Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment

Abstract Wildlife managers design artificial structures, such as bird houses and bat boxes, to provide alternative nesting and roosting sites that aid wildlife conservation. However, artificial structures for wildlife may not be equally efficient at all sites due to varying climate or habitat charac...

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Autores principales:	Amélie Fontaine, Anouk Simard, Bryan Dubois, Julien Dutel, Kyle H. Elliott
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4652a28c8841430f85cee24a33e889d4
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4652a28c8841430f85cee24a33e889d42021-12-02T14:20:35ZUsing mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment10.1038/s41598-021-87327-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/4652a28c8841430f85cee24a33e889d42021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87327-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Wildlife managers design artificial structures, such as bird houses and bat boxes, to provide alternative nesting and roosting sites that aid wildlife conservation. However, artificial structures for wildlife may not be equally efficient at all sites due to varying climate or habitat characteristics influencing thermal properties. For example, bat boxes are a popular measure employed to provide compensatory or supplementary roost sites for bats and educate the public. Yet, bat boxes are often thermally unstable or too cold to fulfill reproductive females needs in northern temperate environments. To help improve the thermodynamics of bat boxes, we tested the effect of (1) three mountings, (2) four orientations, and (3) twelve bat box designs on the internal temperature of bat boxes. We recorded temperatures in bat boxes across a climate gradient at seven sites in Quebec, Canada. Bat boxes mounted on buildings had warmer microclimates at night than those on poles and those facing east warmed sooner in the morning than those facing west or south. Our best new model based on passive solar architecture (Ncube PH1) increased the time in the optimal temperature range (22–40 °C) of targeted species by up to 13% compared to the most commonly used model (Classic 4-chamber) when mounted on a building with an east orientation (other designs presented in the Supplementary Information). Based on bioenergetic models, we estimated that bats saved up to 8% of their daily energy using the Ncube PH1 compared to the Classic 4-chamber when mounted on a building with an east orientation. We demonstrate that the use of energy-saving concepts from architecture can improve the thermal performance of bat boxes and potentially other wildlife structures as well.Amélie FontaineAnouk SimardBryan DuboisJulien DutelKyle H. ElliottNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Amélie Fontaine Anouk Simard Bryan Dubois Julien Dutel Kyle H. Elliott Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
description	Abstract Wildlife managers design artificial structures, such as bird houses and bat boxes, to provide alternative nesting and roosting sites that aid wildlife conservation. However, artificial structures for wildlife may not be equally efficient at all sites due to varying climate or habitat characteristics influencing thermal properties. For example, bat boxes are a popular measure employed to provide compensatory or supplementary roost sites for bats and educate the public. Yet, bat boxes are often thermally unstable or too cold to fulfill reproductive females needs in northern temperate environments. To help improve the thermodynamics of bat boxes, we tested the effect of (1) three mountings, (2) four orientations, and (3) twelve bat box designs on the internal temperature of bat boxes. We recorded temperatures in bat boxes across a climate gradient at seven sites in Quebec, Canada. Bat boxes mounted on buildings had warmer microclimates at night than those on poles and those facing east warmed sooner in the morning than those facing west or south. Our best new model based on passive solar architecture (Ncube PH1) increased the time in the optimal temperature range (22–40 °C) of targeted species by up to 13% compared to the most commonly used model (Classic 4-chamber) when mounted on a building with an east orientation (other designs presented in the Supplementary Information). Based on bioenergetic models, we estimated that bats saved up to 8% of their daily energy using the Ncube PH1 compared to the Classic 4-chamber when mounted on a building with an east orientation. We demonstrate that the use of energy-saving concepts from architecture can improve the thermal performance of bat boxes and potentially other wildlife structures as well.
format	article
author	Amélie Fontaine Anouk Simard Bryan Dubois Julien Dutel Kyle H. Elliott
author_facet	Amélie Fontaine Anouk Simard Bryan Dubois Julien Dutel Kyle H. Elliott
author_sort	Amélie Fontaine
title	Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
title_short	Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
title_full	Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
title_fullStr	Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
title_full_unstemmed	Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
title_sort	using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4652a28c8841430f85cee24a33e889d4
work_keys_str_mv	AT ameliefontaine usingmountingorientationanddesigntoimprovebatboxthermodynamicsinanortherntemperateenvironment AT anouksimard usingmountingorientationanddesigntoimprovebatboxthermodynamicsinanortherntemperateenvironment AT bryandubois usingmountingorientationanddesigntoimprovebatboxthermodynamicsinanortherntemperateenvironment AT juliendutel usingmountingorientationanddesigntoimprovebatboxthermodynamicsinanortherntemperateenvironment AT kylehelliott usingmountingorientationanddesigntoimprovebatboxthermodynamicsinanortherntemperateenvironment
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Using mounting, orientation, and design to improve bat box thermodynamics in a northern temperate environment

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