How we use your NBMP survey data
The core aim of the NBMP is to deliver species population trends which are vitally important for bat conservation. However the data are able to tell us so much more thanks to the continued efforts of all our volunteers and the wide range of sites and habitats surveyed. Here we look at some of the current applications of NBMP data.
The National Bat Monitoring Programme was set up in 1996. It aims to provide information on the conservation needs of our bat species, identify early warnings of rapid declines, inform conservation policy and ensure resources are targeted where they are most needed, and identify possible causes of population changes. Currently the programme provides population trends for 11 UK species (click here for detailed reports). A key use of these trends is to help inform selection of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority list and to measure progress against targets set for species conservation. Since May 2008, NBMP data have enabled bats to be included in the UK Biodiversity Indicators which help to measure the overall health of our environment .
None of this would be possible without the continued support and hard work of all of our dedicated volunteers who carry out bat surveys annually. Since the start of the programme over 2,200 volunteers have contributed to the NBMP. As well as the core work on population trends, the NBMP team are involved in other ‘spin-off' projects. Read on to see how your survey data contribute to conservation action and the development of our understanding of bats and how they use the landscape.
Habitat associations
The Waterway Survey is one of our most popular surveys. Since 1997, 1032 volunteers have counted Daubenton's bats alongside their 1km stretch of river during August. A study analysing data collected from this survey and the Environment Agency's River Habitat Survey to investigate how river habitat features and measures of environmental quality affect Daubenton's bat activity was published in Aquatic Conservation in 2009. It showed that bat activity was higher on larger waterways with abundant woodland nearby. Activity was also significantly related to aquatic macroinvertebrate diversity, a good measure of biological water quality, demonstrating the potential use of Daubenton's bats as an indicator of environmental quality for rivers.
Katherine Boughey at the University of East Anglia has been analysing data from the NBMP Field Survey and Colony Counts to model the habitat associations of seven bat species at a national scale. Bat records were combined with digital habitat data to investigate the effect of landscape composition on the choice of roosting and foraging locations. The analysis demonstrated the overwhelming importance of broadleaved woodland for all species studied, and that hedgerows containing trees are important for both pipistrelle species; soprano pipistrelle was only associated with linear features that contained trees, and showed no association with hedgerows that didn't contain trees.
Colony dynamics
Stephen Gregory at the Université Paris-Sud is carrying out a study on Allee effects. In broad terms, an Allee effect is a decline in individual fitness at low population size or density. This can result in population thresholds below which a particular population comes under threat. It can be seen in some species where individuals benefit from the presence of others. Bats exhibit a diverse range of social behaviours which suggests they will be vulnerable to an Allee effect if individuals become too few to cooperate effectively and Stephen is looking for evidence of this in NBMP Colony Count data.
Climate change
We know that weather conditions can have an effect on bat activity and we ask volunteers to measure weather variables when carrying out surveys. On a larger scale, NBMP data are being used to look at the possible effects of climate change on bat populations. BCT is part of the BICCO-Net project which is examining datasets from a number of taxa, including bats, to identify species and habitats that are most likely to be impacted by changes in our climate.
We value your data!
NBMP data enable us to do so much more than track changes in the UK's bat populations. The range of sites and habitats included in the surveys - including those which are less good for bats - allow us to use NBMP data for many different projects. We encourage volunteers to continue revisiting their sites annually, even those which you might think aren't very helpful because you only ever record that one pipistrelle bat! Click here to find out more about the NBMP and how to take part or contact the team at nbmp@bats.org.uk or on 020 7501 3628.
