Mammals of Southern Clermont County, Ohio with Notes on the Food Habits of Four Species of Bats

Author Institution: WAPORA, Inc.The mammals of wood and openland habitats adjacent to the Ohio River were sampled during May, June, July, and October 1984 using mist nets and live, pit, and snap traps. Four species of bats were netted; 13 species of large mammals, or their sign, were observed; and eight species of small mammals were trapped. Snap trap and live trap success was greatest in red cedar upland and immature upland forests, respectively. Pit trap success was greatest in recently disturbed areas. Species diversity was greatest for all three trap methods in recently disturbed areas. Food habitats of bats were determined via fecal analysis. Moths and beetles were the primary prey of 12 red bats; big brown bats ate beetles. A juvenile hoary bat, the first recorded from Clermont County, ate largely lace wings; an eastern pipistrelle was more of a generalist, eating moths, beetles, flies, caddisflies, leaf hoppers, and ants

Bats of Ravenna Training and Logistics Site, Portage and Trumbull Counties, Ohio

Author Institution: Center for North American Bat Research & Conservation, Dept of Ecology & Organismal Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, INAuthor Institution: Environmental Solutions & Innovations Inc., Cincinnati, OHSix species of bats (n = 272) were caught at Ravenna Training and Logistics Site during summer 2004: 122 big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), 100 little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus), 26 red bats (Lasiurus borealis), 19 northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis), three hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus), and two eastern pipistrelles (Pipistrellus subflavus). Catch was 9.7 bats/net site (SD = 10.2) and 2.4 bats/net night (SD = 2.6). No bats were captured at two net sites and only one bat was caught at one site; the largest captures were 33, 36, and 37 individuals. Five of six species were caught at two sites, 2.7 (SD = 1.4) species were caught per net site, and MacArthur’s diversity index was 2.88. Evidence of reproduction was obtained for all species. Chi-square tests indicated no difference in catch of males and reproductive females in any species or all species combined. Evidence was found of two maternity colonies each of big brown bats and little brown myotis. Capture of big brown bats (X2 = 53.738; P <0.001), little brown myotis (X2 = 21.900; P <0.001), and all species combined (X2 = 49.066; P <0.001) was greatest 1 – 2 hours after sunset. Capture of red bats did not vary over the night (X2 = 7.083; P <0.461). Rate of capture was not consistent over the season for big brown bats (X2 = 28.603; P <0.001) or all species combined (X2 = 10.969; P = 0.004), but was similar for little brown myotis (X2 = 4.184; P = 0.123)

Bats of the Loess Hills Ecoregion of Southeast Nebraska

We surveyed bats at 49 sites in the Loess Hills Ecoregion of southeastern Nebraska, along the western edge of the eastern forest biome in eastern Richardson, Nemaha, and Otoe counties. We completed this study shortly before the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. The expectation of listing, along with potential presence of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), motivated the study. We captured 183 bats of five species: eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) (n = 103; 56 %), big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) (n = 47; 26 %), evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) (n = 27; 15 %), hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) (n = 4; 2 %), and northern long-eared bat (n = 2; 1 %). The mean catch per net site was 3.7 bats (SD = 4.8). The Eastern red bat was captured most commonly and at the most sites. We established the first record of this species from Nemaha County, with reproduction documented in all three counties. More reproductive female red bats were captured than adult males. Big brown bat captures consisted of approximately equal proportions adult males, reproductive females, and volant young of year. We established the first records for big brown bat reproduction in Otoe and Nemaha counties. Only reproductive female and juvenile evening bats were captured, with geographic and reproductive records established for all three counties. Captures of the hoary bat, a lactating female at one site and two juveniles at another, represented a Nemaha County geographic and reproductive record. We radio-tagged a non-reproductive female and an adult male northern long-eared bat from Otoe County and tracked them to roosts along the Missouri River, 3.43 and 2.03 km from the net site, respectively. We completed four emergence counts at each roost, with each bat exiting its respective roost on only one evening and neither bat visiting the other roost. We never documented more than three individuals exiting each roost on a given night. Overall, this study documented relatively low abundance, species richness, and species diversity when compared to studies in the eastern United States

Summer Food Habits of \u3ci\u3eMyotis leibii\u3c/i\u3e in the Central Appalachians Ecoregion and Comparison to Similar Studies

