Four Years Continuous Monitoring Reveals Different Effects of Urban Constructed Wetlands on Bats

Han Li, Radmila Petric, Zinah Alazzawi, Jake Kauzlarich, Rania H. Mahmoud, Rasheed McFadden, Niklas Perslow, Andrea Rodriguez Flores, Hadi Soufi, Kristina Morales, Matina C. Kalcounis-Rueppell, Malcolm D. Schug and Lindsey A. Zarecky
Additional contact information
Han Li: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Radmila Petric: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Zinah Alazzawi: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Jake Kauzlarich: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Rania H. Mahmoud: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Rasheed McFadden: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Niklas Perslow: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Andrea Rodriguez Flores: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Hadi Soufi: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Kristina Morales: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Matina C. Kalcounis-Rueppell: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada
Malcolm D. Schug: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA
Lindsey A. Zarecky: Greensboro Science Center, Greensboro, NC 27455, USA

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Proactive artificial wetland constructions have been implemented to mitigate the loss of wetlands and their ecosystem services. As wetlands are habitats for bats, short-term (one or two years) studies find that constructed wetlands can immediately increase local bat activity and diversity. However, it is not clear how constructed wetlands affect bats through time while the wetlands are aging. We collected four years of continuous bat acoustic monitoring data at two constructed wetlands in an urban park in Greensboro, NC, USA. We examined bat activity and community composition patterns at these wetlands and compared them with reference sites in the city. With four years of data, we found that the effects of constructed wetlands were both habitat- and species-specific. The wetland in forests significantly increased bat activity, while the wetland in the open grass altered bat community composition. Specifically, in terms of species, we found that over time, constructed wetlands no longer attracted more big brown, silver-haired, or evening bats than control sites while the wetlands aged, highlighting the need to study broadly how each bat species uses natural and artificial wetlands. We emphasize the importance of long-term monitoring and the periodical evaluation of wildlife conservation actions.

Keywords: constructed wetlands; bats; urban ecology; biodiversity; long-term monitoring; acoustics; city parks; community dynamics; conservation evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1087/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/10/1087/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:10:p:1087-:d:656117

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().