CONCLUSIONS
In summary, our study demonstrated that the emergence and return times of V. sinensis were affected by light intensity, reproductive status, and predation risk in a relatively complex pattern, indicating that the decisions concerning emergence and return of V. sinensishad a high degree of plasticity. Therefore, our study investigated the effects of real predators on activity rhythms of bats, and the results challenged the traditional view that high predation risk leads to the later emergence and earlier return. Our results also highlighted that higher energy demands during lactation period in bats may be more important than predation risk in the variation in activity rhythms. A limitation of this study is that it is difficult to determine howV. sinensis make decisions of emergence and return based on the intrinsic and extrinsic factors according to our present data. Further studies will need to determine the causal links between activity rhythms of bats and their impact factors.