Food habits of Myotis leibii, Eastern Small-footed Myotis, were studied during summer in the Central Appalachians Ecoregion. Moths were 70.0% of the diet by volume and were in 97.7% of samples (percent frequency). Beetles, flies, and spiders comprised much of the remaining diet. Percent volume and percent frequency metrics produce similar results. These data and past studies indicate this bat eats a relatively low-diversity diet centered on terrestrial-based arthropod prey across a broad geographical area, irrespective of season, sex, or age. The presence of spiders in the diet may indicate gleaning

Bats of Skydusky Hollow, Bland County, Virginia

During the period 22 November 1999 – 11 October 2001, winter hibernacula surveys, spring staging/autumn swarming surveys, and summer surveys for bats were completed in caves of Skydusky Hollow, Bland County, Virginia. During winter, 12 caves were entered and 16,185 bats counted: 235 Myotis sodalis (Indiana bat), 14,475 Myotis lucifugus (little brown myotis), 12 Myotis septentrionalis (northern myotis), 7 Myotis leibii (eastern small-footed myotis), 1,441 Pipistrellus subflavus (eastern pipistrelle), and 15 Eptesicus fuscus (big brown bat). Myotis sodalis hibernated in thermally stable areas of 7 -9 ̊C. The largest concentration of M. lucifugus (n = 4,280) hibernated in an area that was cooler (6.5 ̊C) than areas used by M. sodalis. The remaining 6,300 M. lucifugus hibernated at temperatures similar to, or slightly cooler than, temperatures used by M. sodalis. Intra-cave (and possibly inter-cave) movements of M. lucifugus and M. sodalis during the season of hibernation concentrated bats in cooler areas of the caves. An unusually large concentration of P. subflavus (n = 920) hibernated in Coon Cave in a warm (8.6 – 9.7 ̊C, stable environment. Proportions of species of bats captured during spring staging and autumn swarming varied from proportions found during winter hibernation. Mating and perhaps other social functions affect patterns of autumn use. No concentration of bats used the caves during summer

Case Study: Upland Ponds Provide On-Site Mitigation for Bat Habitat Along American Electric Power’s 765-kV Powerline ROW in the Appalachian Mountains, USA

Initially, mitigation for protected species in the United States was project-specific, in-kind, and on-site, benefiting local populations of focal species. Recent mitigation policy uses in-lieu fees and mitigation banks, consolidating mitigation at large off-site locations, targeting regional population. This is true for the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), a species that roosts in trees and forages along many types of woodland edges. Drinking water is essential but considered ubiquitous and rarely factored into mitigation. In high-relief areas, runoff is rapid, precipitation is low, and evapotranspiration is high in late summer, limiting drinking pools for lactating females and juveniles. In Virginia’s Ridge and Valley region, our on-site mitigation paired ponds, roost boxes, and edge foraging habitat along a new electric transmission line right-of-way (ROW). During mitigation, white-nose syndrome (a fungal disease) decimated populations of this and four additional species of bats, which we included in analyses. Mitigation metrics were abundance, presence of focal species, species richness, and species diversity. The Indiana bat was known regionally, and an adult male was captured pre-construction along the ROW but not at mitigation sites; the species was recoded acoustically at a mitigation site post-construction. For other focal species, abundance (total and reproductive females), was dramatically greater post-mitigation. Species richness and diversity increased severalfold post-mitigation

