Cattle Rotational Grazing Effects on Bat Activity in Southern Appalachia
Location
D.P. Culp Center Room 303
Start Date
4-5-2024 3:30 PM
End Date
4-5-2024 4:30 PM
Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor
Richard Carter
Faculty Sponsor's Department
Biological Sciences
Competition Type
Competitive
Type
Oral Presentation
Presentation Category
Science, Technology and Engineering
Abstract or Artist's Statement
Agricultural intensification significantly contributes to land degradation, habitat fragmentation, and deforestation. This brings a major concern for the substantial loss of biodiversity agriculture can cause if not managed properly. Intensive livestock farming is widespread and dominating rangeland ecosystems globally, causing negative ecological consequences. This intensification will have substantial consequences for native animals within these landscapes. With a lack of data regarding the direct ecological effects caused by livestock presence on species in North America, there is a need to understand which livestock management practice can lessen the adverse ecological effects within agroecosystems. Livestock management practices such as free-range cattle have been shown to provide foraging opportunities for bats. However, there is a European bias on how bats are affected by cattle presence because most of the studies have been in Europe, with the cattle management practice being continuous grazing. Bats in North America are declining due to White-nose syndrome and habitat loss, which causes major concern since bats provide ecological and economic services through insect suppression. This study investigates how cattle rotational grazing affects bat activity and assesses whether the species-specific activity differs when cattle are present vs. not present. The study was conducted in Greene County, Tennessee, at a 152ha farm that practiced cattle rotational grazing with 90 heads of cattle and between four rotational pins. Bioacoustics recorded bat activity when cattle were present and when cattle were not present in 2023 from May 15 to September 20. I hypothesized that there would be a significant increase in bat activity when cattle are present. There will also be a noticeable difference in species-specific activity when comparing cattle presence with no cattle presence. The findings from this study resulted in an overall increase in bat activity when cattle were present. Bat species such as big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), hoary bat (Lasiurus borealis), and evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) showed a significant increase in activity when cattle were present. Species such as the silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), and species within the Myotis genus had a slight increase in bat activity when cattle were present. Meanwhile, the tricolored bat (Pipistrellus subflavus) showed a slight decrease in activity when cattle were present. A better-refined sampling design consisting of more replicates can contribute to the accuracy of depicting the significant difference in species-specific bat activity with the presence of cattle. This information can contribute to better livestock management practices, creating healthy agroecosystems, and determining suitable habitat preferences for bat species.
Cattle Rotational Grazing Effects on Bat Activity in Southern Appalachia
D.P. Culp Center Room 303
Agricultural intensification significantly contributes to land degradation, habitat fragmentation, and deforestation. This brings a major concern for the substantial loss of biodiversity agriculture can cause if not managed properly. Intensive livestock farming is widespread and dominating rangeland ecosystems globally, causing negative ecological consequences. This intensification will have substantial consequences for native animals within these landscapes. With a lack of data regarding the direct ecological effects caused by livestock presence on species in North America, there is a need to understand which livestock management practice can lessen the adverse ecological effects within agroecosystems. Livestock management practices such as free-range cattle have been shown to provide foraging opportunities for bats. However, there is a European bias on how bats are affected by cattle presence because most of the studies have been in Europe, with the cattle management practice being continuous grazing. Bats in North America are declining due to White-nose syndrome and habitat loss, which causes major concern since bats provide ecological and economic services through insect suppression. This study investigates how cattle rotational grazing affects bat activity and assesses whether the species-specific activity differs when cattle are present vs. not present. The study was conducted in Greene County, Tennessee, at a 152ha farm that practiced cattle rotational grazing with 90 heads of cattle and between four rotational pins. Bioacoustics recorded bat activity when cattle were present and when cattle were not present in 2023 from May 15 to September 20. I hypothesized that there would be a significant increase in bat activity when cattle are present. There will also be a noticeable difference in species-specific activity when comparing cattle presence with no cattle presence. The findings from this study resulted in an overall increase in bat activity when cattle were present. Bat species such as big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), hoary bat (Lasiurus borealis), and evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) showed a significant increase in activity when cattle were present. Species such as the silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), and species within the Myotis genus had a slight increase in bat activity when cattle were present. Meanwhile, the tricolored bat (Pipistrellus subflavus) showed a slight decrease in activity when cattle were present. A better-refined sampling design consisting of more replicates can contribute to the accuracy of depicting the significant difference in species-specific bat activity with the presence of cattle. This information can contribute to better livestock management practices, creating healthy agroecosystems, and determining suitable habitat preferences for bat species.