ABSTRACT

Plantations have been reconsidered as important habitats for wildlife, including bats, in recent decades. Although Japan has a high proportion of plantations used for timber production in the forest area, knowledge of the effects of forest management practices such as clearcuttings and thinning on bats is still lacking. We investigated bat activity using bat detectors in evergreen coniferous plantation stands (23 mature stands, and 7 clear-cut stands) in Tochigi prefecture, central Japan. Based on the bat calls, we classified them into four groups: Nyctalus and Vespertilio bats (NYVE), open-space foraging bats; Rhinolophus bats (RH), edge and closed-space foraging bats; Pipistrellus bats (PI), edge foraging bats; and Myotis and Murina bats (MYMU), edge and closed-space foraging bats. We recorded bat calls in each stand from June to September, compared bat activity between mature stands and clear-cut stands, and examined the effects of stand structure on bat activity in mature stands. The activity of all groups (except RH, which had insufficient sample size for statistical testing) was significantly higher in clear-cut stands than in mature stands. The ratio of feeding buzzes to activity (feeding buzz ratio) in the NYVE group was also higher in clear-cut stands than in mature stands. The feeding buzz ratio in the NYVE group showed a significant positive correlation with tree density. Thus, clear-cut stands provide foraging habitats for some bat species, including open-space foraging bats. However, other effects of clearcutting, such as loss of roosting sites, must be considered for the conservation of bats.

摘要

近几十年来，种植园被重新考虑为包括蝙蝠在内的野生动物的重要栖息地。尽管日本的林区用于木材生产的人工林比例很高，但仍缺乏对森林管理实践（如砍伐和间伐对蝙蝠的影响）的了解。我们使用蝙蝠探测器在日本中部枥木县的常绿针叶林林分（23 个成熟林分和 7 个未砍伐林分）中调查了蝙蝠的活动。根据蝙蝠的叫声，我们将它们分为四组：Nyctalus and Vespertilio bats (NYVE)，开放空间觅食蝙蝠；Rhinolophus bats (RH)，边缘和封闭空间觅食蝙蝠；Pipistrellus bats (PI)，边缘觅食蝙蝠；和Myotis和Murina蝙蝠 (MYMU)、边缘和封闭空间觅食蝙蝠。我们记录了 6 月至 9 月每个林分的蝙蝠叫声，比较了成熟林分和未砍伐林分之间的蝙蝠活动，并检查了林分结构对成熟林分中蝙蝠活动的影响。所有组的活动（除了 RH，没有足够的样本量进行统计测试）在空旷林分明显高于成熟林分。NYVE 组的采食嗡嗡声与活动的比值（采食嗡嗡声比）在明伐林分中也高于在成熟林分中。NYVE 组的觅食嗡嗡声比与树木密度呈显着正相关。因此，空旷的林分为一些蝙蝠物种提供了觅食栖息地，包括开放空间觅食蝙蝠。然而，砍伐的其他影响，例如栖息地的丧失，