An Updated Review of Hypotheses Regarding Bat Attraction to Wind Turbines.

Patterns of bat activity and mortalities at wind energy facilities suggest that bats are attracted to wind turbines based on bat behavioral responses to wind turbines. For example, current monitoring efforts suggest that bat activity increases post-wind turbine construction, with bats making multiple passes near wind turbines. We separated the attraction hypothesis into five previously proposed explanations of bat interactions at or near wind turbines, including attraction based on noise, roost sites, foraging and water, mating behavior, and lights, and one new hypothesis regarding olfaction, and provide a state of the knowledge in 2022. Our review indicates that future research should prioritize attraction based on social behaviors, such as mating and scent-marking, as this aspect of the attraction hypothesis has many postulates and remains the most unclear. Relatively more data regarding attraction to wind turbines based on lighting and noise emission exist, and these data indicate that these are unlikely attractants. Analyzing attraction at the species-level should be prioritized because of differences in foraging, flight, and social behavior among bat species. Lastly, research assessing bat attraction at various scales, such as the turbine or facility scale, is lacking, which could provide important insights for both wind turbine siting decisions and bat mortality minimization strategies. Identifying the causes of bat interactions with wind turbines is critical for developing effective impact minimization strategies.

RE-EVALUATION OF THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF THE SIGMODON HISPIDUS COMPLEX BASED ON MITOCHONDRIAL DNA SEQUENCES.

Geographic distribution among members of the Sigmodon hispidus complex (Sigmodon hirsutus, S. hispidus, and S. toltecus) were examined using DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Geographic distribution of each taxon was defined based on DNA sequences obtained from 69 samples (19 newly obtained and 50 from previous studies) collected from North, Central, and South America. These data indicated that S. hispidus is restricted to the southern one-half of the United States and northeastern Mexico (Nuevo León and Tamaulipas), S. toltecus occupies the eastern one-third of Mexico (central Tamaulipas) to northern Honduras, and S. hirsutus is distributed from central Chiapas and southeastern Oaxaca to northern South America (Venezuela). The newly collected data extend distributions of S. hispidus from the southern United States southward into northeastern Mexico and that of S. toltecus from Chiapas, Mexico, southward to Honduras. Genetic divergence and patterns of phylogeography were examined within each taxon.

TOWARD A MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY FOR PEROMYSCUS: EVIDENCE FROM MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME-b SEQUENCES.

One hundred DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene of 44 species of deer mice (Peromyscus (sensu stricto), 1 of Habromys, 1 of Isthmomys, 2 of Megadontomys, and the monotypic genera Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys were used to develop a molecular phylogeny for Peromyscus. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference) were conducted to evaluate alternative hypotheses concerning taxonomic arrangements (sensu stricto versus sensu lato) of the genus. In all analyses, monophyletic clades were obtained that corresponded to species groups proposed by previous authors; however, relationships among species groups generally were poorly resolved. The concept of the genus Peromyscus based on molecular data differed significantly from the most current taxonomic arrangement. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian trees depicted strong support for a clade placing Habromys, Megadontomys, Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys within Peromyscus. If Habromys, Megadontomys, Neotomodon, Osgoodomys, and Podomys are regarded as genera, then several species groups within Peromyscus (sensu stricto) should be elevated to generic rank. Isthmomys was associated with the genus Reithrodontomys; in turn this clade was sister to Baiomys, indicating a distant relationship of Isthmomys to Peromyscus. A formal taxonomic revision awaits synthesis of additional sequence data from nuclear markers together with inclusion of available allozymic and karyotypic data.