Roost In Bats

• Introduction

As bats are one of the few nocturnal mammals, they are also one of the key predators of nocturnal insects. Bats help to control the populations of pests in agriculture (Evelyn et al., 2004).

• Where do bats roost?

(i) What type of conditions are needed in order for it to become a roost?

(ii) What type of roosts are there?

Bats usually roost in trees, including conifers, deciduous hardwoods, and evergreen hardwoods (Evelyn et al., 2004).

Bats mainly roost in trees and many species are extremely selective. They choose their roosts on the basis of a number of factors, such as a specific species of tree, the plot and site characteristics, each of which can influence the aptness of the roost. The type of roosts available and its

As forest areas are generally located in less densely populated and developed areas, there are normally lower levels of pesticide use, and lower probability of human and domestic animal intrusion, as well as bestowing the greatest roosting and scavenging opportunities for bats. Roosts that are closer to water bodies have a few distinct advantages. As the abundance of insects is normally higher over water, roosts that are located near water bodies are closer to potential food sources. Streams also provide open flight corridors between

(2) Day roosts, maternal roosts,

• Why do bats need to roost?

(i) Is it essential for them to roost?

It is vital for the survival of bats to roost during the day in day roosts as these roosts offer shelter from the weather, constant microclimatic conditions, protection from any predators, central locations for social gatherings, and also for safe locations to raise their young. Some species of bats in North America can spend more than half of their time in a day roost, where they can reside in isolation or in huge groups that can extend from a couple of thousand bats to over a million bats, depending on the species (Evelyn et al., 2004).

• What do bats do in each roost?

(i) Social interactions within the roost?

(ii) Is it male or female bats, or

In this situation, reproductive success can decline (Evelyn et al., 2004).

• Bat roosts are being destroyed (changes in land means trees, old built structures etc. are gone as roosts), what does this mean for the conservation of bats?

Many landscapes around the world are changing due to urbanisation. This means that annually, growing numbers of forests, rural and grazing lands are being lost to the expansion of urban areas. As cities and built up areas increase, the natural vegetation becomes isolated within nature preserves which means the quantity and quality of not only sites for roosts, but also food and drinking are decreased. Additionally, the increasing human population and domestic animals results in further threats for the wildlife, such as predation, noise, and pollution. Urbanisation poses a serious threat towards bats as they have an unusually low reproductive output, generally only one young reared per annum, which suggests that they are slow to recover from any decline in population. The protection of day roosts could be the most crucial method in the effort to conserve