Are vegetation interfaces important to foraging insectivorous bats in endangered coastal saltmarsh on the Central Coast of New South Wales?

Abstract

Conservation of insectivorous bats and their habitats is of increasing concern in Australia and linear elements in the landscape form important foraging habitats for many species. Only recently has use of endangered coastal saltmarsh habitat by bats been documented. Vegetation adjoining saltmarsh provides echolocating bats with linear elements that may be used while foraging and commuting to patches of high insect abundance. We used acoustic detectors to investigate whether individual species and total bat activity along seaward and landward saltmarsh edges was different to the interior of the saltmarsh. Four taxa accounted for greater than 80 % of all bat activity in each zone with similar taxa recorded in both edge and interior zones. However, significantly more bat activity was recorded in edge zones. While differences in microhabitat use by individual species were also found, bat morphology did not account for the observed differences. Conservation managers of saltmarsh and adjoining habitats should consider potential impacts of management actions on foraging bats and their prey. Retention of strips of edge vegetation may help to balance the conservation requirements of endangered coastal saltmarsh habitats and the foraging insectivorous bat populations they sustain.