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At newly colonised high-elevation sites in the central Italian Apennines, female Daubenton’s bats take turns using the same hunting spots instead of feeding side by side. A study published by a research team from the University of Naples Federico II, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and several international partner institutions in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation shows that this fine-scale temporal partitioning helps the bats avoid competition and may be crucial for surviving at the cold edge of a climate-driven range expansion.
A research team from the University of Naples Federico II, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and several international partner institutions followed female Daubenton’s bats (Myotis daubentonii) using radio telemetry along a 10-kilometre stretch of the upper Sangro River in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park in central Italy. This mountainous river landscape, between roughly 800 and 1,100 metres above sea level, has only recently been colonised by breeding females as the species shifts its distribution upslope in response to climate warming.
“Our study shows that at the very frontline of climate change, female Daubenton’s bats don’t just move uphill – they also share space,” says lead author Chiara Belli from the University of Naples Federico II and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. “Instead of foraging together, females take turns. They visit the same profitable feeding sites, but rarely at the same moment.”
The team found that females concentrated their activity on a small number of favourite hunting areas. Most bats repeatedly used just one to five feeding sites, and spent at least 75 percent of their foraging time in their two most frequented spots – clear evidence of strong site fidelity and familiarity with specific patches. Simultaneous use of the same feeding site was rare. Tracked females could be seen taking turns above the same stretches of river, with each bat’s path neatly offset in time from the others.
“At these high-elevation sites, insect prey is limited and nights can be cold, which is especially difficult for lactating females with high energy demands,” explains senior author Danilo Russo from the University of Naples Federico II and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. “By staggering their visits in time and repeatedly returning to familiar patches, females appear to reduce costly competition and make the most of a difficult environment.”
Continuous riparian vegetation along the Sangro River not only provides roosting and hunting sites but also acts as a green corridor that enables females to colonise higher elevations. Earlier work by the same team showed that this forested river corridor was essential for the upslope shift of Daubenton’s bats; the new study now demonstrates how behaviour fine-tunes that expansion by potentially easing competition at the range edge.
Riparian bats temporally partition foraging at the cold edge of an upslope climate-driven range expansion (2026) Belli C, Cistrone L, Knörnschild M, Sestovic B, Ekklisiarchos I, Aldasoro M, Borgonovo C, Migliaresi I, Di Domenico M, Ratcliffe J, Russo D. Global Ecology and Conservation, e04129 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2026.e04129
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
Biology, Environment / ecology
transregional, national
Research results, Scientific Publications
English
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