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Clear-cut stands provide foraging habitats for open-space foraging bats in Japanese evergreen conifer plantations

ABSTRACT Plantations have been reconsidered as important habitats for wildlife, including bats, in recent decades. Although Japan has a high proportion of plantations used for timber production in the forest area, knowledge of the effects of forest management practices such as clearcuttings and thinning on bats is still lacking. We investigated bat activity using bat detectors in evergreen coniferous plantation stands (23 mature stands, and 7 clear-cut stands) in Tochigi prefecture, central Japan. Based on the bat calls, we classified them into four groups: Nyctalus and Vespertilio bats (NYVE), open-space foraging bats; Rhinolophus bats (RH), edge and closed-space foraging bats; Pipistrellus bats (PI), edge foraging bats; and Myotis and Murina bats (MYMU), edge and closed-space foraging bats. We recorded bat calls in each stand from June to September, compared bat activity between mature stands and clear-cut stands, and examined the effects of stand structure on bat activity in mature stands. The activity of all groups (except RH, which had insufficient sample size for statistical testing) was significantly higher in clear-cut stands than in mature stands. The ratio of feeding buzzes to activity (feeding buzz ratio) in the NYVE group was also higher in clear-cut stands than in mature stands. The feeding buzz ratio in the NYVE group showed a significant positive correlation with tree density. Thus, clear-cut stands provide foraging habitats for some bat species, including open-space foraging bats. However, other effects of clearcutting, such as loss of roosting sites, must be considered for the conservation of bats.