Do sheep-grazed pastures support insectivorous bat activity and bat species richness?

ABSTRACT: Arable agriculture is usually associated with monoculture and the usage of pesticides, which jeopardize biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Grazing livestock can potentially benefit bats, however, most studies evaluate cattle, and it is unclear whether the results apply to grazing sheep. We assessed the effects of grazing sheep on insectivorous bat activity and species richness in southern Burgenland, Austria. We conducted acoustic surveys during the summer of 2019 on 49 pastures, which were in each case temporally divided into three categories (pre-grazed, grazed, and post-grazed). During the surveys, 20 of Burgenland's 24 different bat species were detected. The most prevalent species was Pipistrellus pygmaeus. Small aerial insectivores showed significantly higher activity in grazed an

SUBMITTER: Wiesinger F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12829865 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature