Robust ecological assessments are fundamental for effective wildlife conservation. Owing to the high legal protection of bats, surveys are frequently required as part of ecological assessments. Yet there is uncertainty about the amount of survey effort that should be deployed to facilitate bat protection. Bat activity can be extremely variable, and capturing periods of high activity can be as important as estimating parameters such as the median activity level. However the frequency and intensity of surveys required to capture the required information is unknown. Here we assessed the probability that acoustic surveys of differing durations would detect periods of high activity within a focal site and the importance of a site relative to others in a regional or national context. We randomly subsampled from 660 nights of activity data collected from 33 wind farm sites across Britain. The minimum surveying effort required to classify bat activity accurately varied between species and was dependent on weather conditions. We found that the survey periods required to give reasonable certainty in assessing risk exceeded those currently recommended in Europe. The approach of using bat activity accumulation curves, as described here, is transferrable to other situations where determining surveying effort and risk is necessary to ensure that ecological assessments provide a robust evidence base, whilst minimising the time and expense of surveys.

中文翻译：

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在蝙蝠活动的生态评估中指定调查工作的循证方法

稳健的生态评估是有效保护野生动物的基础。由于蝙蝠受到高度法律保护，因此经常需要将调查作为生态评估的一部分。然而，为促进蝙蝠保护而应部署的调查工作量存在不确定性。蝙蝠的活动可能非常多变，捕捉高活动期可能与估计参数（如中值活动水平）一样重要。然而，获取所需信息所需的调查频率和强度是未知的。在这里，我们评估了不同持续时间的声学调查将检测到焦点站点内高活动时期的可能性，以及一个站点在区域或国家范围内相对于其他站点的重要性。我们从英国 33 个风电场站点收集的 660 个晚上的活动数据中随机抽样。对蝙蝠活动进行准确分类所需的最少调查工作因物种而异，并取决于天气条件。我们发现在评估风险时给出合理确定性所需的调查期超过了目前欧洲推荐的调查期。如此处所述，使用蝙蝠活动累积曲线的方法可转移到其他情况，在这些情况下，确定调查工作和风险是必要的，以确保生态评估提供可靠的证据基础，同时最大限度地减少调查的时间和费用。我们发现在评估风险时给出合理确定性所需的调查期超过了目前欧洲推荐的调查期。如此处所述，使用蝙蝠活动累积曲线的方法可转移到其他情况，在这些情况下，确定调查工作和风险是必要的，以确保生态评估提供可靠的证据基础，同时最大限度地减少调查的时间和费用。我们发现在评估风险时给出合理确定性所需的调查期超过了目前欧洲推荐的调查期。如此处所述，使用蝙蝠活动累积曲线的方法可转移到其他情况，在这些情况下，确定调查工作和风险是必要的，以确保生态评估提供可靠的证据基础，同时最大限度地减少调查的时间和费用。