Open Collections

Miramontes, Carolina Rueda; Mengistu-Zelleke, Naomi; Xu, Zitong

The University of British Columbia (UBC) has a unique urban food production site, known as the UBC Farm (“the Farm”), next to a coastal hemlock forest that harbors a variety of local bat species. Bat populations are currently declining worldwide and face many threats such as the critical fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome (WNS). These threats could potentially compromise the ecosystems services bats provide to their environment. Moreover, WNS could be especially devastating to the vulnerable communities of the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) which was the most observed bat species at the Farm. For these reasons, it is important to understand and document the current state of these populations. This research investigates the temporal patterns and spatial distributions of bat biodiversity by analyzing bat calls recorded from 2019-2021. Potential phenological shifts were detected but require long-term monitoring to confirm these conclusions. Furthermore, the effect of land cover on bat activities was explored but limited due to small sample sizes. This effect was also likely masked by the little brown bats' roosting preference for forest-edges and man-made structures. Findings of bat activities contributed to better understanding these bat populations at UBC. This research was the first to uncover bat biodiversity trends at the Farm and provide support for the local bats conservation as a means to protect the agro-ecosystem and ensure food security.

Report

eng

2022-05-16

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/81553

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/