TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ullmann, Wiebke
A1  - Fischer, Christina
A1  - Pirhofer-Walzl, Karin
A1  - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie
A1  - Blaum, Niels
T1  - Spatiotemporal variability in resources affects herbivore home range formation in structurally contrasting and unpredictable agricultural landscapes
JF  - Landscape ecology
N2  - We investigated whether a given landscape structure affects the level of home range size adaptation in response to resource variability. We tested whether increasing resource variability forces herbivorous mammals to increase their home ranges. In 2014 and 2015 we collared 40 European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) with GPS-tags to record hare movements in two regions in Germany with differing landscape structures. We examined hare home range sizes in relation to resource availability and variability by using the normalized difference vegetation index as a proxy. Hares in simple landscapes showed increasing home range sizes with increasing resource variability, whereas hares in complex landscapes did not enlarge their home range. Animals in complex landscapes have the possibility to include various landscape elements within their home ranges and are more resilient against resource variability. But animals in simple landscapes with few elements experience shortcomings when resource variability becomes high. The increase in home range size, the movement related increase in energy expenditure, and a decrease in hare abundances can have severe implications for conservation of mammals in anthropogenic landscapes. Hence, conservation management could benefit from a better knowledge about fine-scaled effects of resource variability on movement behaviour.
KW  - Resource variability
KW  - Resource availability
KW  - Home range size
KW  - European brown hare
KW  - GPS tracking
KW  - Telemetry
KW  - Lepus europaeus
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0676-2
SN  - 0921-2973
SN  - 1572-9761
VL  - 33
IS  - 9
SP  - 1505
EP  - 1517
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Voigt, Christian
A1  - Scholl, Julia M.
A1  - Bauer, Juliane
A1  - Teige, Tobias
A1  - Yovel, Yossi
A1  - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie
A1  - Gras, Pierre
T1  - Movement responses of common noctule bats to the illuminated urban landscape
JF  - Landscape ecology
N2  - Context Cities are a challenging habitat for obligate nocturnal mammals because of the ubiquitous use of artificial light at night (ALAN). How nocturnal animals move in an urban landscape, particularly in response to ALAN is largely unknown. Objectives We studied the movement responses, foraging and commuting, of common noctules (Nyctalus noctula) to urban landscape features in general and ALAN in particular. Methods We equipped 20 bats with miniaturized GPS loggers in the Berlin metropolitan area and related spatial positions of bats to anthropogenic and natural landscape features and levels of ALAN. Results Common noctules foraged close to ALAN only next to bodies of water or well vegetated areas, probably to exploit swarms of insects lured by street lights. In contrast, they avoided illuminated roads, irrespective of vegetation cover nearby. Predictive maps identified most of the metropolitan area as non-favoured by this species because of high levels of impervious surfaces and ALAN. Dark corridors were used by common noctules for commuting and thus likely improved the permeability of the city landscape. Conclusions We conclude that the spatial use of common noctules, previously considered to be more tolerant to light than other bats, is largely constrained by ALAN. Our study is the first individual-based GPS tracking study to show sensitive responses of nocturnal wildlife to light pollution. Approaches to protect urban biodiversity need to include ALAN to safeguard the larger network of dark habitats for bats and other nocturnal species in cities.
KW  - Urbanization
KW  - GPS tracking
KW  - Artificial light at night
KW  - ALAN
KW  - Habitat use
KW  - Preference
KW  - Movement
KW  - Common noctule bat
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-019-00942-4
SN  - 0921-2973
SN  - 1572-9761
VL  - 35
IS  - 1
SP  - 189
EP  - 201
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  -