Insectivorous bat foraging tracks the availability of aquatic flies (Diptera)

Author:

Metcalfe Anya N.1ORCID,Fritzinger Carol A.1,Weller Theodore J.2ORCID,Dodrill Michael J.3ORCID,Muehlbauer Jeffrey D.4ORCID,Yackulic Charles B.1ORCID,Holton P. Brandon5,Szydlo Cheyenne M.1ORCID,Durning Laura E.6ORCID,Sankey Joel B.1ORCID,Kennedy Theodore A.1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center Flagstaff AZ 86001 USA

2. U.S. Department of Agriculture Pacific Southwest Research Station Arcata CA 95521 USA

3. U.S. Geological Survey Western Fisheries Research Center, Colombia River Research Laboratory Cook WA 96805 USA

4. U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks AK 99775 USA

5. U.S. National Park Service Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon AZ 86023 USA

6. Northern Arizona University, School of Earth and Sustainability Flagstaff AZ 86011 USA

Abstract

AbstractRivers and their adjacent riparian zones are model ecosystems for observing cross‐ecosystem energy transfers. Aquatic insects emerging from streams, for example, are resource subsidies that support riparian consumers such as birds, spiders, lizards, and bats. We collaborated with recreational river runners in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, to record acoustic bat activity and sample riparian insects using light traps at dusk from April through October 2017–2020. River runners collected these data on 1,428 events over 611 sampling nights at 410 sites throughout a 470‐km segment of the Colorado River. We documented 71 insect taxa in light traps and recorded 19 bat species with acoustic detectors. We hypothesized that bat activity along this highly regulated river segment would be influenced primarily by variation in prey availability, as compared to other habitat descriptors. We predicted that bat activity would be positively related to aquatic insect catch rates and unrelated to terrestrial insect abundance. We fit Bayesian regression models to test these hypotheses and to quantify the relationship between bat activity and a suite of environmental variables: time of year, time of day, distance from perennial tributaries, distance from rapids, channel width, geomorphic reach, tall vegetation cover, air temperature, and lunar phase. Bat activity was positively related to the abundance of aquatic flies (Diptera), which outcompeted all other prey categories and structural habitat descriptors in our models. Within our dusk sampling period, activity of small myotis (California myotis [Myotis californicus] and Yuma myotis [M. yumanensis]) was high late in the evening and canyon bats (Parastrellus hesperus), conversely, were more active early in the evening. Activity of canyon bats varied seasonally, with peak activity in August. Our results support the hypothesis that aquatic prey, specifically aquatic flies, are key predictors of bat activity along a large, regulated river corridor and demonstrate the power of community science as a tool for ecosystem monitoring.

Funder

U.S. Department of Agriculture

National Park Service

U.S. Geological Survey

Publisher

Wiley

Subject

Nature and Landscape Conservation,Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics,Nature and Landscape Conservation,Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Reference58 articles.

1. Hydropeaking intensity and dam proximity limit aquatic invertebrate diversity in the Colorado River Basin

2. Bat Acoustic Monitoring Portal [BatAMP].2023. BatAMP homepage. . Accessed 22 Mar 2023.

3. Nervous habitat patches: the effect of hydropeaking on habitat dynamics;Bätz N.;River Research and Applications,2022

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