People can hardly imagine a city without night-time street lighting. But how do nocturnal animals such as bats respond to the illuminated urban landscape? In a recent study, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW), together with German and international colleagues, equipped common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) with mini GPS transmitters and recorded their trajectories in the sky above Berlin.
They show that common noctules avoid brightly lit, built-up areas. The metropolitan area of Berlin is therefore mostly unsuitable as a habitat for bats. Dark corridors such as city forests, parks or watercourses, on the other hand, are of great importance for commuting and foraging. The results are published in the journal Landscape Ecology.
The international research team led by experts from the Leibniz-IZW investigated how common noctule bats react to various features of the urban landscape in the larger Berlin metropolitan area, in particular to artificial light at night. They were particularly interested in whether bats use illuminated areas for commuting and foraging or whether they switched to dark habitats.
The study provides important insights into how bats cope in urban habitats and in particular with artificial light. As bats are relevant in planning processes due to their high protection status, the results can contribute to effective management recommendations for the conservation of urban biodiversity. "Protective measures should include approaches that take artificial light into account. The goal should be to preserve and strengthen a network of dark habitats for bats and other nocturnal species in cities," recommends Voigt.
