Shifts in Southeastern Bat Communities Driven by Landscape Composition Rather Than Ecological Release

ABSTRACT

Ecological niches are shaped by both abiotic conditions and biotic interactions and shifts in species composition, such as the loss of competitors or habitat availability, can trigger cascading changes in community dynamics. Emerging infectious diseases offer natural experiments to observe such shifts in real time. Since its detection in 2006, white‐nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans , has decimated several North American bat species, with mortality closely tied to species‐specific susceptibility. Yet, disease alone does not account for ongoing changes in bat populations. Habitat availability, landscape composition, and landscape configuration may also strongly influence bat capture rates and community dynamics following WNS invasion. We evaluated long‐term changes in bat capture rates on Fort Campbell Military Installation, Tennessee and Kentucky, USA, to determine whether variation in capture rates of non‐susceptible species was associated with declines in WNS‐susceptible species or with landscape composition and configuration. Using 30 years of mist‐net capture data (1998–2023), we modeled capture rates of four non‐susceptible species ( Eptesicus fuscus , Lasiurus borealis , Myotis grisescens , and Nycticeius humeralis ) at both installation and site spatial scales. Candidate models included capture rates of WNS‐susceptible species, forest composition and configuration metrics, temperature, and precipitation. Installation‐level analyses were conducted using generalized linear models, whereas site‐level analyses used zero‐inflated negative binomial models to account for excess zeros and overdispersion. Results reveal that some non‐susceptible species exhibited post‐WNS increases, but these trends were species‐ and scale‐dependent and not universally consistent with ecological release. Furthermore, landscape features, particularly forest cover and patchiness, significantly explained variation in capture rates across space and time for certain species. These findings indicate that bat community dynamics at Fort Campbell reflect the combined influence of disease and habitat availability rather than a singular driver. This study underscores the complexity of post‐disease community restructuring and highlights the need to consider interacting ecological stressors when assessing wildlife responses to disturbance and emphasizes the need for integrated approaches to wildlife conservation.