A review of horseshoe bats flight lines and feeding areas. G. Billington & M.D Rawlinson CCW Science Report No. 755 © CCGC/CCW 2006 You may reproduce this document free of charge for non-commercial and internal business purposes in any format or medium, provided that you do so accurately, acknowledging both the source and Countryside Council for Wales's copyright, and do not use it in a misleading context. This is a report of research commissioned by the Countryside Council for Wales. However, the views and recommendations presented in this report are not necessarily those of the Council and should, therefore, not be attributed to the Countryside Council for Wales. Report series: CCW Science Report Report number: No. 755 Publication date: September 2006 Contract number: FC 73-01-406 Contractor: Greena Ecological Consultancy Contract Manager: Liz Halliwell Title: A review of horseshoe bat flight lines and feeding areas Author(s): G. Billington, M.D Rawlinson Restrictions: None Distribution list (core): CCW HQ Library, Bangor National Library of Wales CCW North Region Library, Mold British Library CCW North Region Library, Bangor Welsh Assembly Government Library CCW S&E Region Library, Cardiff Joint Nature Conservation Committee Library CCW S&E Region Library, Llandrindod Scottish Natural Heritage Library CCW West Region Library, Aberystwyth Natural England Library Distribution list (others): Jane Garner, CCW South & East Wales Richard Dodd, Bat Conservation Trust Region Steve Lucas, West Wales Region Matthew Ellis, CCW North Wales Region Liz Halliwell/Jean Matthews – HQ Vincent Wildlife Trust Clive Hurford - HQ Peter Smith Peter Andrews Tony Mitchell-Jones, EN Geoff Billington Jessa Battersby, JNCC Bob Stebbings David Bullock - National Trust Recommended citation for this volume: Billington, G., Rawlinson, M.D. 2006. A Review of horseshoe bat flight lines and foraging areas. CCW Science Report No: 755, 23pp, CCW, Bangor. CCW Natural Science Report No. 755 CONTENTS CONTENTS __________________________________________________________________i CRYNODEB GWEITHREDOL _________________________________________________ ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY______________________________________________________iii 1 Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 4 1.1 Evolution/ Ecology_______________________________________________________ 4 1.1.1 Greater horseshoe bats _________________________________________________ 4 1.1.2 Lesser horseshoe bats__________________________________________________ 5 1.1.3 Flight morphology ____________________________________________________ 5 1.2 Roosting Ecology ________________________________________________________ 6 1.3 Key threats to bats_______________________________________________________ 8 1.4 Legislation _____________________________________________________________ 8 1.4.1 The Bern Convention __________________________________________________ 8 1.4.2 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act _______________________________________ 8 1.4.3 The Habitats Directive _________________________________________________ 8 1.5 Guidelines for the selection and notification of Bat SSSIs and SACs _____________ 9 1.6 Relationship of SACs to SSSIs ____________________________________________ 10 2 Aims __________________________________________________________________ 10 3 Methods________________________________________________________________ 10 4 Results_________________________________________________________________ 11 4.1 Habitat fragmentation _______________________________________________ 11 4.2 Hedgerows ____________________________________________________________ 12 4.3 Topography ___________________________________________________________ 13 4.4 Foraging ______________________________________________________________ 13 4.4.1 Lesser horseshoe bats_________________________________________________ 13 4.4.2 Greater horseshoe bats ________________________________________________ 14 4.5 Artificial lighting _______________________________________________________ 16 4.6 Climate _______________________________________________________________ 16 4.7 Insecticides and Pesticides _______________________________________________ 16 5 Discussion______________________________________________________________ 17 6 Acknowledgements _________________________________________________________ 19 7 References ________________________________________________________________ 20 APPENDIX: Guidance for the identification/ management of horseshoe flight lines and foraging areas_______________________________________________________________ 23 i CCW Natural Science Report No. 755 CRYNODEB GWEITHREDOL Mae’r prosiect yma’n ymwneud â phennu canllawiau ar gyfer staff y Cyngor Cefn Gwlad o ran adnabod ffiniau