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Overall, I feel like Hopwood Hall is a great place to release a bat, based on the ecological features, the floral and fauna, and the lack of consistent predators, as this means that the Brown Long Eared Bat is able to survive in all seasons, including winters due to the roosting boxes allowing them to hibernate, but there is no abundance of food for them, meaning that they can gorge on their body weight of food, whenever they want to. Nonetheless, it would be wise to release this bat during the darker hours, as they are nocturnal animals, thus they are more active when there is no daylight. This will be prudent in ensuring the safety, and wellbeing of the Brown Long Eared Bat.

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Throughout the UK, the Bat Conservation Trust is working to maintain our bat biodiversity. There are 18 species of bat in the UK, and all of these can be found across the UK, and they wish to see the populations of all these conserved and, where possible, enhanced. All the bats and their roosts are protected by law, where legislation is one way of maintaining bat biodiversity and shows that the Government thinks that conservation of bats is important. They are at the forefront of bat conservation in the UK and produce advice for builders, conservators and foresters who encounter bats.

In the 1970s experts found evidence of widespread decline of bat species in Britain. This led to all 18 species, 17 of these are breeding, being protected by law in 1981. Since then there has been some proof of recovery within the bat population but some have shown very little change from what was already low numbers. The reasons for lack of recovery are thought to be loss of roost sites, especially in buildings; loss of feeding habitats, especially in farmland; and in some cases, direct persecution.

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How We Can All Do Our Bit To Help Save The UK Bat Population

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The Brown Long Eared Bat is relatively common and widespread throughout the UK except for exposed islands with little woodland such as Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides. It is also recorded in the Channel Islands.
Population numbers:
UK 245,000
England 155,000
Wales 17,500
Scotland 27,500
N. Ireland 45,000
Current distribution of Brown Long Eared Bat in the UK.

(Map taken from 3rd Report under Article 17 on implementation of the Habitats Directive in the UK, JNCC 2013)

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This document provides a summary of species population trends up to 2016 and looks at some of the results in more detail to highlight key findings and conservation issues. The Brown Long Eared Bat is mentioned throughout the document and inside it contains all the information about conservation work being done as well as population dynamics and the changes in population numbers throughout the years.

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50 volunteers have returned data for 57 known Brown Long Eared Bat roosts for 2017. 54 of these sites had Brown Long Eared Bats present. The distribution of sites surveyed, and Brown Long Eared Bats recorded is shown below. Note: If no Brown Long Eared Bats were recorded during the 2017 surveys, it does not necessarily imply that the species is absent from the area.

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Brown Long Eared and other bats are declining as roost sites are lost to development, and pesticide-use reduces their insect-prey. But you can help our bats in your own garden; why not try putting up a bat box? Pick a tree that gets some sun during the day but is near to a hedge or other trees. All UK bats and their roosts are protected by law, which means it is illegal to harm or disturb them.

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The Wildlife Garden Project - How to help bats in your garden

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http://wildlifegardenproject.com The Wildlife Garden Project shows you how to help bats in your garden. Bats are in decline in the UK, but this video shows you a few simple things you can do to help these cute little critters.

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A limited suitable habitat area means more bats will immigrate to new locations meaning that there are an increased number of them in certain areas; food sources for them will be sparser and availability for predators to attack will be a lot higher. If the bats are lacking in energy, they will not be able to provide for themselves, their young, or re-produce, resulting in a higher mortality rate and a lower birth rate, and in turn, this will equate to the population of the bats further decreasing, due to not having a suitable habitat in the area in which they need to be released into the wild.

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In this area, Hopwood Hall, there doesn’t tend to be many predators that roam around, whether they are nocturnal, or diurnal. It is mostly omnivores, or herbivores in small forms that hang around, such as squirrels, or deer. These animals don’t pose a threat to the survival of a released bat, as they don’t eat the same food, the Brown Long Eared Bat is an insectivore. However, recently, either wild or from houses, cats have been roaming the woodland areas of Smallbridge, which could be a major threat to the bats, as they are unaware of them – especially during the day when they are sleeping, as cats have a great sense of smell.
Furthermore, it is not yet known whether there are any foxes within this area, but if there are, then this could also be a predator that could affect the species thriving.

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At Hopwood Hall, there are many ecological features within the Smallbridge area that can help the Brown Long Eared Bat population to thrive and survive. Such ecological features will include the pond that is around, at the higher end of Smallbridge, verging on the woodland/out of bounds area. This feature will allow the bats to forage for their food, especially in summer when there is no abundance of insects around. Furthermore, Hopwood Hall has been implemented bat boxes around the buildings on campus, which allows the bats to roost during the winter, thus allowing them to survive – this was done due to the college being built on a bat roosting site and they must accommodate these bats to ensure that they are not breaking any laws.

