Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.
Conserv Biol. 2024 Aug;38(4):e14246. doi: 10.1111/cobi.14246. Epub 2024 Mar 6.
Climate refugia, areas where climate is expected to remain relatively stable, can offer a near-term safe haven for species sensitive to warming temperatures and drought. Understanding the influence of temperature, moisture, and disturbance on sensitive species is critical during this time of rapid climate change. Coastal habitats can serve as important refugia. Many of these areas consist of working forestlands, and there is a growing recognition that conservation efforts worldwide must consider the habitat value of working lands, in addition to protected areas, to effectively manage large landscapes that support biodiversity. The sensitivity of forest bats to climate and habitat disturbance makes them a useful indicator taxon. We tested how microclimate and forest management influence habitat use for 13 species of insectivorous bats in a large climate refugium in a global biodiversity hotspot. We examined whether bat activity during the summer dry season is greater in forests where coastal fog provides moisture and more stable temperatures across both protected mature stands and those regularly logged. Acoustic monitoring was conducted at a landscape scale with 20 study sites, and generalized linear mixed models were used to examine the influence of habitat variables. Six species were positively associated with warmer nighttime temperature, and 5 species had a negative relationship with humidity or a positive relationship with climatic moisture deficit. Our results suggest that these mammals may have greater climate adaptive capacity than expected, and, for now, that habitat use may be more related to optimal foraging conditions than to avoidance of warming temperatures and drought. We also determined that 12 of the 13 regionally present bat species were regularly detected in commercial timberland stands. Because forest bats are highly mobile, forage over long distances, and frequently change roosts, the stewardship of working forests must be addressed to protect these species.
气候避难所是指那些预计气候相对稳定的地区，可以为对气温升高和干旱敏感的物种提供短期的安全避难所。在这个快速气候变化的时期，了解温度、湿度和干扰对敏感物种的影响至关重要。沿海栖息地可以作为重要的避难所。许多这些地区都由工作林地组成，人们越来越认识到，为了有效地管理支持生物多样性的大型景观，全球的保护工作必须考虑到工作土地的栖息地价值，除了保护区之外。森林蝙蝠对气候和栖息地干扰的敏感性使它们成为有用的指示分类群。我们测试了微气候和森林管理如何影响 13 种食虫蝙蝠在一个大的气候避难所中的栖息地利用，该避难所在全球生物多样性热点地区。我们研究了在沿海雾提供水分和更稳定的温度的情况下，夏季干旱季节蝙蝠活动是否在保护成熟林和定期采伐林中更大，这两种情况下的森林管理。在景观尺度上进行了声学监测，有 20 个研究点，使用广义线性混合模型来研究栖息地变量的影响。有 6 种蝙蝠与夜间温暖的温度呈正相关，5 种蝙蝠与湿度呈负相关或与气候水分亏缺呈正相关。我们的结果表明，这些哺乳动物可能比预期的有更大的气候适应能力，目前，栖息地的利用可能与最佳觅食条件有关，而不是避免气温升高和干旱。我们还确定，13 种区域性存在的蝙蝠物种中有 12 种经常在商业林地中被检测到。由于森林蝙蝠具有高度的流动性，在长距离觅食，并经常更换栖息地，因此必须对工作林地进行管理，以保护这些物种。
