Differential responses to woodland character and landscape context by cryptic bats in urban environments.

ABSTRACT: Urbanisation is one of the most dramatic forms of land use change which relatively few species can adapt to. Determining how and why species respond differently to urban habitats is important in predicting future biodiversity loss as urban areas rapidly expand. Understanding how morphological or behavioural traits can influence species adaptability to the built environment may enable us to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts. Although many bat species are able to exploit human resources, bat species richness generally declines with increasing urbanisation and there is considerable variation in the responses of different bat species to urbanisation. Here, we use acoustic recordings from two cryptic, and largely sympatric European bat species to assess differential responses in

SUBMITTER: Lintott PR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4433195 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature