habitat composition and connectivity predicts bat presence and activity at foraging sites in a large uk conurbation蝙蝠栖息地组成和连通性预测存在和活动觅食地点在一个大型英国集合都市.pdfVIP

Habitat Composition and Connectivity Predicts Bat Presence and Activity at Foraging Sites in a Large UK Conurbation 1 2 3 1 James D. Hale *, Alison J. Fairbrass , Tom J. Matthews , Jon P. Sadler * 1 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2 Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, United Kingdom, 3 School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Abstract Background: Urbanization is characterized by high levels of sealed land-cover, and small, geometrically complex, fragmented land-use patches. The extent and density of urbanized land-use is increasing, with implications for habitat quality, connectivity and city ecology. Little is known about densification thresholds for urban ecosystem function, and the response of mammals, nocturnal and cryptic taxa are poorly studied in this respect. Bats (Chiroptera) are sensitive to changing urban form at a species, guild and community level, so are ideal model organisms for analyses of this nature. Methodology/Principal Findings: We surveyed bats around urban ponds in the West Midlands conurbation, United Kingdom (UK). Sites were stratified between five urban land classes, representing a gradient of built land-cover at the 1 km2 scale. Models for bat presence and activity were developed using land-cover and land-use data from multiple radii around each pond. Structural connectivity of tree networks was used as an indicator of the functional connectivity between habitats. All species were sensitive to measures of urban density. Some were also sensitive to landscape composition and structural con