Water and elevation are more important than burn severity in predicting bat activity at multiple scales in a post-wildfire landscape

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 4; p. e0231170
• Main Authors: Starbuck, Clarissa A., Considine, Erin S., Chambers, Carol L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 08.04.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Animal behavior; Arid environments; Arid regions; Arid zones; Bats; Biology and Life Sciences; Chiroptera; Density; Detection equipment; Earth Sciences; Echolocation; Echolocation (Physiology); Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Habitat changes; Habitat selection; Habitat utilization; Habitats; Landforms; Landscape; Medicine and Health Sciences; Multiscale analysis; People and places; Physical Sciences; Prescribed fire; Small mammals; Software patches; Species; Species classification; Vegetation; Vegetation type; Water sources; Wildfires; Wind; Mexico; Arizona; California; Indiana; United States > US; Nebraska
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231170

Bats are among the most widespread mammals on Earth, and are subject to habitat change, loss, and other disturbances such as fire. Wildfire causes rapid changes in vegetation that affect habitat use. However, the spatial scale at which these changes affect bats depends on their use of habitat elements. Three years post wildfire, we assessed how burn severity, water, landform type, elevation, vegetation type, and roads affected use by bats of a forest landscape at multiple spatial scales. We deployed acoustic detectors at randomly selected locations within a 217,712 ha wildfire boundary in Arizona. We classified echolocation calls to species or group and calculated an activity index by adjusting the calls per hour. We conducted a multi-scale analysis of landscape structure and composition around each location from a 90 to 5760 m radius. No scale was selected preferentially by any species or group. Stream density and elevation range were more important predictors for species groups than burn severity. When burn severity was a predictor, agile species had higher activity in areas that were unburned or had low severity burn. A heterogeneous landscape composed of high, medium, and low burn severity patches within a forest altered by large wildfires provided habitat for different bat species, but water density and range in elevation were more important for predicting bat habitat use than fire severity in this arid landscape. More than one spatial scale, representing local to landscape levels, should be considered in managing habitat for bats. In arid areas, such as the western United States, maintaining reliable water sources is important for bats. Managing these factors at multiple spatial scales will benefit bat species with different wing morphologies, echolocation call types, and habitat selections.