Life Sciences Commons^™

Documented fatalities of bats at wind turbines have raised serious concerns about the future impacts of increased wind power development on populations of migratory bat species. However, for most bat species we have no knowledge of the size of populations and their demographic trends, the degree of structuring into discrete subpopulations, and whether different subpopulations use spatially segregated migratory routes. Here, we utilize genetic data from eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis), one of the species most highly affected by wind power development in North America, to (1) evaluate patterns of population structure across the landscape, (2) estimate effective population size …

Recent studies documented the potential transfer of microcystin, a hepatotoxin produced by some cyanobacteria, from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. Using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, we measured microcystins in emergent Hexagenia limbata mayflies and fecal samples collected from a maternity colony of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) located adjacent to a Michigan (U.S.A.) lake that experiences seasonal blooms of toxicogenic Microcystis aeruginosa. All H. limbata and M. lucifugus fecal samples contained microcystin (H. limbata: mean = 293.88 ng/g dw +/- 35.99 SE, n = 39; M. lucifugus: mean = 262.10 ng/g dw +/- 31.08 SE, …