Predator-Prey Relationship between Urban Bats and Insects Impacted by Both Artificial Light at Night and Spatial Clutter.

ABSTRACT: Predators respond to the increase of prey by aggregation in space or foraging more often. However, foraging habitat suitability limits predators' responses. For nocturnal insectivorous bats, artificial light at night (ALAN) can trigger insect prey aggregation. It is not clear how ALAN might affect predator-prey relationships in the urban setting, where urban bats could have adapted to the city, and novel spatial complexity introduced by man-made objects might alter foraging habitat suitability. We strategically selected sites to represent different levels of ALAN and spatial complexity. We recorded bat commuting and foraging activities and collected aerial insects to examine how ALAN and spatial complexity affected bat-insect relationships. We found that insect biomass was positively corre

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9219930 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature