Climate Change

By NABCANABCA, on 17 Mar 2017 06:14

Threat Description

The impact of changes in climate patterns on bats and bat habitat. This includes potential impacts such as large-scale shifts in ecosystems (‘ecosystem encroachment’) that reduce the quantity of quality of foraging or roosting habitat, broad-scale changes in temperature (both means and seasonal variability) that negatively impact suitability of foraging or roosting habitat, including hibernacula, changes in timing of precipitation that negatively impacts the seasonal phenology of bats in terms of prey availability or energy budgets, changes in timing or extent of precipitation that alters hydrological cycles to an extent that impacts foraging habitat or insect prey abundance and impacts of severe storms (both frequency and severity) on foraging and roosting habitat of bats.

Perceived Importance of this Threat

The apparent importance of this threat [add]

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Mitigation Measures

Potential Impact Potential Effect on Bats Potential Mitigation Measures
Large-scale shifts in ecosystems Reduce the quantity of quality of foraging or roosting habitat Maintain adequate roosting habitat by managing for a mix of live, dead and dying trees in proximity to high quality foraging habitat.

Ensure that foraging and roosting habitats have adequate commuting habitat (e.g., tree rows)
Broad-scale changes in temperature both means and seasonal variability Negatively impact suitability of foraging or roosting habitat, including hibernacula Ensure that underground hibernacula that are critical to many species of bats during winter are identified and protected.

Also ensure that gating or other means of protecting underground roosts do not alter the temperature, humidity and airflow regimes in ways that negatively affect conditions for efficient hibernation of bats.

Explore the potential for and efficacy of man-made hibernation options (e.g., bunkers)
Changes in timing of precipitation May negatively impact the seasonal phenology of bats in terms of prey availability or energy budgets. Negatively impacts foraging habitat or insect prey abundance.

Impacts of severe storms (both frequency and severity) on foraging and roosting habitat of bats
Maintain a diversity of plants including trees and shrubs that support a diverse community of insects.

An increase in frequency and/or severity of severe storms can reduce the availability of ephemeral roost structures by breaking or toppling them. Maintaining multi-age stands and/or girdling trees on a regular basis can ensure a steady supply of potential roost structures.

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Challenges/Barriers to Addressing this Threat

Impacts to bats from climate change are difficult to predict and assess given the relatively long time scales of climate change and the indirect nature of the effects on bats. Unlike some direct effects (e.g., disturbance at hibernacula) effects of climate change on bats are likely to be less direct and less clearly demonstrable. Efforts to infer effects of climate change will generally require long-term studies of bat activity patterns and habitat use, especially those that can be clearly linked to specific biotic and abiotic changes associated with climate change, or comparison of current patterns to historical patterns if the latter exist in sufficient detail.

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