No abstract

M7e conipared bat activity levels in the Coaslal Plain of South Carolina atnong 5 habitat types: forested riparian areas, clearcuts, young pine plat~tations, mature pine plantations, and pine savannas. We used time-expansion I-adio-microphones and integrated detectors to simultaneously monitor bat activity at 3 heights (30, 10, 2 mj in each habitat type. Variation in vegetative clutter among sanipling heights and arnttng habitat types allowed us to examine the differential effect of forest vegetation on the spatial activity patterns of clutter-adapted and openadapted bat species. Moreover, monitoring activit~~ at 30, 10, and 2 m permitted us to also compare bat activity above and below the forest canopy. We detected calls of 5 species 01-species groups: eastern red/Seminole bats (Lasiums bo~-ealis/ L. seminol'us) , eastern pipistrelles (Pipistrellus subfivus) , evening bats (iz5cticpiu~ hu?nerulis), big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), and hoary bats (Lasiul-us cinrrius). At 2 and 10 m, bat activity was concentrated in riparian areas, whereas we detected relatively low levels of bat activity in upland habitats at those heights. Activity was more evenly distributed across the landscape at 30 m. Bat activity levels above the forest canopy were almost 3 times greater than within or below the canopy. We detected significantly greater activity levels of 2 open-adapted species (hoary and big brown bats) above rather than within or be lo^^^ the forest canopy. However, activity levels of 2 clutter-adapted species (eastern red,'Seminole bats and eastern pipistrelles) did not differ above, within, or below the forest canopy Despite classification as a clutter-adapted species, evening bat activity was greater above rather than within or below the forest canopy. We believe our results highlight the importance of riparian areas as foraging habitat for bats in pine-dominated landscapes in the southeastern United Slates. Although acoustical surveys conducted below forest canopies can provide useful intitmiation about species composition and relative activity levels of bats that forage in cluttered environments, our results sl~owing activity above canopy suggest that such data may not accurately reflect relative activity of bats adapted to forage in more open conditions, and therefore may provide an inaccurate picture of bat community assemblage and foraging habitat use. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

Although it has been widely documented that populations of cave-roosting bats rapidly decline following the arrival of white-nose syndrome (WNS), longer term reproductive effects are less well-known and essentially unexplored at the community scale. In West Virginia, WNS was first detected in the eastern portion of the state in 2009 and winter mortality was documented in 2009 and 2010. However, quantitative impacts on summer bat communities remained unknown. We compared “historical” (pre-WNS) capture records and reproductive rates from 11,734 bats captured during summer (15 May to 15 August) of 1997–2008 and 1,304 captures during 2010. We predicted that capture rates (number of individuals captured/net-night) would decrease in 2010. We also expected the energetic strain of WNS would cause delayed or reduced reproduction, as denoted by a greater proportion of pregnant or lactating females later in the summer and a lower relative proportion of juvenile captures in the mid–late summer. We found a dramatic decline in capture rates of little brown Myotis lucifugus, northern long-eared M. septentrionalis, small-footed M. leibii, Indiana M. sodalis, tri-colored Perimyotis subflavus, and hoary Lasiurus cinereus bats after detection of WNS in 2009. For these six species, 2010 capture rates were 10–37% of pre-WNS rates. Conversely, capture rates of big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus increased by 17% in 2010, whereas capture rates of eastern red bats Lasiurus borealis did not change. Together, big brown and eastern red bats were 58% of all 2010 captures but only 11% of pre-WNS captures. Reproductive data from 12,314 bats showed shifts in pregnancy and lactation dates, and an overall narrowing in the windows of time of each reproductive event, for northern-long-eared and little brown bats. Additionally, the proportion of juvenile captures declined in 2010 for these species. In contrast, lactation and pregnancy rates of big brown and eastern red bats, and the proportion of juveniles, were similar to historical patterns. Our results further elucidate the significance of short-term effects and provide a basis to examine long-term consequences of WNS.