![]() ![]() Although applicable for both males and females, this trade-off is probably more important to males, since lack of in mating activities, combined with mating in suboptimal time and place, may decrease their chances of fathering offspring. The migration and mating season overlap, therefore time and energy spent on migration is not available for mating. Mating takes place (almost) exclusively in autumn, female bats store the sperm/ have delayed implantation, and therefore their investment only starts in spring. Migration prior to hibernation not only requires a considerable energy investment, it also involves a long time spent with flying, perhaps alternated with fuel accumulation and time spent waiting for optimal conditions. There are profound differences between the energy choices related to hibernacula selection for male and female bats. Nonetheless bat migration has a substantial impact on energy balance. Such distances are still meagre compared to the tens of thousands of kilometres that some bird species of similar size migrate. Exceptions in Europe are, for example, Nyctalus noctula and Pipistrellus nathusii, with the longest observed distances of up to 3,000 km. Among bats, distances between summer and winter range of more than several hundreds of kilometres are relatively uncommon. Consequently, bats in the Northern hemisphere are sometimes observed migrating northwards from their summer roosts. In contrast, the direction of migration in bats is mostly determined by the location of hibernacula with the suitable physiological requirements. food) to areas of high or increasing resources. Birds and large ungulates move from areas of low or decreasing resources (i.e. The migration behaviour of bats between their summer and winter roosts is unique. In autumn sexes meet in mating roosts, the male roosts, or the winter roosts. In most species, male and female bats live in segregated summer ranges. Due to lack of food resources winters are spent in hibernation. Bat species in the Northern hemisphere are almost all insectivorous (e.g. In contrast to bird migration, bat migration and its specifics are virtually unknown, such as its relation to summer distribution patterns, or how bats cope with energetic challenges and changing habitat. ![]() Interested researchers may contact the Dutch Mammal Society (zoogdiervereninging) via email to All other relevant data will be within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.įunding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Part of the database is under embargo, only accessible for people who are granted special permission. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: Winter count data are owned by the Dutch Mammal Society and due to regulation restrictions (Mining act) are available upon request. Received: Accepted: SeptemPublished: October 28, 2019Ĭopyright: © 2019 Haarsma et al. PLoS ONE 14(10):Įditor: Lyi Mingyang, Peking University, CHINA ![]() Our findings have important conservation implications, as male and female biased hibernation assemblages may differ critically in terms of microclimate preferences.Ĭitation: Haarsma A-J, Lina PHC, Voûte AM, Siepel H (2019) Male long-distance migrant turned sedentary The West European pond bat ( Myotis dasycneme) alters their migration and hibernation behaviour. Our results suggest that choosing a hibernacula closer to the summer range not only decreases energy cost needed for migration, it also lengthens the mating season of the individual male. As male bats do not assist in raising offspring, males have ample time to restore their energy balance after hibernation. We also found evidence for a recent adaptation to this energetic trade-off, males have colonised winter roosts in formerly unoccupied areas, which has consequently led to a change in the migration patterns for the male population of this species. Towards the end of summer, males began losing weight whilst females were simultaneously accumulating fat, suggesting that males were pre-occupied with mating. To investigate these energetic trade-offs, we compared the body mass of male and female pond bats ( Myotis dasycneme) through the summer season, characterized the known hibernacula in terms of male or female bias, and subsequently compared their population trend during two study periods, between 1930–19–2015. During autumn in the temperate zone, insectivorous male bats face a profound energetic challenge, as in the same period they have to make energy choices related to hibernation, mating and migration.
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