llwybrau hedfan ystlumod a’r mannau a ddefnyddir gan ystlumod pedol mwyaf ac ystlumod pedol lleiaf (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum a Rhinolophus hipposideros) i chwilio am fwyd. Caiff yr wybodaeth yma ei defnyddio wrth ystyried hysbysu ac ymestyn Safleoedd o Ddiddordeb Gwyddonol Arbennig (SoDdGA) ac Ardaloedd Cadwraeth Arbennig (ACA) yn y dyfodol. O fewn y DU, caiff ystlumod pedol mwyaf ac ystlumod pedol lleiaf eu gwarchod dan Gytundeb Bern, Deddf Bywyd Gwyllt a Chefn Gwlad 1981 a Rheoliadau Cadwraeth (Cynefinoedd Naturiol ac ati) 1994, sy’n rhoi Cyfarwyddeb 92/43/EEC ar waith er mwyn nodi nifer o fesurau ar gyfer diogelu’r rhywogaethau a restrir yn Atodiad II. Mae’r Atodiad yma’n cynnwys yr ystlum pedol mwyaf a’r ystlum pedol lleiaf, yn ogystal â’r ystlum du, y daethpwyd o hyd yn ddiweddar i’r gytref fagu gyntaf o’i bath y gwyddys amdani yng Nghymru (Billington 2001d). Mae gofynion y Rheoliadau’n cynnwys dewis, dynodi a gwarchod rhwydwaith o safleoedd a adnabyddir fel Ardaloedd Cadwraeth Arbennig (ACA). Mae’r rhan fwyaf o’r safleoedd yma wedi eu hysbysu eisoes fel Safleoedd o Ddiddordeb Gwyddonol Arbennig (SoDdGA). Sefydlwyd y rhain yn gyntaf yn 1947 (Anhysbys, 1992). Er mwyn pennu’r meini prawf cefndir ar gyfer adnabod ffiniau safleoedd, fe gynhaliwyd adolygiad o’r llenyddiaeth gyhoeddedig ac anghyhoeddedig a geir, yn ogystal â’r canllawiau sy’n ymwneud â dewis a hysbysu SoDdGA ac ACA ystlumod. Rhoddwyd cryn bwyslais ar y mannau a ddefnyddir gan ystlumod ar gyfer chwilio am fwyd, yn ogystal â llwybrau hedfan. Mae gwaith ymchwil wedi tanlinellu pwysigrwydd canopïau a mannau lle ceir llystyfiant o amgylch clwydi magu ystlumod pedol, yn enwedig llecynnau mawr sy’n cynnwys coetiroedd. Mae rhwydweithiau da sy’n cynnwys ffiniau caeau wedi hen ddatblygu, fel gwrychoedd, llinellau coed a llecynnau o brysgwydd, yn nodweddion cynefin pwysig sy’n cysylltu’r clwydi â’r mannau bwydo. Nid ar hap a damwain y mae dwy rywogaethau y Rhinolophus yn dewis eu prae, os nad yw’r hinsawdd yn mynnu’n wahanol (Jones, 1990). Gwelir bod mannau bwydo sy’n cynnwys porfeydd wedi eu pori, sydd am y ffin â gwrychoedd aeddfed, yn bwysig i’r ddau fath o ystlum pedol. Ar y dechrau, mae ystlumod pedol mwyaf ieuainc yn hela o fewn radiws o 1 cilomedr i’r glwyd fagu (Jones et al., 1995, Ransome, 1996) wrth i’w sgiliau hedfan a chwilio am fwyd ddatblygu. Fe ddangoswyd eu bod yn ddibynnol iawn ar borfeydd a gaiff eu pori gan wartheg (Randsome, 1996). Darganfuwyd bod pryfed teiliwr yn brae pwysig i ystlumod pedol lleiaf sydd angen glaswellt byr ac amgylchiadau llaith. Mae larfa dyfrol rhai rhywogaethau’n awgrymu pwysigrwydd cyrsiau dŵr, corsydd a glannau afon yng ngoroesiad y rhywogaeth yma, ac felly yn y defnydd a wna’r ystlumod o gynefinoedd (McAney & Fairley 1988). ii CCW Natural Science Report No. 755 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This project is concerned with establishing guidelines for CCW staff in the identification of boundaries for bat flight lines and foraging areas of the greater and lesser horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Rhinolophus hipposideros). This information will be used in the consideration of future notifications and extensions of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Within the UK both greater and lesser horseshoe bats are protected under: The Bern Convention, the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, which implement the Council Directive 92/43/EEC specifies a range of measures for the protection of species listed on Annex II. This includes not only the greater and lesser horseshoe bats, but also the barbastelle bat for which the first known maternity colony has recently been found in Wales (Billington 2001d). The requirements of the Regulations include the selection, designation and protection of a network of sites known as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). The majority of these areas have already notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), these were first established in 1947 (Anon, 1992). To establish the background criteria for the identification of site boundaries, a review has been carried out of the literature currently published and unpublished and the guidelines for selection and notification of bat SSSIs and SACs. Particular emphasis has been placed on bat foraging areas and flight lines. Research has highlighted the importance of canopy and vegetation cover area around horseshoe maternity roosts particularly large areas of woodland. Good networks of well-developed field boundaries such as hedgerows, tree lines and areas of scrub are important habitat features linking the roosts to feeding areas. The choice of prey items is non random for both Rhinolophus species, unless climatic conditions dictate otherwise