Dataset Information

Following the water? Landscape-scale temporal changes in bat spatial distribution in relation to Mediterranean summer drought.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how the spatial distribution of ecological resources shapes species' diversity and abundance in human-modified landscapes is a central theme in conservation biology. However, studies often disregard that such patterns may vary over time, thereby potentially missing critical environmental constraints to species persistence. This may be particularly important in highly mobile species such as bats, which are able to track temporal variations in spatial resource distribution. Here we test the hypothesis that bats in Mediterranean landscapes are strongly affected by the progressive reduction in water availability during the seasonal summer drought. We analyzed the effects of landscape composition and structure on bat diversity and activity, during pregnancy, lactation, and postlactation periods, and identified the most influential variables within and across periods. Water bodies showed the strongest positive effect on bats, followed by riparian habitats and areas with steeper (>30%) slopes. However, while during pregnancy, there were only small landscape effects, these increased during lactation and postlactation, highlighting a progressively stronger association with water habitats during the summer drought. The spatial projection of habitat models showed that the landscape distribution of bat diversity and activity hotspots changed markedly over time. During pregnancy, the spatial pattern of hotspot distribution was weakly defined, while during lactation and particularly postlactation, there was a concentration of hotspots along permanently flowing watercourses. Our study highlights that permanently flowing watercourses are critical for bat conservation in Mediterranean landscapes, calling for measures to counteract their ongoing degradation due in particular to climate change, water abstraction and damming. More generally, our study underlines the importance of considering the temporal dimension in habitat selection studies, without which there is the risk of overlooking the importance of habitats that are key for species persistence only at certain times of the year.

SUBMITTER: Amorim F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6010748 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Following the water? Landscape-scale temporal changes in bat spatial distribution in relation to Mediterranean summer drought.

Amorim Francisco F Jorge Inês I Beja Pedro P Rebelo Hugo H

Ecology and evolution 20180502 11

Understanding how the spatial distribution of ecological resources shapes species' diversity and abundance in human-modified landscapes is a central theme in conservation biology. However, studies often disregard that such patterns may vary over time, thereby potentially missing critical environmental constraints to species persistence. This may be particularly important in highly mobile species such as bats, which are able to track temporal variations in spatial resource distribution. Here we t ...[more]

PMID: 29938094

Similar Datasets

Project description:Temperate zone bats may be more sensitive to climate change than other groups of mammals because many aspects of their ecology are closely linked to temperature. However, few studies have tried to predict the responses of bats to climate change. The Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) is a federally listed endangered species that is found in the eastern United States. The northerly distribution of Indiana bat summer maternity colonies relative to their winter distributions suggests that warmer climates may result in a shift in their summer distribution. Our objectives were to determine the climatic factors associated with Indiana bat maternity range and forecast changes in the amount and distribution of the range under future climates. We used Maxent to model the suitable climatic habitat of Indiana bats under current conditions and four future climate forecasts for 2021-30, 2031-40, 2041-50, and 2051-60. Average maximum temperature across the maternity season (May-August) was the most important variable in the model of current distribution of Indiana bat maternity colonies with suitability decreasing considerably above 28ºC. The areal extent of the summer maternity distribution of Indiana bats was forecasted to decline and be concentrated in the northeastern United States and Appalachian Mountains; the western part of the current maternity range (Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio) was forecasted to become climatically unsuitable under most future climates. Our models suggest that high temperatures may be a factor in roost-site selection at the regional scale and in the future, may also be an important variable at the microhabitat scale. When behavioral changes fail to mitigate the effects of high temperature, range shifts are likely to occur. Thus, habitat management for Indiana bat maternity colonies in the northeastern United States and Appalachian Mountains of the Southeast is critical as these areas will most likely serve as climatic refugia.