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Within the Hopwood Hall campus, there is a variety of flora and fauna, that will help allow the bat to thrive and survive, especially as the Brown Long Eared Bat relies entirely on insects to survive and live a long life. Particularly in the summer, this area will be highly suitable for bats, due to the extensive wildlife that can be found within the more woodland part of the Hopwood Hall campus, such as the top end near the lake, where hardly any students tend to go to. Furthermore, if the bat was to survive here, the dense vegetation of this woodland area, would allow the bat to hide from predators (during the daytime, as they are nocturnal animals), but also provide them with enough food for them to thrive. Nonetheless, as students often come to this area, the floral and fauna is sometimes trampled on, either accidentally, or the students don't care, which can affect the longevity of the bat.

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I think that the Brown Long Eared Bat should be released at a suitable time and in suitable weather conditions, in the wooded area of Smallbridge at Hopwood Hall, as it is a very suitable and secluded area for them to hunt at night-time and look after their young in the daytime. Being a large wooded area there should be plenty of food sources, however the conservation groups could be useful to set up precautions for the bats against predators and a variety of different boxes they could use to keep their young in.

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The population of the Brown Long Eared Bat has decreased further in recent years around the country. This could be due to multiple changes humans are doing, such as: woodland habitats being destroyed to accommodate buildings; an increase of population of people living in more rural areas; a decrease in food sources; an increase in possible predators. If the bats must travel further to find a suitable habitat to live and re-produce in, they will need a bigger food source that provides more energy for them, if the food sources are decreasing, so will the bat numbers, pushing them to become Near Threatened, or even Vulnerable.

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The trend from the Roost Count shows no significant change in the smoothed index since the baseline year, while the Hibernation Survey trend shows a significant decline in the smoothed index in the most recent year when compared to the baseline year. The margin by which the Hibernation Survey trend is significant is small, and the estimate of the smoothed index value for the most recent year is considered provisional until confirmed by further years of monitoring. Given the provisional nature of the estimate for the most recent year, the small margin of significance and the fact that this margin is highly likely to change when additional years of monitoring data are added to the trend, there is not yet sufficient certainty in the trend to alter the previous assessment of population change. Therefore, the population of Brown Long Eared Bat in Great Britain is currently considered to have been stable since 1999, however this assessment will need to be reviewed and potentially revised considering the results from the next year of monitoring.

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The graph below shows the unsmoothed index value for each year (green crosses), the smoothed trend (solid line) and 95% confidence intervals (dotted lines). The smoothed trend for 2016 is shown as a dashed line to indicate that it is provisional.

The smoothed index is currently 20.1% above the base year value, equivalent to an annual increase of 1.2%. The trend has fluctuated since the start of monitoring. Since 2004 the smoothed index has been above the baseline year however at no point has it differed significantly from the baseline year. Overall there has been no significant change in the smoothed index since the baseline year. Differences between trends for England and Wales are not significant. Data from 158 sites surveyed between 1990 and 2016 contribute to the trend (sites surveyed in at least two years).

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The graph below shows the unsmoothed index value for each year (green crosses), the smoothed trend (solid line) and 95% confidence intervals (dotted lines). The smoothed trend for 2016 is shown as a dashed line to indicate that it is provisional.

The smoothed index is currently 31.3% below the 1999 base year value, equivalent to an annual decrease of 2.2%. The smoothed index has been below the baseline year since 1999, however this decline has only become significant in the current year, and by a very narrow margin. Overall there has been a significant decline in the smoothed index since 1999. Differences between trends for England and Wales are not significant. From all years for which data are available (1990-2016), counts from 427 sites contribute to the trend (sites surveyed in two or more years with Brown Long Eared Bat recorded in at least one year).

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Population Dynamics: the study of a population (a group of individuals -all members of a single species, who live together in the same habitat and are likely to interbreed).  Each population has a unique physical distribution in time and space. Population dynamics are used to see the cause in increases and decreases of population of different species.

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There are no conservation groups currently monitoring bat population at Hopwood Hall, only around the surrounding area. However, I think that having conservation groups at college would enlighten staff and student on how to help bat populations thrive and what is negatively affecting them. Nonetheless, since Hopwood Hall was built on a bat roosting site, they have since decided to build bat boxes around the areas of the buildings, allowing these bats to roost, nonetheless, this was the law, as you are unable to build on a bat roosting site without at least accommodating for the bats.

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As staff and students frequently go up to Smallbridge to tend to the animals, this area can be noisy. I personally think that if the article is correct, releasing bats in the daytime when it is noisy and very disruptive for the bats, is a big mistake as it could affect their ability to forage. At night-time when it is more peaceful and darker, it's a better opportunity to release them more safely, as they can put their abilities to much better use; their population is able to survive and thrive. As they are nocturnal animals night-time conditions may be better suited for them as it is what they are used to.

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Bats can emit a high-pitched noise, called echolocation, that will bounce off objects; its brain interprets the signals, allowing for accurate hunting. Recent research suggests that their work shows how anthropogenic noise can have negative effects on the foraging behaviour of Daubenton’s bats, and possibly further species. Previously, it was thought that noise disturbance mainly affected species that use overlapping sound. However, as even non-overlapping sound disturbed bat foraging behaviour, anthropogenic noise may also negatively affect the foraging behaviour of other species, including those that do not rely on sounds.