Effects of greenway development on functional connectivity for bats

Fragmentation of ecosystems is continuing worldwide, posing increasing pressures to and loss of biodiversity. Disused transport corridors such as old railways and tramways often return to semi-naturalness, and are increasingly upcycled into multi-use, non-motorised public Greenway infrastructure. This study examines bat activity within a proposed rural Greenway corridor in Ireland. Development scenarios are simulated to predict impacts to woodland ecosystem functional connectivity using Probability of Connectivity (PC)index. Generalised Linear Modelling predicts associations of species activity to Greenway corridor habitat and habitat structure. Spatially explicit connectivity models indicate significant impacts to ecosystem connectivity can arise from Greenway development scenarios, such as decreasing connectivity in half, or increasing connectivity four-fold. Species activity modelling identified habitat conditions along the Greenway route that suggest on-going corridor effects and associations to particular habitats and structure, emphasising the importance to consider a sensitive approach to developing disused infrastructure into Greenways. Conservation implications: Potential significant increases in woodland ecosystem reachability for bats are achievable by conserving canopy cover over Greenway corridors. Species-specific habitat modelling results presented are directly applicable to guide woodland enhancement for the sensitive conservation of Greenway woodland habitat, maximising their multi-functional use and connectivity potential. Opportunities therefore exist for European Greenways to conserve and enhance ecosystem connectivity, providing landscape-scale solutions to the problem of increasing ecosystem fragmentation.