Abstract Roads are a potential threat to bat conservation. In addition to the direct risk of collision of bats with vehicles, roads could pose a threat to bat populations as a result of habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, and could act as barriers to movements of bats between habitats. We performed a systematic review of the literature and conducted meta‐analyses to assess the threat posed by roads to bats as a result of 1) collisions between bats and vehicles and 2) roads acting as barriers to movements of bats. Based on collated records of 1207 bat road casualties in Europe, we found that low‐flying species are more prone to collisions than high‐flying species, and that juveniles are more vulnerable to collisions than adults. In addition, meta‐analysis identified a significant bias towards male casualties. Casualties included rare species such as Barbastella barbastellus and geographically restricted species such as Rhinolophus species. The bias towards male casualties could be indicative of greater natal philopatry or lower dispersal among females, or of sexual segregation in habitats of varying quality, i.e. females may occupy better quality habitats than males, and road density may be lower in better quality habitats. Whether or not roads act as barriers to the movement of bats depends on a complex interplay of habitat and species‐specific behaviour. For example, the presence of favourable habitat for bats – notably woodland – was found in this review to be linked with significantly reduced barrier effects but a heightened risk of collision. Our data suggest that roads do pose a threat to bats. Future research should assess the contribution of traffic noise and street lighting to the barrier effect of roads. Where new road schemes are monitored by ecological practitioners, it is vital that consistent protocols are employed to ensure that bat activity can be compared before and after the road is built. Evidence from such research should be used to minimize the risks for bats of any roads built in the future, and to design safe crossing points for bats.

中文翻译：

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道路和蝙蝠：对车辆碰撞和障碍效应证据的元分析和审查

摘要 道路是蝙蝠保护的潜在威胁。除了蝙蝠与车辆碰撞的直接风险外，道路还可能因栖息地丧失、退化和破碎而对蝙蝠种群构成威胁，并可能成为蝙蝠在栖息地之间移动的障碍。我们对文献进行了系统回顾并进行了荟萃分析，以评估道路对蝙蝠造成的威胁，因为 1) 蝙蝠与车辆之间的碰撞以及 2) 道路作为蝙蝠移动的障碍。根据对欧洲 1207 起蝙蝠道路伤亡事件的整理记录，我们发现低空飞行的物种比高空飞行的物种更容易发生碰撞，而且幼鸟比成鸟更容易发生碰撞。此外，荟萃分析确定了对男性伤亡的重大偏见。伤亡包括稀有物种，如 Barbastella barbastellus 和地理限制物种，如 Rhinolophus 物种。对男性伤亡的偏见可能表明更多的出生亲缘关系或女性之间的分散程度较低，或在不同质量的栖息地中存在性别隔离，即女性可能比男性占据更好的栖息地，并且在质量更好的栖息地中道路密度可能较低。道路是否成为蝙蝠移动的障碍取决于栖息地和物种特定行为的复杂相互作用。例如，在本次审查中发现，有利的蝙蝠栖息地（尤其是林地）的存在与屏障效应显着降低但碰撞风险增加有关。我们的数据表明道路确实对蝙蝠构成了威胁。未来的研究应该评估交通噪声和街道照明对道路屏障效应的贡献。在生态从业者监控新道路计划的情况下，必须采用一致的协议来确保可以比较道路建设前后的蝙蝠活动。此类研究的证据应用于将未来修建的任何道路对蝙蝠的风险降至最低，并为蝙蝠设计安全的过境点。