
(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) In this study, we demonstrate how urban-dwelling bats can be used to reconstruct Urban Heat Islands (UHI). We term this approach biologically-assisted sampling (BAS). We used Egyptian fruit bats to map the spatial air temperature (Tair) profile. To demonstrate the feasibility of using biologically-assisted sampled data set, we run mixed effects and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models to estimate the impact of urban envi ronment on Tair distribution. Our results suggest that vegetation is a very important mitigating factor in Tair. In the winter, we found an average Tair difference of 2–5 ◦C between densely urban and nearby vegetative/open areas. A distinct UHI spot was identified in the winter, centered on the Ayalon highway. These differences were lower during the summer night, probably due to a pronounced cooling sea breeze effect along the coastline. Our preliminary results also indicate that BAS sampling provide a 3D view of the UHI phenomenon: the change in Tair above the dense urban area was smaller than above the vegetative area. Since the differences in Tair be tween densely urban and open/green areas are the largest during the night hours, bats can serve as efficient agents to monitor UHI effects, despite the method limitations.
Chiroptera, Mammalia, bats, Animalia, bat, Biodiversity, Chordata
Chiroptera, Mammalia, bats, Animalia, bat, Biodiversity, Chordata
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