New French Research Suggests Beneficial Hedgerow Management for Bats

A new piece of research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal for Applied Biology looks into the effects of hedgerow management on bat numbers using them.

Bats, being insectivores, are reliant on large numbers of insects such as midges, mosquitos and moths being present in the farmed landscape, which they generally catch on the wing.

They can roost in hedgerow trees and use well connected hedgerows with hedgerow trees to commute and forage.

This research suggests that bat numbers are increased with hedgerows that:

• had been managed by pollarding allowing trees within them to grow up to have good crown structure and large stems with micro-habitats
• are allowed to grow taller and have hedgerow trees along their length
• are well connected to other hedgerows as a network

These findings add weight to past research which has suggested similar findings relating to hedgerow management for bats.

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