Radiotelemetry was used to track 18 Nyctophilus gouldi to roosts in 38 trees within a logged forest.
The species and sizes of trees selected by the bats were compared to trees measured in six randomly
located plots in each of four major habitats. Only the unlogged gullies provided the species of trees
required by the bats for roosting. Of these, the bats showed strongest preference for those trees with
a diameter greater than 80 cm. As the first logging cycle removed many suitable roosts, we conclude
that the second logging cycle, due before the turn of tbe century, will have a major deleterious impact
on the local survival of N. gouldi unless gullies remain unlogged. This would require the redefinition
of gullies in the forest management plan to include all drainage lines.
The aim of this study was to describe the roosts of Nyctophilus bifax in littoral rainforest in Iluka Nature Reserve on the north coast of New South Wales. Radio-telemetry was used to track 17 bats in November 1988 (lactation season) and 11 in May 1989 (mating season) to 87 roosts in 49 trees within the littoral rainforest. The bats frequently changed roosts, which were clustered within a small area. During November, lactating females moved twins between diurnal roosts and some carried twins while foraging. Twins represented a load of up to 95% of their mother's bodyweight. Bats roosted communally in foliage and tree hollows, beneath peeling bark, among epiphytes, and between strangler figs and host trees. Hollows were used more frequently when bats were lactating, while the use of foliage roosts was greater during the mating season. Roosts were concentrated in four tree species, although a wide range of other tree species was used. Roost trees used in November were taller (17 m) than those used in May (8.2 m), and refiect selection oi Syzygium leuhmannii and Acmena hemilampra, both trees of the forest interior. The converse applied for selection of Cupaniopsis anacardioides, a small tree of the littoral zone, in May. These results identify the need for conserving a diversity of roosts for this species of bat.
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