Effects of artificial light at night on the spatiotemporal pattern of bats and insects


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


S1-4  Mon Jan 4 11:30 – 12:00  Effects of artificial light at night on the spatiotemporal pattern of bats and insects Hermans, C*; Koblitz, JC; Litovska, I; Visser, ME; Spoelstra, K; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen; Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany ; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen; Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen c.hermans@nioo.knaw.nl

Urbanization is a major threat for biodiversity due to various sources of pollution, including artificial light at night. The growth of lit outdoor areas is likely to affect nocturnal ecological communities. Bats are particularly vulnerable to light pollution since they are almost exclusively nocturnal and strongly react to light. Previous studies showed that bat activity varies with light spectrum, with less activity disturbance by red light. In addition, the use of red light decreases indirect impact on bats by a reduced accumulation of prey insects. However, our knowledge on how bats alter their spatiotemporal behavior in response to different artificial light spectra, and how this depends on light intensity, is limited. We investigated these effects on bats foraging in forest edge habitat at replicated, long-term experimentally illuminated transects. We assessed insect availability throughout the night by taking pictures with infrared cameras around light posts emitting white-, red- or no light. We recorded bat foraging activity through the night and used microphone arrays to reconstruct flight patterns of bats and localize feeding attempts by associating each call to a 3D-position. We expect bat activity to follow prey insect availability, which varies throughout the night by light treatment. Light may cause insects to be present all night, and subsequently bats will continue to forage throughout the night. We further explore the spatial distribution of feeding attempts around the light in bats with different foraging strategies.

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