Table 2.
Top five models identifying variables that best explain daily and hourly acoustic activities of bats during winter in the southeastern United States. Daily acoustic activity is the average number of bat calls per 24‐hr period, whereas hourly acoustic activity is the average number of bat calls per hour. Akaike information criterion (AIC) values identify the best‐fit model. Degrees of freedom (df), change in AIC (ΔAIC), and weight of evidence (wi) for the models relating bat activity to abiotic variables are shown for all sites and seasons in all years. Models receiving substantial empirical support (ΔAIC ≤ 2.0) are in bold face type
| Explanatory variables in model | df | ΔAIC | wi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily acoustic activity | Month * Emerg. Temp. + Yr Pd Confirmed + Moon Illumination | 3 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Month + Emerg. Temp. + Yr Pd Confirmed + Moon Illumination | 4 | 19.1 | 0.0 | |
| Month * Emerg. Temp. + Moon Illumination | 2 | 161.9 | 0.0 | |
| Month + Emerg. Temp. + Moon Illumination | 3 | 165.7 | 0.0 | |
| Hibernation Period + Emerg. Temp. + Yr Pd Confirmed + Moon Illumination | 4 | 181.8 | 0.0 | |
| Hourly acoustic activity | Time of Day * Mean Temp. + Yr Pd Confirmed | 2 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Time of Day * Mean Temp. | 1 | 25.9 | 0.0 | |
| Time of Day + Mean Temp. + Yr Pd Confirmed | 3 | 995.3 | 0.0 | |
| Time of Day + Mean Temp. | 2 | 1035.6 | 0.0 | |
| Hour * Mean Temp. + Yr Pd Confirmed | 2 | 5699.7 | 0.0 |
* Indicates interaction between two variables.
(+) indicates additive effects.