Biology subjects

Petersons, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Petersons, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

A playback paradox? Nathusius' bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, bypass mating and fueling opportunities on migratory transit flights

In late summer, migratory bats of the temperate zone face the challenge of accomplishing two energy-demanding tasks almost at the same time: migration and mating. Both require information and involve search efforts, such as localizing prey or finding potential mates. In non-migrating bat species, playback studies showed that listening to vocalizations of other bats, both con-and heterospecifics, may help a recipient bat to find foraging patches and mating sites. However, we are still unaware of the degree to which migrating bats depend on con- or heterospecific vocalizations for identifying potential feeding or mating opportunities during nightly transit flights. Here, we investigated the vocal responses of Nathusius pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus nathusii, to simulated feeding and courtship aggregations at a coastal migration corridor. We presented migrating bats either feeding buzzes or courtship calls of their own or a heterospecific migratory species, the common noctule, Nyctalus noctula. We expected that during migratory transit flights, simulated feeding opportunities would be particularly attractive to bats, as well as simulated mating opportunities which at the same time indicate suitable roosts for a stopover. However, we found that the echolocation call activity of P. nathusii decreased during the playback of conspecific feeding buzzes and courtship calls, yet the call activity remained unaffected when heterospecific call types were broadcast. Our results therefore suggest that while on migratory transits, P. nathusii circumnavigate conspecific feeding and mating aggregations, possibly to save time or to reduce the risks associated with social interactions. This avoidance behavior could be a result of optimization strategies by P. nathusii when performing long-distance migratory flights.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2020

In situ novel environment assay reveals acoustic exploration as a repeatable behavioral response in migratory bats

Integrating information on species-specific sensory perception together with spatial activity provides a high-resolution understanding of how animals explore environments, yet frequently used exploration assays commonly ignore sensory acquisition as a measure for exploration. Echolocation is an active sensing system used by hundreds of mammal species, primarily bats. As echolocation call activity can be reliably quantified, bats present an excellent animal model to investigate intra-specific variation in environmental cue sampling. Here, we developed an in situ roost-like novel environment assay for tree-cave roosting bats. We repeatedly tested 52 individuals of the migratory bat species, Pipistrellus nathusii, across 24 hours, to examine the role of echolocation when crawling through a maze-type arena and test for consistent intra-specific variation in sensory-based exploration. We reveal a strong correlation between echolocation call activity and spatial activity. Moreover, we show that during the exploration of the maze, individuals consistently differed in spatial activity as well as echolocation call activity given their spatial activity, a behavioral response we term acoustic exploration. Acoustic exploration was correlated with other exploratory behaviors, but not with emergence latency. We here present a relevant new measure for exploration behavior and provide evidence for consistent (short-term) intra-specific variation in the level at which wild bats collect information from a novel environment.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2020

First record of a Nathusius' pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii) overwintering at a latitude above 60°N

Highly mobile species are considered to be the first to respond to climate change by transforming their ranges of distribution. There is evidence suggesting that Pipistrellus nathusii, a long-distance migrant, is expanding both its reproduction and overwintering ranges to the North. We recorded the echolocation calls of bats at 16 sites in South-Western Finland on two consecutive winters, and detected calls of P. nathusii at one of the sites throughout the latter winter. To our knowledge, this is the northernmost observation of an overwintering P. nathusii, and further evidence that the species is already responding to climate change.

ecology↗