Effects of clear-fell harvest on bat home range

PLoS One. 2014 Jan 22;9(1):e86163. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086163. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

We investigated effects of roost loss due to clear-fell harvest on bat home range. The study took place in plantation forest, inhabited by the New Zealand long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus), in which trees are harvested between the ages 26-32 years. We determined home ranges by radiotracking different bats in areas that had and had not been recently clear-fell harvested. Home ranges were smaller in areas that had been harvested. Adult male bats selected 20-25 year old stands within home ranges before and after harvest. Males selected edges with open unplanted areas when harvest had not occurred but no longer selected these at proportions greater than their availability post harvest, probably because they were then readily available. This is the first radiotracking study to demonstrate a change in home range size and selection concomitant with felling of large areas of plantation forest, and thus quantify negative effects of forestry operations on this speciose group. The use of smaller home ranges post-harvest may reflect smaller colony sizes and lower roost availability, both of which may increase isolation of colonies and vulnerability to local extinction.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chiroptera / physiology*
  • Ecosystem*
  • Female
  • Homing Behavior*
  • Male
  • New Zealand
  • Seasons
  • Trees*

Grants and funding

KMB was supported by an Enterprise Scholarship funded by the Tertiary Education Commission, Hancock Forest Management, Carter Holt Harvey Forests, Blakely Pacific Limited, Pan Pacific, P.F. Olsen Ltd, and Kaingaroa Timberlands. Research was funded by Environment Waikato, Bat Conservation International, J.S. Watson Trust, E.B. Firth Charitable Trust, O.T.P.P. New Zealand Forest Investments Ltd., and the Valder Award. C.H.H. Kinleith Pulp and Paper, A.D.T. Security, and Forest Protech provided logistical support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.