Separating the effects of water quality and urbanization on temperate insectivorous bats at the landscape scale

Many local scale studies have shown that bats respond to water quality degradation or urbanization in a species-specific manner. However, few have separated the effects of urbanization vs water quality degradation on bats, in single city or single watershed case studies. Across North Carolina, USA, we used the standardized North American Bat Monitoring Program mobile transect protocol to survey bat activity in 2015 and 2016 at 41 sites. We collected statewide water quality and urban land cover data to disentangle the effects of urbanization and water degradation on bats at the landscape scale. We found that statewide, water quality and urbanization were not correlated. We found that bats responded to water quality degradation and urbanization independently at the landscape scale. Eptesicus fuscus and Lasiurus cinereus negatively responded to water quality degradation. Lasiurus borealis and Perimyotis subflavus positively responded to water quality degradation. Lasionycteris noctivagans ...