Echo-locating bats comprise 20% of the fauna of Australia’s Wet Tropics bioregion. Despite this diversity, their response to fragmentation and habitat connectivity is poorly understood, and microbat use of restored rainforest vegetation is completely unknown.
To address this gap, a new study looked at bats in Donaghy’s Corridor Nature Refuge, a 1.2km restored wildlife corridor in the tropical uplands of northern Queensland that was completed in 1998. Over a 12 month period, bat detectors were deployed in three areas: throughout the corridor, in cattle pasture beside the corridor, and in mature reference forest at either end of the replanted riparian corridor.
Tucker, N. and Ford, G. 2023. Observations on the utilisation of a restored wildlife corridor by echo‐locating microbats in North Queensland’s Wet Tropics. Ecological Management & Restoration 24: 7-11.
Call analysis of the data showed differences between microbats foraging in pasture versus bats in the corridor and reference forest. Microbats in reference forest and the corridor were the same; all were ‘clutter adapted’ species exhibiting low aspect ratio wings, conferring an ability to maneuver and hunt in dense vegetation. None of these bats were detected in the adjacent pasture.
Conversely, bats of the pasture were all high aspect ratio species adapted to fast open area flight, and were absent from the corridor environment. This is a single study and should be interpreted accordingly. However, the study indicates that while some local microbats may be sensitive to fragmentation effects, they can respond positively to the re-establishment of habitat connectivity.
Research also examined changes to corridor vegetation structure and composition in the 20 year period since the initial census in 2000, as well as the concomitant effects of structural connectivity on utilization by reptiles, birds and ground mammals. As might be expected, the structural similarity of vegetation is increasing towards reference forest, but significant differences remain in above-ground biomass and species composition.
In contrast, birds, ground mammals and reptiles continue to respond positively to the niches available. A number of endemic species confined to mature forest are now present, and higher order interactions were detected between large seeds and their specialized dispersers. There is now wide-spread evidence throughout the corridor that restoration and long-term management have benefited local diversity.
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