Study

The residual effects of remedial timber treatments on bats

  • Published source details Racey P.A. & Swift S.M. (1986) The residual effects of remedial timber treatments on bats. Biological Conservation, 35, 205-214.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Restrict timing of timber treatment application

Action Link
Bat Conservation
  1. Restrict timing of timber treatment application

    A replicated, controlled study in 1982–1984 in a laboratory in northeast Scotland, UK (Racey & Swift 1986) found that treating cages with a commercial remedial timber treatment 14 months prior to exposure by common pipistrelle bats Pipistrellus pipistrellus resulted in bats surviving for longer than when cages were treated six weeks before exposure, but all bats still died. Bats survived longer in cages that had been treated 14 months previously (average 15 days) than cages treated six weeks previously (average four days), but all bats still died within 23 days of exposure. Female common pipistrelle bats were caught at nursery roosts and 10–14 bats were used in each of two trials. Experimental and control cages (40 x 20 x 20 cm) were made from steel or zinc and lined with plywood. Experimental cages were treated with timber treatment (1% w/v lindane and 5% w/v pentachlorophenol in an organic solvent) either 14 months or six weeks before the experiments. Control cages were left untreated. All cages were kept in unheated rooms with constant conditions, and bats were inspected daily for 113–120 days during summer in 1982–1984.

    (Summarised by: Anna Berthinussen)

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