Abstract
AbstractThere is a lack of studies designed to detect the most important areas for bat conservation. In this context, areas of high bat activity have been rarely considered in the delimitation of protected areas for bats, which are generally focused on the protection of roosting sites. This has been due to the difficulties of sampling the distribution of these nocturnal animals when moving at night. This methodological constraint has been overcome by the development of bioacoustic sampling, which allows mapping the occurrence of active bats over large areas. In this study, we use bat detectors to sample the distribution of bat activity in central Spain. This region is under the environmental effects of a mountain range (Guadarrama Mountains) and the urban encroachment of the city of Madrid. The occurrences provided by the detectors were used to produce species distribution models of which the resulting layers were arranged to detect the most suitable areas for bat richness and rarity indices. We performed a gap analysis to explore whether the areas most commonly used by active bats are covered by the current network of protected areas. The results showed that the best areas of high bat activity are located at the piedmont of the mountains and that most of these areas overlap with the existing network of protected areas. The best areas for bats excluded the most urbanized areas and within a similar urban gradient, protected areas tended to be located within the best sites for conservation. These results suggest that bats currently benefit from a network of protected areas initially aimed to protect birds and habitats (Natura 2000). In addition, monitoring areas of high bat activity could complement roosting site protection in the conservation of bat assemblages.
Highlights
Bats comprise the second most species rich order of mammals with approximately 1,400 species distributed throughout the planet (Zukal, 2020)
We study bat distribution using four complementary approaches: a) we sample the distribution of active bats within the study area to produce species distribution models (Elith and Leathwick, 2009); b) we use the occurrence probabilities of the species to detect the most important areas for bat conservation (Razgour et al, 2016); c) we carry out a gap analysis (Scott et al, 1993) to detect whether the best areas for bat conservation are included in the regional network of protected areas (Buckman-Sewald et al, 2014; Bosso et al, 2016; Kerbiriou et al, 2018); and d) we explore whether bats avoid the most urbanized areas (Tena et al, 2020a) and whether protected areas prevent the potential effects of urban encroachment
This work shows that the distribution of protected areas in central Spain overlaps with most of the best activity areas for bats as defined by species distribution models
Summary
Bats comprise the second most species rich order of mammals with approximately 1,400 species distributed throughout the planet (Zukal, 2020) This taxonomic diversity makes the group an interesting target of conservation, especially because they are increasingly affected by the pervasive effect of habitat loss, pesticides, wind farms and the alteration of roosting areas (Mickleburgh et al, 2002; Voigt and Kingston, 2016). In this context, the location and protection of suitable areas for bats (e.g., both roosting sites and foraging areas) have been considered a suitable approach to their conservation (Russo and Jones, 2003; Medellın et al, 2018). The resulting maps can be used to explore the distribution of the most suitable areas for bat activity
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