Little Brown Myotis Activity Patterns in South-Central Alaska

Snively, Marian L.; Pendleton, Grey W.; Christie, Katherine S.; Blejwas, Karen M.

doi:10.1898/1051-1733-102.3.216

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In temperate regions, such as in the UK and in the US, bat survey guidelines do not suggest monitoring bats on nights where temperatures drop below 10°C and or wind speeds are consistently above 8 m s ‐1 (Richardson et al 2021) or even 4 m s ‐1 (US Fish and Wildlife, 2022). Studies in boreal regions (Baerwald and Barclay 2009, Snively et al 2021), including within Norway (Michaelsen 2017, Frafjord 2021), have reported trends in bat activity like those in temperate regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind energy development can lead to guild‐specific habitat loss in boreal forest bats

McKay,

Johns,

Bischof

et al. 2024

Wildlife Biology

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Forest management rarely considers protecting bats in Fennoscandian regions although all species rely on forest habitat at some point in their annual cycle. This issue is especially evident as wind parks have increasingly been developed inside Fennoscandian forests, against the advice of international bat conservation guidelines. In this study, we aimed to describe and explain bat community dynamics at a Norwegian wind park located in a boreal forest, especially to understand potential avoidance or attraction effects. The bat community was sampled acoustically and described using foraging guilds (short, medium, and long‐range echolocators; SRE, MRE, LRE) as well as behavior (commuting, feeding and social calls). Sampling was undertaken at two locations per turbine: 1) the turbine pad and 2) a paired natural habitat at ground level, as well as from a meteorological tower. We used a recently developed method for camera trapping nocturnal flying insects synchronously with bat acoustic activity. Our results reveal trends in feeding and general bat activity across foraging guilds in relation to insect availability, habitat type, wind, temperature, and seasonality. We show how seasonal patterns in behavior across guilds were affected by habitat type, temperature, and wind. We found that SRE commuting and especially feeding activity was highest in natural habitats, whereas LRE overall activity at habitats more season dependent. We found that nocturnal insect availability was positively correlated with total bat feeding activity throughout the night. Our results provide evidence for both direct and indirect risks to bat communities by wind parks: SRE bat habitat is lost to wind energy infrastructure and LRE bat may have an increased risk of fatality. Our findings provide important insights on seasonal and spatial variability in bat activity, which can inform standardizing monitoring of bats acoustically in boreal forests, at wind parks, and in combination with non‐invasive insect monitoring.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind energy development can lead to guild‐specific habitat loss in boreal forest bats

McKay,

Johns,

Bischof

et al. 2024

Wildlife Biology

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“…In southcentral Alaska (61.0° N–61.5° N), little brown bats have been shown to increase their use of dense forest cover during short nights (Snively et al, 2021). Snively et al (2021) also recorded volant bats ≤1 h after sunset and ≤1 h before sunrise during the shortest nights. Little brown bats in Yukon, Canada, have not been observed foraging in daylight; rather, they foraged at night, including during twilight hours, suggesting a low luminosity threshold (Slough & Jung, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Little brown bats in Yukon and Alaska also consume more terrestrial arthropods such as spiders that occupy forested habitats (Shively et al, 2018; Talerico, 2008) and are able to modify their echolocation calls, using higher frequencies and shorter steep‐sloped calls, to forage in greater clutter found in forests (Wund, 2006). In southcentral Alaska (61.0° N–61.5° N), little brown bats have been shown to increase their use of dense forest cover during short nights (Snively et al, 2021). Snively et al (2021) also recorded volant bats ≤1 h after sunset and ≤1 h before sunrise during the shortest nights.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Little brown bat activity patterns and conservation implications in agricultural landscapes in boreal Yukon, Canada

et al. 2023

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Agriculture can threaten the persistence of bat populations by removing forests and wetlands and by intensifying production. Both processes are underway in expanding agricultural landscapes of boreal North America.To inform land planning and agricultural practices aimed at maintaining a viable population of the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), we assessed the use by bats of human-modified (open fields, forest-field edges, and cleared edges of ponds) and unmodified (forest ponds and forest interior) habitat features in agricultural landscapes in southern Yukon, Canada (60 N-61 N), using acoustic recordings. We summarized bat activity (number of 3-s acoustic files with ≥1 pass/night) and bat feeding (files with >1 feeding buzz/night) at grouped sets of habitat features (sites) and used generalized linear mixed models to test predictions about relative use of habitats. The active season for bats was late April to early October. Little brown bat feeding was strongly correlated with general activity, but feeding comprised a significantly higher proportion of all activity at forest ponds and forest interiors compared to field edges, open fields, and ponds in fields. Total bat activity was highest at forest ponds, followed by field edges, and substantially less in forest interiors and open fields. Forest ponds were used more than the edges of nearby ponds with some riparian clearing for fields. Bats increased use of forest interiors and decreased use of fields as duration of darkness decreased close to summer solstice. We recommend exclusion of ponds, lakes, and other wetlands from future agricultural land disposition, and retention of a riparian forested buffer of ≥40 m around current water bodies on farms. We also recommend retention of strips or patches of forest bordering fields and connected to riparian areas and to more extensive forests on public lands. A relatively young agricultural landscape can avoid some of the risks of intensive agriculture with proactive planning and stewardship.

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Sampling Duration and Season Recommendations for Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Bats after White-Nose Syndrome

Hauer,

Shinskie,

Brady

et al. 2023

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management

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Since 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused drastic declines in populations of several hibernating bat species throughout eastern North America. Thus, there is a growing need to establish long-term monitoring programs to assess changes in bat populations over time. Information on the seasonal timing of species occurrence and the sampling effort required to acoustically detect individual bat species and obtain complete inventories is needed to design and implement effective monitoring programs. From April through October in 2018-2021, we passively sampled for bats using full-spectrum detectors at eight permanent locations at Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center, Pennsylvania. We examined seasonal activity patterns and estimated bat species richness among detector locations and seasons using species accumulation curves. We also estimated probability of detection (p) and occupancy (Ψ) using single-season occupancy models in PRESENCE software, and then determined the number of sampling nights needed to reliably infer absence of each species. We identified 351,771 bat passes of eight species or species groups in 5,856 detector-nights. Seasonal patterns of activity varied among species. On average, approximately 30 sampling nights were needed to detect 90% of the total species richness among locations and seasons. Relatively few nights (≤12 nights) were needed to detect most species during summer, however, many more nights were needed to detect acoustically rare species. Our results indicate that the acoustic sampling effort currently required to determine presence or probable absence of federally endangered Indiana myotis Myotis sodalis and northern long-eared myotis M. septentrionalis may also be adequate for tri31 colored bats Perimyotis subflavus, but a greater level of effort may be needed for little brown myotis M. lucifugus in some areas. Monitoring programs that incorporate efficient sampling methodologies will be critical for future conservation efforts as populations of several bat species continue to decline.

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Little Brown Myotis Activity Patterns in South-Central Alaska

Cited by 3 publications

References 43 publications

Wind energy development can lead to guild‐specific habitat loss in boreal forest bats

Wind energy development can lead to guild‐specific habitat loss in boreal forest bats

Little brown bat activity patterns and conservation implications in agricultural landscapes in boreal Yukon, Canada

Sampling Duration and Season Recommendations for Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Bats after White-Nose Syndrome

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