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Wind energy production is growing rapidly worldwide in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, wind energy production is not environmentally neutral. Negative impacts on volant animals, such as bats, include fatalities at turbines and habitat loss due to land-use change and displacement. Siting turbines away from ecologically sensitive areas and implementing measures to reduce fatalities are critical to protecting bat populations. Restricting turbine operations during periods of high bat activity is the most effective form of mitigation currently available to reduce fatalities. Compensating for habitat loss and offsetting mortality are not often practiced, because meaningful offsets are lacking. Legal frameworks to prevent or mitigate the negative impacts of wind energy on bats are absent in most countries, especially in emerging markets. Therefore, governments and lending institutions are key in reconciling wind energy production with biodiversity goals by requiring sufficient environmental standards for wind energy projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest management rarely considers protecting bats in Fennoscandian regions although all species rely on forest habitat at some point in their annual cycle. This issue is especially evident as wind parks have increasingly been developed inside Fennoscandian forests, against the advice of international bat conservation guidelines. In this study, we aimed to describe and explain bat community dynamics at a Norwegian wind park located in a boreal forest, especially to understand potential avoidance or attraction effects. The bat community was sampled acoustically and described using foraging guilds (short, medium, and long-range echolocators; SRE, MRE, LRE) as well as behavior (commuting, feeding and social calls). Sampling was undertaken at two locations per turbine: 1) the turbine pad and 2) a paired natural habitat at ground level, as well as from a meteorological tower. We used a recently developed method for camera trapping nocturnal flying insects synchronously with bat acoustic activity. Our results reveal trends in feeding and general bat activity across foraging guilds in relation to insect availability, habitat type, wind, temperature, and seasonality. We show how seasonal patterns in behavior across guilds were affected by habitat type, temperature, and wind. We found that SRE commuting and especially feeding activity was highest in natural habitats, whereas LRE overall activity at habitats more season dependent. We found that nocturnal insect availability was positively correlated with total bat feeding activity throughout the night. Our results provide evidence for both direct and indirect risks to bat communities by wind parks: SRE bat habitat is lost to wind energy infrastructure and LRE bat may have an increased risk of fatality. Our findings provide important insights on seasonal and spatial variability in bat activity, which can inform standardizing monitoring of bats acoustically in boreal forests, at wind parks, and in combination with non-invasive insect monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We Review How Different Bat Guilds Respond To Artificial Light At Night (Alan) And Assess How The Impacts Can Vary According To Ecological Context. All Studied European Species Respond Negatively To Alan Close To Roosts And Drinking Sites, And The Impacts Occur Across A Wide Range Of Light Colors And Intensities. Most Bat Species Are Sensitive To Alan When Commuting And Foraging. Although Narrow-Space-Foraging Bat Species Consistently Avoid Alan When Foraging, Open And Edge-Space-Foraging Species May Exploit Insects Lured By Alan. Therefore, Alan Acts As An Environmental Filter On Bat Assemblages. Considering The Detrimental Effect Of Alan On Insects, We Conclude That Alan Probably Has Negative Impacts On All Bat Species, Even On Those Foraging At Streetlights. The Sprawl Of Alan May Be A Key Factor Driving The Decline Of Bat Diversity Globally, And The Current Trajectory Of Increasing Alan Is Therefore Of Considerable Concern For Bat Conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Understanding how species interact with agricultural landscapes is essential for future conservation efforts. Using a large-scale citizen science project, we examined the influence linear features have on bat activity compared to the centre of agricultural fields and detailed the effect of different types of linear features (intensively managed hedgerows, sympathetically managed hedgerows and treelines). Our results showed that all 10 bat species groups identified during surveys occurred both in the centre of fields as well as along linear features. Out of the five species groups analysed further, only Nyctalus noctula had no preference for linear features, compared to the centre of agricultural fields; however, 29% of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum calls were recorded in the centre of fields. More species were active near treelines compared to other linear feature types. Our results highlight the importance of linear feature management to bat conservation, but also the need to consider field centres during survey design and Environmental Impact Assessments 1. Bats are important components of agricultural ecosystems. However, little is known about the extent to which bats use linear features when foraging and commuting in agricultural settings, when compared to the interior of fields. 2. As part of a large-scale citizen science project, bat detectors were placed in the centre of agricultural fields (arable and pasture) and along linear features (intensively managed hedgerows, sympathetically managed hedgerows and treelines). 3. Our results show that all 10 of the bat species groups identified were found both along linear features and in the middle of agricultural fields. Of the five species groups analysed further, all had significantly more bat activity along linear features compared to the middle of fields, except for Nyctalus noctula. However, our results showed that 29% of calls from Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were recorded in the middle of agricultural fields, compared to only 10% for Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Bat activity was more likely to be associated with treelines compared to other linear feature types. 4. Our results highlight the importance of linear feature management to bat conservation, but also the need to consider field centres during survey design and Environmental Impact Assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife trade is a major economic activity but can pose a threat to many species. Previous research has focused on the trade of bats (Chiroptera) for food and medicine but little is known about the online, international trade in bat taxidermy and specimens, which is thought to be an emerging threat. We aimed to characterise this trade by sampling two major e-commerce platforms over an 18-month period. We used an automated pipeline, whereby data were accessed programmatically; filtered using a neural-network classifier; and the locations and species mentioned in relevant listings were identified using Named Entity Recognition. We retrieved 40,412 relevant results, representing 2363 and 2116 unique listings from Etsy and eBay, respectively. Although the accuracy of listings could not be verified, most (57 %) provided species-level information. Hence, 47 bat species were listed for sale, of which 32 are not currently identified by the IUCN Red List as traded for any purpose. The highest number of listings were sold from USA, Hong Kong and the UK, whilst traded species' ranges were predominantly located in South East Asia. We provide one of the first longitudinal datasets on the online bat trade, indicating that several species are being traded at potentially high volumes, with demand from North America and Europe driving exploitation in South East Asia. This is concerning for highly-traded species which occur at low densities, such as the painted wooly bat Kerivoula picta. Our automated pipeline can be used for subsequent monitoring of this trade, or could be adapted for monitoring of trade in other taxa. • Bats are increasingly targeted for sale as decorative objects. • Automated monitoring of e-commerce platforms reveals extent of online bat trade. • Sale of bats occurs mainly in Europe and North America. • Geographical ranges of species sold online suggest South East Asia is a sourcing hotspot. • More work is required to determine sustainability of bat harvesting for online trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]