Both composition and configuration of forests and urban development shape bat activity and diversity in North American temperate forests

Abstract

Temperate forest ecosystems are important habitats for many bat species. However, these habitats are increasingly affected by anthropogenic disturbances, particularly urban development, leading to landscapes with varying land cover composition and configuration. Limited research has examined how forest and urban landscape composition and configuration influence bat activity and diversity. Using a multi-year statewide bat acoustic monitoring dataset from North Carolina, United States, we investigated the effects of forest and urban composition and configuration at multiple spatial scales on bat activity and diversity. First, we constructed single-variable landscape index regression models and found that both composition and configuration of forests and urban developments influenced bat activity and diversity in a species-specific manner. Next, we applied a hierarchical partitioning approach to compare the relative contributions of composition and configuration indices in explaining variance in bat activity. For big brown bats and hoary bats, evergreen forest and urban development composition indices contributed the most to explaining activity variance. In contrast, for eastern red bats, evening bats, and tricolored bats, deciduous forest fragmentation indices describing landscape configuration were the most influential factors. Silver-haired bat activity variance was primarily explained by an evergreen forest fragmentation index. Lastly, urban development configuration indices were the strongest predictors of Mexican free-tailed bat activity and total bat activity. These results suggest that forest and urban landscape configuration should be considered in conservation and management planning for North American temperate forest ecosystems, particularly in regions that have not experienced drastic deforestation in recent decades.