Biology subjects

Prowse, T. A. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Prowse, T. A. A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Flight height patterns of a critically endangered insectivorous bat, impacted by wind turbine collision

BackgroundRenewable energy production is being developed worldwide to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and thereby moderate the rate of anthropogenic climate change. Harnessing wind energy, using wind turbines, is a prominent form of renewable energy production. There are, however, biodiversity impacts, including collisions by birds and bats with rotating blades. High levels of mortalities can cause localised and species-level population declines, which is especially significant for threatened species. The height at which species fly is a key collision risk factor. In this study we investigated the flight height patterns of a critically endangered bat to inform mitigations to reduce impacts. MethodsWe captured and GPS tagged 244 Southern Bent-wing Bats (Miniopterus orianae bassanii) (14 - 19 g) in south-eastern Australia, in spring and late summer/early autumn. We retrieved 93 units, yielding 4,289 bat observations from an 18-21 day period in each season. The vertical measurement error of the GPS units at different heights and sampling intervals was investigated with drone test flights. A Bayesian state-space modelling approach was then developed to estimate flight height distributions while accounting for measurement error. ResultsOur results suggest that the majority of bat activity occurs between ground level and 30 m altitude, at least in early spring and late summer/early autumn. However, the bats were recorded taking short flights above 60 m and at times even flew above 80 m (maximum model estimate was 92.7 m with a maximum 95% CI of 144.1 m) and demonstrated that they are capable of quick and frequent altitudinal changes from ground level to almost 40 m. Flight heights were on average higher when associated with trees in summer. Mean flight heights appear to be higher when associated with treed habitats in summer. ConclusionsThis study shows that the flight height distribution of small bats can be investigated using store-on-board GPS devices and illustrates a statistical approach that incorporates vertical measurement error. It provides the first insights into the flight heights of this small bat species, which can help inform a more complete flight height profile across different seasons and conditions with future improvements in GPS technology. Results suggest that, although the Southern Bent-wing Bat primarily flies at lower heights, it exceeds 30 m altitude at times, increasing the risk of mortalities due to wind turbine collision. Accurately determining the proportion of time that threatened species such as the Southern Bent-wing Bats spend within high-risk flight zones will provide the evidence base for implementing effective mitigation measures to reduce population-level impacts.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Leveraging a natural murine meiotic drive to suppress invasive populations

Invasive rodents, including house mice, are a major cause of environmental damage and biodiversity loss, particularly in island ecosystems. Eradication can be achieved through the distribution of rodenticide, but this approach is expensive to apply at scale, can have negative impacts (e.g. on non-target species, or through contamination), has animal ethics concerns, and has restrictions on where it can be used. Gene drives, which exhibit biased inheritance, have been proposed as a next generation strategy to control invasive alien pests and disease vectors. However, synthetic gene drives including CRISPR homing drives have proven to be technically challenging to develop in mice. The t haplotype is a naturally-occurring segregation distortion locus with highly biased transmission from heterozygous males. Here we propose a novel gene drive strategy for population suppression, tCRISPR, that leverages t haplotype bias and an embedded SpCas9/gRNA transgene to spread inactivating mutations in a haplosufficient female fertility gene. Using spatially explicit individual-based in silico modelling, we show that polyandry, sperm competition, dispersal, and transmission bias are critical factors for tCRISPR-mediated population suppression. Modelling of realistic parameter values indicates that tCRISPR can eradicate an island population of 200,000 mice while the unmodified t haplotype fails under the same conditions. We also demonstrate feasibility of this approach by engineering tCRISPR mice in a safe split drive format. tCRISPR mice exhibit high transmission of the modified t haplotype, and efficient generation and transmission of inactivating mutations in a recessive female fertility gene, crucially, at levels for which the modelling predicts that population eradication can occur. This is the first example of a feasible gene drive system for invasive alien rodent population control.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

Locally Fixed Alleles: A method to localize gene drive to island populations

Invasive species pose a major threat to biodiversity on islands. While successes have been achieved using traditional removal methods, such as toxicants aimed at rodents, these approaches have limitations and various off-target effects on island ecosystems. Gene drive technologies designed to eliminate a population provide an alternative approach, but the potential for drive-bearing individuals to escape from the target release area and impact populations elsewhere is a major concern. Here we propose the \"Locally Fixed Alleles\" approach as a novel means for localizing elimination by a drive to an island population that exhibits significant genetic isolation from neighboring populations. Our approach is based on the assumption that in small island populations of rodents, genetic drift will lead to multiple genomic alleles becoming fixed. In contrast, multiple alleles are likely to be maintained in larger populations on mainlands. Utilizing the high degree of genetic specificity achievable using homing drives, for example based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, our approach aims at employing one or more locally fixed alleles as the target for a gene drive on a particular island. Using mathematical modeling, we explore the feasibility of this approach and the degree of localization that can be achieved. We show that across a wide range of parameter values, escape of the drive to a neighboring population in which the target allele is not fixed will at most lead to modest transient suppression of the non-target population. While the main focus of this paper is on elimination of a rodent pest from an island, we also discuss the utility of the locally fixed allele approach for the goals of population suppression or population replacement. Our analysis also provides a threshold condition for the ability of a gene drive to invade a partially resistant population.

evolutionary biology↗