to determine sex, the number of carcasses with correct sex assignment increased from 35% to 94%, and we documented a female-biased sex ratio for all species combined and for Dasypterus ega. We recommend that molecular methods be used during future survey efforts to accurately assess the impacts of wind energy on bats.

Highlights

Bats currently face a multitude of threats worldwide, making their study and conservation essential for the preservation of species and the important ecosystem services that they provide [1,2,3,4].Many aspects of bat biology are poorly understood, and fear of bats has led to the extermination of entire colonies and roost destruction, which are major drivers of species decline [3,4,5]
Bat mortality at wind energy facilities is an unanticipated consequence that may simultaneously threaten the persistence of bat populations [4,9,10]
In addition to yellow bats, Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) fatalities have been documented in high numbers at this site [16,28], but we do not include them here, because they are morphologically distinct and better studied than the Dasypterus species [31,32,33]

Summary

Introduction

Bats currently face a multitude of threats worldwide, making their study and conservation essential for the preservation of species and the important ecosystem services that they provide [1,2,3,4].Many aspects of bat biology are poorly understood, and fear of bats has led to the extermination of entire colonies and roost destruction, which are major drivers of species decline [3,4,5]. Bats currently face a multitude of threats worldwide, making their study and conservation essential for the preservation of species and the important ecosystem services that they provide [1,2,3,4]. Driven by increased agriculture and urbanization, have eliminated valuable bat habitats, while accelerating the effects of climate change, which together threaten both bats and their ecosystem services [6]. Efforts being made to reduce the effects of climate change have altered the way we produce energy in favor of renewable processes, like wind energy. Mitigating the impacts of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through an increase in electricity generation from renewable sources like wind power has the potential to benefit wildlife conservation [7,8]. Bat mortality at wind energy facilities is an unanticipated consequence that may simultaneously threaten the persistence of bat populations [4,9,10]

Objectives

Methods

Results