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Huszarik M, Roodt AP, Wernicke T, Chávez F, Metz A, Link M, Lima-Fernandes E, Schulz R, Entling MH. Increased bat hunting at polluted streams suggests chemical exposure rather than prey shortage. Sci Total Environ 2023; 905:167080. [PMID: 37722422 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
Streams and their riparian areas are important habitats and foraging sites for bats feeding on emergent aquatic insects. Chemical pollutants entering freshwater streams from agricultural and wastewater sources have been shown to alter aquatic insect emergence, yet little is known about how this impacts insectivorous bats in riparian areas. In this study, we investigate the relationships between the presence of wastewater effluent, in-stream pesticide toxicity, the number of emergent and flying aquatic insects, and the activity and hunting behaviour of bats at 14 streams in southwestern Germany. Stream sites were located in riparian forests, sheltered from direct exposure to pollutants from agricultural and urban areas. We focused on three bat species associated with riparian areas: Myotis daubentonii, M. cf. brandtii, and Pipistrellus pipistrellus. We found that streams with higher pesticide toxicity and more frequent detection of wastewater also tended to be warmer and have higher nutrient and lower oxygen concentrations. We did not observe a reduction of insect emergence, bat activity or hunting rates in association with pesticide toxicity and wastewater detections. Instead, the activity and hunting rates of Myotis spp. were higher at more polluted sites. The observed increase in bat hunting at more polluted streams suggests that instead of reduced prey availability, chemical pollution at the levels measured in the present study could expose bats to pollutants transported from the stream by emergent aquatic insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maike Huszarik
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany.
| | - Alexis P Roodt
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
| | - Teagan Wernicke
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
| | - Fernanda Chávez
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
| | - Annika Metz
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
| | - Moritz Link
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
| | - Eva Lima-Fernandes
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
| | - Ralf Schulz
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany; Eußerthal Ecosystem Research Station, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Birkenthalstr. 13, 76857 Eußerthal, Germany
| | - Martin H Entling
- iES Landau, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz, Germany
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