Bats have a difficult housing market today. Suitable spaces for colonies of females with young is particularly scarce - which architect Anita Ekman wants to remedy remedy. During Summer eXpression, Anita developed the Södervinge bat nest. I her design will be set up for testing around Umeå.
Tighter buildings, modernised farmland and illuminated facades are causing problems for the bats. All of our 19 Swedish species are endangered, and 12 of these are unfortunately on the Swedish Species Data Bank's red list of species at risk of extinction in the country," says Anita Ekman and continues; "Bats are amazing beneficial animals that hunt thousands of insects every night. Their droppings are also great for fertilising flowers. As a northerner, I was naturally particularly interested in their ability to keep mosquitoes at bay. Simply the best kind of neighbour.
Under eXpression Umeå's summer program Summer eXpression 2018 and in cooperation with the local manufacturer Furniture Farm in Lövånger, the architect took Anita Ekman until Södervinge.
A number of adjustments have been made during the course of the road to optimise the function. The manufacturers Pontus Möller and Johannes Berg at Furniture Farm in Lövånger is incredibly encouraging to work with," says Anita. They know their machines and materials and have a very solution-oriented mindset.
In order to ensure that the nest meets the needs of the bats, Anita consulted the biologist Jeroen van der Kooij whose area of expertise is precisely bats. The design of Söderwinge is carefully thought out and every detail is a and every detail is a conscious choice for the bats' benefit.
All the details are important; the scent of the materials, the comfort of the bats' claws, the air circulation inside, that it maintains a sufficient temperature, the volume and how one disadvantages predators without being detrimental to the intended inhabitants. Jeroen van der Kooij has therefore been invaluable as an advisor," says Anita.
With SLU as a partner and with funding from Umeå University's Holding Company, Södervinge will be deployed for testing at a number of selected locations in Umeå municipality this summer. In the following years, Anita hopes to verify that the nest actually works as the nursery it is intended to be.
SLU has has just started a large project to map Umeå's bats. I the project, SLU will lend bat detectors to interested Umeå residents and thus give them the opportunity to learn more about their their wild neighbours. At the same time, they help researchers understand where and when bats are active and how they use the urban environment.
Anita's bat house is a really interesting idea that complements our project in a very relevant way. After all, we want to gain a better understanding of which urban environments bats use and which environments are not as good. In some environments, it may be the availability of nesting sites that limits the bats. If the roosts work as we hope, then putting up roosts could potentially make more habitats suitable for bats," says Petter Axelsson, Researcher at SLU.
How to borrow detectors:
https://www.slu.se/institutioner/vilt-fisk-miljo/traffa-dina-vilda-grannar/upptack-umeas-fladdermoss/
Contact
Anita Ekman
anitaekman@live.com