Project description:Extreme heat events will become more frequent under anthropogenic climate change, especially in Mediterranean ecosystems. Microhabitats can considerably moderate (buffer) the effects of extreme weather events and hence facilitate the persistence of some components of the biodiversity. We investigate the microclimatic moderation provided by two important microhabitats (cavities formed by the leaves of the grass-tree Xanthorrhoea semiplana F.Muell., Xanthorrhoeaceae; and inside the leaf-litter) during the summer of 2015/16 on the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. We placed microsensors inside and outside these microhabitats, as well as above the ground below the forest canopy. Grass-tree and leaf-litter microhabitats significantly buffered against high temperatures and low relative humidity, compared to ground-below-canopy sensors. There was no significant difference between grass-tree and leaf-litter temperatures: in both microhabitats, daily temperature variation was reduced, day temperatures were 1-5°C cooler, night temperatures were 0.5-3°C warmer, and maximum temperatures were up to 14.4°C lower, compared to ground-below-canopy sensors. Grass-tree and leaf-litter microhabitats moderated heat increase at an average rate of 0.24°C temperature per 1°C increase of ambient temperature in the ground-below-canopy microhabitat. The average daily variation in temperature was determined by the type (grass-tree and leaf-litter versus ground-below-canopy) of microhabitat (explaining 67%), the amount of canopy cover and the area of the vegetation fragment (together explaining almost 10% of the variation). Greater canopy cover increased the amount of microclimatic moderation provided, especially in the leaf-litter. Our study highlights the importance of microhabitats in moderating macroclimatic conditions. However, this moderating effect is currently not considered in species distribution modelling under anthropogenic climate change nor in the management of vegetation. This shortcoming will have to be addressed to obtain realistic forecasts of future species distributions and to achieve effective management of biodiversity.

Project description:Summer dormancy is an evolutionary response that some perennial cool-season grasses adopted as an avoidance strategy to escape summer drought and heat. It is correlated with superior survival after severe summer droughts in many perennial grass species originating from Mediterranean environments. Understanding the genetic mechanism and environmental determinants of summer dormancy is important for interpreting the evolutionary history of seasonal dormancy and for the development of genomic tools to improve the efficiency of genetic selection for this important trait. The objectives of this research are to assess morphological and biochemical attributes that seem to be specific for the characterization of summer dormancy in tall fescue, and to validate the hypothesis that genes underlying stem determinacy might be involved in the mechanism of summer dormancy. Our results suggest that vernalization is an important requirement in the onset of summer dormancy in tall fescue. Non-vernalized tall fescue plants do not exhibit summer dormancy as vernalized plants do and behave more like summer-active types. This is manifested by continuation of shoot growth and high root activity in water uptake during summer months. Therefore, summer dormancy in tall fescue should be tested only in plants that underwent vernalization and are not subjected to water deficit during summer months. Total phenolic concentration in tiller bases (antioxidants) does not seem to be related to vernalization. It is most likely an environmental response to protect meristems from oxidative stress. Sequence analysis of the TFL1 homolog CEN gene from tall fescue genotypes belonging to summer-dormant and summer-active tall fescue types showed a unique deletion of three nucleotides specific to the dormant genotypes. Higher tiller bud numbers in dormant plants that were not allowed to flower and complete the reproductive cycle, confirmed that stem determinacy is a major component in the mechanism of summer dormancy. The number of variables identified in these studies as potential players in summer dormancy in tall fescue including vernalization, TFL1/CEN, water status, and protection from oxidative stress are a further confirmation that summer dormancy is a quantitative trait controlled by several genes with varying effects and prone to genotype by environment interactions.

Project description:AimThis study aimed to explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of emerging airborne viral infectious diseases outbreaks worldwide.Subject and methodsWe conducted a systematic literature review on outbreaks of emerging airborne viral infectious diseases and calculated outbreak number and intensity at the country level. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the viral infectious diseases outbreaks in different income-level regions. To identify the major airborne viral infectious diseases outbreaks, we ranked and extracted the leading viral infectious diseases in outbreak number and intensity in each country by year.ResultsA total of 2505 outbreaks were reported from 1873 to 2021 across 2010 studies. There were 47 countries (47/130, 36.15%) with more frequent emerging airborne viral infectious disease outbreaks (more than nine outbreaks), and these countries mainly distributed in high-income regions (22/47 countries, 46.81%, p < 0.05), especially in Western Europe (14/47 countries, 29.79%, p < 0.05). The number of overall outbreaks was more in the United States and China than in other countries in different years. Outbreaks of measles and influenza are always frequent and intense. Highly pathogenic human coronaviruses infection caused short-term pandemics during which their outbreak number and intensity exceeded other viruses. Rift valley fever outbreaks in the human population are spreading outside of Africa through the flow of goods and travelers.ConclusionCountries in high-income regions reported more emerging airborne viral infectious diseases outbreaks, especially in the Western European region, the United States, and China. It is urgent to strengthen collaborative surveillance of emerging airborne viruses, cross-border flow of goods and travelers, and ecological environment to avoid the spread of viral infectious diseases outbreaks worldwide.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-023-01850-3.

Dataset Information

Following the water? Landscape-scale temporal changes in bat spatial distribution in relation to Mediterranean summer drought.

Publications

Following the water? Landscape-scale temporal changes in bat spatial distribution in relation to Mediterranean summer drought.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets