The rapid rate of urbanisation over the past century has occurred over a relatively small proportion of the earth's surface, yet it has had considerable ecological impact at a global scale. Urban waterways have historically been regarded as a disposable resource for human benefit which has had severe biological consequences. River rehabilitation schemes are attempting to address this; however restoration is frequently undertaken with minimal scientific input and fails to improve biodiversity. Many bat species are strongly associated with aquatic or adjacent riparian habitats but respond negatively to the built environment; however, we know little about the utilisation of urban waterways by bats. We therefore conducted a wide scale, multi-species study that examined how local habitat characteristics and the composition and heterogeneity of the surrounding landscape influence bat presence and activity along urban waterways. We recorded a total of 19, 689 bat passes of seven species/genera from 30 urban waterways throughout the U.K. We show that the built environment can negatively affect a variety of species from the riparian zone up to 3. km from a waterway. Additionally, Myotis sp. activity was greater in waterways bounded by steep banksides and clear of invasive plant species. We also found differences in the response of two cryptic pipistrelle species to the built environment at multiple spatial scales indicating the difficulties of assessing how adaptable even morphologically similar species are to urbanisation. Beneficial urban waterway rehabilitation schemes for bats require management at multiple spatial scales. At a local scale, retaining a vegetated riparian zone, with a reduction in invasive aquatic plant species, is likely to benefit a variety of taxa. At a landscape scale, our results show that the influence of the built environment can stretch a considerable distance highlighting the necessity for conservation funding to be spent on the implementation of landscape scale environmental improvement schemes which encompass the entire urban matrix.

Urbanization is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity; to mitigate its adverse effects, it is essential to understand what drives species' patterns of habitat use within the urban matrix. While many animal species are known to exhibit sex differences in habitat use, adaptability to the urban landscape is commonly examined at the species level, without consideration of intraspecific differences. The high energetic demands of pregnancy and lactation in female mammals can lead to sexual differences in habitat use, but little is known of how this might affect their response to urbanization. We predicted that female Pipistrellus pygmaeus would show greater selectivity of forging locations within urban woodland in comparison to males at both a local and landscape scale. In line with these predictions, we found there was a lower probability of finding females within woodlands which were poorly connected, highly cluttered, with a higher edge : interior ratio and fewer mature trees. By contrast, habitat quality and the composition of the surrounding landscape were less of a limiting factor in determining male distributions. These results indicate strong sexual differences in the habitat use of fragmented urban woodland, and this has important implications for our understanding of the adaptability of bats and mammals more generally to urbanization.

Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are used globally as the evidence-base for planning decisions, yet their efficacy is uncertain. Given that EIAs are extremely expensive and are enshrined in legislation, their place in evidence-based decision making deserves evaluation. The mean is the most commonly used summary statistic in ecological assessments, yet it is unlikely to be a good summary where the distribution of data is skewed; and its use without any indication of variability can be highly misleading. Here, using bats as an example, we show that EIAs frequently summarise these data using the mean or fail to define the term ‘average’. This can lead to the systematic misinterpretation of evidence which has serious implications for assessing risk. There is therefore a pressing need for guidance to specify data processing techniques so that planning decisions are made on a firm evidence-base. By ensuring that data processing is systematic and transparent it will result in mitigation decisions and conservation strategies that are cost-effective and proportionate to the predicted degree of risk.

Acoustic surveys of bats are one of the techniques most commonly used by ecological practitioners. The results are used in Ecological Impact Assessments to assess the likely impacts of future developments on species that are widely protected in law, and to monitor developments’ postconstruction. However, there is no standardized methodology for analyzing or interpreting these data, which can make the assessment of the ecological value of a site very subjective. Comparisons of sites and projects are therefore difficult for ecologists and decision-makers, for example, when trying to identify the best location for a new road based on relative bat activity levels along alternative routes. Here, we present a new web-based, data-driven tool, Ecobat, which addresses the need for a more robust way of interpreting ecological data. Ecobat offers users an easy, standardized, and objective method for analyzing bat activity data. It allows ecological practitioners to compare bat activity data at regional and national scales and to generate a numerical indicator of the relative importance of a night's worth of bat activity. The tool is free and open-source; because the underlying algorithms are already developed, it could easily be expanded to new geographical regions and species. Data donation is required to ensure the robustness of the analyses; we use a positive feedback mechanism to encourage ecological practitioners to share data by providing in return high quality, contextualized data analysis, and graphical visualizations for direct use in ecological reports.

Commercial plantations are primarily managed for timber production, and are frequently considered poor for biodiversity, particularly for mammalian species. Bats, which constitute one fifth of mammal species worldwide, have undergone large declines throughout Europe, most likely due to widespread habitat loss and degradation. Bat use of modified landscapes such as urban or agricultural environments has been relatively well studied, however, intensively managed plantations have received less attention, particularly in Europe. We assessed three of the largest, most intensively managed plantations in the UK for the occurrence of bats, activity levels and relative abundance in response to environmental characteristics at multiple spatial scales, using an information theoretic approach. We recorded or captured nine species; Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus were the most commonly recorded species on acoustic detectors and female P. pygmaeus were the most commonly captured. The influence of environmental characteristics on bat activity varied by species or genus, although all bat species avoided dense stands. Occurrence and activity of clutter and edge adapted species were associated with lower stand densities and more heterogeneous landscapes whereas open adapted bats were more likely to be recorded at felled stands and less likely in areas that were predominantly mature conifer woodland. In addition, despite morphological similarities, P. pipstrellus and P. pygmaeus were found foraging in different parts of the plantation. This study demonstrates that with sympathetic management, non-native conifer plantations may have an important role in maintaining and supporting bat populations, particularly for Pipistrellus spp.

Demand for renewable energy is rising exponentially. While this has benefits in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there may be costs to biodiversity [1]. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are the main tool used across the world to predict the overall positive and negative effects of renewable energy developments before planning consent is given, and the Ecological Impact Assessments (EcIAs) within them assess their species-specific effects. Given that EIAs are undertaken globally, are extremely expensive, and are enshrined in legislation, their place in evidence-based decision making deserves evaluation. Here we assess how well EIAs of wind-farm developments protect bats. We found they do not predict the risks to bats accurately, and even in those cases where high risk was correctly identified, the mitigation deployed did not avert the risk. Given that the primary purpose of an EIA is to make planning decisions evidence-based, our results indicate that EIA mitigation strategies used to date have been ineffective in protecting bats. In the future, greater emphasis should be placed on assessing the actual impacts post-construction and on developing effective mitigation strategies.

Urbanisation is one of the most dramatic forms of land use change which relatively few species can adapt to. Determining how and why species respond differently to urban habitats is important in predicting future biodiversity loss as urban areas rapidly expand. Understanding how morphological or behavioural traits can influence species adaptability to the built environment may enable us to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts. Although many bat species are able to exploit human resources, bat species richness generally declines with increasing urbanisation and there is considerable variation in the responses of different bat species to urbanisation. Here, we use acoustic recordings from two cryptic, and largely sympatric European bat species to assess differential responses in their use of fragmented urban woodland and the surrounding urban matrix. There was a high probability of P. pygmaeus activity relative to P. pipistrellus in woodlands with low clutter and understory cover which were surrounded by low levels of built environment. Additionally, the probability of recording P. pygmaeus relative to P. pipistrellus was considerably higher in urban woodland interior or edge habitat in contrast to urban grey or non-wooded green space. These results show differential habitat use occurring between two morphologically similar species; whilst the underlying mechanism for this partitioning is unknown it may be driven by competition avoidance over foraging resources. Their differing response to urbanisation indicates the difficulties involved when attempting to assess how adaptable a species is to urbanisation for conservation purposes.

The rapid rate of urbanisation over the past century has occurred over a relatively small proportion of the earth's surface, yet it has had considerable ecological impact at a global scale. Urban waterways have historically been regarded as a disposable resource for human benefit which has had severe biological consequences. River rehabilitation schemes are attempting to address this; however restoration is frequently undertaken with minimal scientific input and fails to improve biodiversity. Many bat species are strongly associated with aquatic or adjacent riparian habitats but respond negatively to the built environment; however, we know little about the utilisation of urban waterways by bats. We therefore conducted a wide scale, multi-species study that examined how local habitat characteristics and the composition and heterogeneity of the surrounding landscape influence bat presence and activity along urban waterways. We recorded a total of 19, 689 bat passes of seven species/genera from 30 urban waterways throughout the U.K. We show that the built environment can negatively affect a variety of species from the riparian zone up to 3. km from a waterway. Additionally, Myotis sp. activity was greater in waterways bounded by steep banksides and clear of invasive plant species. We also found differences in the response of two cryptic pipistrelle species to the built environment at multiple spatial scales indicating the difficulties of assessing how adaptable even morphologically similar species are to urbanisation. Beneficial urban waterway rehabilitation schemes for bats require management at multiple spatial scales. At a local scale, retaining a vegetated riparian zone, with a reduction in invasive aquatic plant species, is likely to benefit a variety of taxa. At a landscape scale, our results show that the influence of the built environment can stretch a considerable distance highlighting the necessity for conservation funding to be spent on the implementation of landscape scale environmental improvement schemes which encompass the entire urban matrix.

Urbanization is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity; to mitigate its adverse effects, it is essential to understand what drives species' patterns of habitat use within the urban matrix. While many animal species are known to exhibit sex differences in habitat use, adaptability to the urban landscape is commonly examined at the species level, without consideration of intraspecific differences. The high energetic demands of pregnancy and lactation in female mammals can lead to sexual differences in habitat use, but little is known of how this might affect their response to urbanization. We predicted that female Pipistrellus pygmaeus would show greater selectivity of forging locations within urban woodland in comparison to males at both a local and landscape scale. In line with these predictions, we found there was a lower probability of finding females within woodlands which were poorly connected, highly cluttered, with a higher edge : interior ratio and fewer mature trees. By contrast, habitat quality and the composition of the surrounding landscape were less of a limiting factor in determining male distributions. These results indicate strong sexual differences in the habitat use of fragmented urban woodland, and this has important implications for our understanding of the adaptability of bats and mammals more generally to urbanization.

Urban expansion threatens global biodiversity through the destruction of natural and semi-natural habitats and increased levels of disturbance. Whilst woodlands in urban areas may reduce the impact of urbanisation on biodiversity, they are often subject to under or over-management and consist of small, fragmented patches which may be isolated. Effective management strategies for urban woodland require an understanding of the ecology and habitat requirements of all relevant taxa. Yet, little is known of how invertebrate, and in particular moth, assemblages utilise urban woodland despite being commonly found within the urban landscape. Here we show that the abundance, species richness, and species diversity of moth assemblages found within urban woodlands are determined by woodland vegetation character, patch configuration and the surrounding landscape. In general, mature broadleaved woodlands supported the highest abundance and diversity of moths. Large compact woodlands with proportionally less edge exposed to the surrounding matrix were associated with higher moth abundance than small complex woodlands. Woodland vegetation characteristics were more important than the surrounding landscape, suggesting that management at a local scale to ensure provision of good quality habitat may be relatively more important for moth populations than improving habitat connectivity across the urban matrix. Our results show that the planting of broadleaved woodlands, retaining mature trees and minimising woodland fragmentation will be beneficial for moth assemblages. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.