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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Anthropogenic activities have significantly altered land cover on a global scale. These changes often
have a negative effect on biodiversity limiting the distribution of species. The extent of the effect on
species’ distribution depends on the landscape composition and configuration at a local and landscape
level. To better understand this effect on a large scale, we evaluated how land cover and vegetation
structure shape bat species’ occurrence while considering species’ imperfect detection. We hypothesize
that intensification of anthropogenic activities in agriculture, for example, reduces heterogeneity of land
cover and vegetation structure, and thereby, limits bat occurrence. To investigate this, we conducted
acoustic bat sampling across 59 locations in southern Portugal, each with three spatial replicates. We
derived fine-scale vegetation structural metrics by combining spaceborne LiDAR (GEDI) and synthetic
aperture radar data (Sentinel-1 and ALOS/PALSAR-2). Additionally, we included land cover metrics and
high-resolution climate data from CHELSA. Our findings revealed an important relationship between bat
species’ occupancy and vegetation structure, particularly with vegetation canopy height. Moreover,
forest and shrubland proportions were the main land cover types influencing bat species responses. All
species’ best-ranking occupancy models included at least one climatic variable (temperature, humidity,
or potential evapotranspiration), demonstrating the importance of climate when predicting bat dis-
tribution. Our acoustic surveys had a species’ detection probability varying from 0.19 to 0.86, and it was
influenced by night conditions. These findings underscore the importance of modeling imperfect
detection, especially for highly vagile and elusive organisms like bats. Our results demonstrate the
effectiveness of using vegetation and landscape metrics derived from high-resolution remote sensing
data to model species distribution in the context of biodiversity monitoring and conservation.
Description
Keywords
Land cover species occurrence GEDI bats vegetation canopy height
Pedagogical Context
Citation
F. C. Martins, S. Godinho, N. Guiomar, D. Medinas, H. Rebelo, P. Segurado & J. T. Marques (2024) Vegetation canopy height shapes bats’ occupancy: a remote sensing approach, GIScience & Remote Sensing, 61:1, 2374150. https://doi.org/10.1080/15481603.2024.2374150
Publisher
Taylor & Francis