Roosting ecology of endangered plant-roosting bats on Okinawa Island: Implications for bat-friendly forestry practices.

ABSTRACT: Roosting information is crucial to guiding bat conservation and bat-friendly forestry practices. The Ryukyu tube-nosed bat Murina ryukyuana (Endangered) and Yanbaru whiskered bat Myotis yanbarensis (Critically Endangered) are forest-dwelling bats endemic to the central Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. Despite their threatened status, little is known about the roosting ecology of these species and the characteristics of natural maternity roosts are unknown. To inform sustainable forestry practices and conservation management, we radio-tracked day roosts of both species in the subtropical forests of Okinawa's Kunigami Village District. We compared roost and roost site characteristics statistically between M. ryukyuana nonmaternity roosts (males or nonreproductive females), mat

SUBMITTER: Preble JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8525085 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature