The effect of logging on fission-fusion behaviour of tree-dwelling bats explored by an agent-based model |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, ?. ?túra 2, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia;2. Institute of Informatics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 07 Bratislava, Slovakia;3. Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen, T. G. Masaryka 24, 960 01 Zvolen, Slovakia;1. Department of Geography and Environment, Western University, 1151 Richmond St, London, Ontario N6A 3K7, Canada;2. School of Geography and Sustainable Development, Irvine Building, University of St Andrews, North Street, St Andrews, KY16 9AL Scotland, United Kingdom;3. The Alan Turing Institute, British Library, 2QR, John Dodson House, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB, United Kingdom;4. Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Norwida 25, 50-375 Wroc?aw, Poland;5. School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury, 20 Kirkwood Avenue, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand;6. British Geological Survey, Research Ave South, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AP Scotland, United Kingdom;1. Anhui Province Engineering Laboratory for Mine Ecological Remediation, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China;2. Huaibei Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Huaibei 235000, China;3. Department of Engineering Management, Hefei College of Finance and Economics, Hefei 231299, China |
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| Abstract: | Logging is one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity, while forests are one of the most important habitats for bats. Bats that roost in tree cavities require a large number of potential roosts due to their frequent roost switching. However, the density of tree cavities and hollows sufficient to sustain large populations of bat species in forests is unknown. The fission-fusion dynamics of bat groups in forest environment is associated with ritualised dawn swarming behaviour at potential tree cavities that serves to exchange information in a non-centralised decision-making process. We used a computer model based on the swarm algorithm, SkyBat, that resembles this complex process and aimed to determine how population size changes over time when cavity trees are removed from roosting territory of the local population of Leisler's bats (Nyctalus leisleri), which inhabit a forest habitat in Central Europe. Simulations revealed that social bonds between bats, maintained by frequent switching among groups, play an important role in this highly dynamic system. When strong social contact was not considered, reducing the original number of trees with cavities (20 cavities × ha?1) to 50% was still acceptable to bats, but further interventions and/or increased demand for social contact would have led to local extinction of the species. Results suggest that potential bat roosts in mature forest stands should be preserved as much as possible and that non-intensive logging and management can be beneficial to tree-dwelling bats. |
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