What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables
Abstract Bat populations are in steep decline and presently, 16% of all species are classified as ‘threatened’. One main driver identified for this decline is the loss of natural roosting opportunities, caused by the removal of natural habitats. Installation of bat boxes is one solution to compensat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Ecological Solutions and Evidence |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12136 |
| _version_ | 1818312711251951616 |
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| author | Sandra Pschonny Jan Leidinger Rudolf Leitl Wolfgang W. Weisser |
| author_facet | Sandra Pschonny Jan Leidinger Rudolf Leitl Wolfgang W. Weisser |
| author_sort | Sandra Pschonny |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Bat populations are in steep decline and presently, 16% of all species are classified as ‘threatened’. One main driver identified for this decline is the loss of natural roosting opportunities, caused by the removal of natural habitats. Installation of bat boxes is one solution to compensate for the lack of natural roosting opportunities. Current recommendations for box design emphasize low maintenance costs and are rarely based on empirical evidence. We investigated occupancy of 13,634 bat boxes in northern Bavaria, Germany. In our study, boxes differed in type, age and mounting height, as well as in maximum community age, that is the length of time a group of boxes had been installed in a particular place, the size of box groups and the distance to the next box in the surrounding area, that is box isolation. Our results showed that box occupancy depended on box type and bat species. As a case study, we analysed the two most common species found within the investigated boxes, Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Myotis nattereri, in more detail. Both species showed preference to a voluminous box that had a narrow entrance (‘Gable box’ 14 mm). For P. pipistrellus, only box type affected occupancy, whereas for M. nattereri, the relationship between box type and box age was important. Older boxes and boxes in areas with higher maximum community age of boxes showed higher box occupancy by bats. Box occupancy decreased with the distance between adjacent box groups (‘box isolation’). High mounting height showed a tendency for increased box occupancy, but the effect was only weakly significant. Because of the species‐specific responses in our study, we suggest installing a combination of different box types, including at least one box type with a narrow entrance (14 mm). Boxes should be placed as box groups of three to four boxes, and there should be short distances between adjacent box groups. We also recommend installing new box groups close to areas of high maximum community age of boxes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T08:22:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-10db8f5bcc704e22b28c393f7f1d8bde |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2688-8319 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T08:22:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Solutions and Evidence |
| spelling | doaj.art-10db8f5bcc704e22b28c393f7f1d8bde2022-12-21T23:53:59ZengWileyEcological Solutions and Evidence2688-83192022-01-0131n/an/a10.1002/2688-8319.12136What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variablesSandra Pschonny0Jan Leidinger1Rudolf Leitl2Wolfgang W. Weisser3Terrestrial Ecology Research Group Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan Technische Universität München Freising GermanyTerrestrial Ecology Research Group Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan Technische Universität München Freising GermanyIndependent Researcher GermanyTerrestrial Ecology Research Group Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan Technische Universität München Freising GermanyAbstract Bat populations are in steep decline and presently, 16% of all species are classified as ‘threatened’. One main driver identified for this decline is the loss of natural roosting opportunities, caused by the removal of natural habitats. Installation of bat boxes is one solution to compensate for the lack of natural roosting opportunities. Current recommendations for box design emphasize low maintenance costs and are rarely based on empirical evidence. We investigated occupancy of 13,634 bat boxes in northern Bavaria, Germany. In our study, boxes differed in type, age and mounting height, as well as in maximum community age, that is the length of time a group of boxes had been installed in a particular place, the size of box groups and the distance to the next box in the surrounding area, that is box isolation. Our results showed that box occupancy depended on box type and bat species. As a case study, we analysed the two most common species found within the investigated boxes, Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Myotis nattereri, in more detail. Both species showed preference to a voluminous box that had a narrow entrance (‘Gable box’ 14 mm). For P. pipistrellus, only box type affected occupancy, whereas for M. nattereri, the relationship between box type and box age was important. Older boxes and boxes in areas with higher maximum community age of boxes showed higher box occupancy by bats. Box occupancy decreased with the distance between adjacent box groups (‘box isolation’). High mounting height showed a tendency for increased box occupancy, but the effect was only weakly significant. Because of the species‐specific responses in our study, we suggest installing a combination of different box types, including at least one box type with a narrow entrance (14 mm). Boxes should be placed as box groups of three to four boxes, and there should be short distances between adjacent box groups. We also recommend installing new box groups close to areas of high maximum community age of boxes.https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12136artificial roostbat boxconservationcontinuityforest‐roosting batsMyotis nattereri |
| spellingShingle | Sandra Pschonny Jan Leidinger Rudolf Leitl Wolfgang W. Weisser What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables Ecological Solutions and Evidence artificial roost bat box conservation continuity forest‐roosting bats Myotis nattereri |
| title | What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables |
| title_full | What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables |
| title_fullStr | What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables |
| title_full_unstemmed | What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables |
| title_short | What makes a good bat box? How box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape‐level variables |
| title_sort | what makes a good bat box how box occupancy depends on box characteristics and landscape level variables |
| topic | artificial roost bat box conservation continuity forest‐roosting bats Myotis nattereri |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12136 |
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