Bats of the Loess Hills Ecoregion of Southeast Nebraska

We surveyed bats at 49 sites in the Loess Hills Ecoregion of southeastern Nebraska, along the western edge of the eastern forest biome in eastern Richardson, Nemaha, and Otoe counties. We completed this study shortly before the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. The expectation of listing, along with potential presence of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), motivated the study. We captured 183 bats of five species: eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) (n = 103; 56 %), big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) (n = 47; 26 %), evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) (n = 27; 15 %), hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) (n = 4; 2 %), and northern long-eared bat (n = 2; 1 %). The mean catch per net site was 3.7 bats (SD = 4.8). The Eastern red bat was captured most commonly and at the most sites. We established the first record of this species from Nemaha County, with reproduction documented in all three counties. More reproductive female red bats were captured than adult males. Big brown bat captures consisted of approximately equal proportions adult males, reproductive females, and volant young of year. We established the first records for big brown bat reproduction in Otoe and Nemaha counties. Only reproductive female and juvenile evening bats were captured, with geographic and reproductive records established for all three counties. Captures of the hoary bat, a lactating female at one site and two juveniles at another, represented a Nemaha County geographic and reproductive record. We radio-tagged a non-reproductive female and an adult male northern long-eared bat from Otoe County and tracked them to roosts along the Missouri River, 3.43 and 2.03 km from the net site, respectively. We completed four emergence counts at each roost, with each bat exiting its respective roost on only one evening and neither bat visiting the other roost. We never documented more than three individuals exiting each roost on a given night. Overall, this study documented relatively low abundance, species richness, and species diversity when compared to studies in the eastern United States

Modified Cave Entrances: Thermal Effect on Body Mass and Resulting Decline of Endangered Indiana Bats (Myotis sodalis)

Entrances to many caves occupied by the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) have been modified to control human access. We show that modifying cave entrances can degrade the bats’ winter habitat, we demonstrate one mechanism by which this damage occurs, and we document a restoration experiment. We compared a large bar population in an unmodified cave with a small, reduced bat population in a cave with warm winter temperatures resulting from an entrance wall that impeded air exchange. In the modified cave, mean winter temperature at the hibernation site was 5.0° C higher than in the unmodified cave, bats entered hibernation at a 5% higher body mass, bats lost 42% more mass and the frequency distribution of late‐winter mass was truncated, with no bats weighing less than 5.4 g. The results describe unacceptable extremes for hibernation: subfreezing temperatures and warm temperatures causing mass‐loss rates of more than 0.009 g/day. Over a decade following removal of the entrance‐constricting wall, the population increased from 2,000 to 13,000 bats. Previous recommendations, based on common‐sense observation, to open blocked cave entrances are confirmed by this study. The similar case of Coach Cave, Kentucky, offers the potential for recovery of 100,000 Indiana bats

Energy availability influences microclimate selection of hibernating bats

Many species hibernate to conserve energy during periods of low food and water availability. It has long been assumed that the optimal hibernation strategy involves long, deep bouts of torpor that minimize energy expenditure. However, hibernation has ecological (e.g. decreased predator avoidance) and physiological (e.g. sleep deprivation) costs that must be balanced with energy savings; therefore, individuals possessing sufficient energy reserves may reduce their use of deep torpor. We tested the hypothesis that energy (fat) availability influences temperature selection of two fat-storing bat species during hibernation. We predicted that individuals with small energy reserves would select colder temperatures for hibernation in order to minimize energy expenditure, while individuals with larger energy reserves would choose warmer temperatures to minimize the costs of hibernation. Results from our field experiment indicate that little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) hibernating in warm microclimates were significantly heavier than individuals hibernating in cooler microclimates. To determine if energy availability was mediating this relationship, we limited fatty acid availability with mercaptoacetate (MA) and quantified its effect on torpid metabolic rate (TMR) and thermal preference of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). Administration of MA caused a 43% drop in TMR at 10°C and caused bats to choose significantly colder temperatures for hibernation. Our results suggest that fat-storing bats minimize torpor expression using both physiological and behavioral mechanisms

Modified Cave Entrances: Thermal Effect on Body Mass and Resulting Decline of Endangered Indiana Bats (Myotis sodalis)

Entrances to many caves occupied by the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) have been modified to control human access. We show that modifying cave entrances can degrade the bats’ winter habitat, we demonstrate one mechanism by which this damage occurs, and we document a restoration experiment. We compared a large bar population in an unmodified cave with a small, reduced bat population in a cave with warm winter temperatures resulting from an entrance wall that impeded air exchange. In the modified cave, mean winter temperature at the hibernation site was 5.0° C higher than in the unmodified cave, bats entered hibernation at a 5% higher body mass, bats lost 42% more mass and the frequency distribution of late-winter mass was truncated, with no bats weighing less than 5.4 g. The results describe unacceptable extremes for hibernation: subfreezing temperatures and warm temperatures causing mass-loss rates of more than 0.009 g/day. Over a decade following removal of the entrance-constricting wall, the population increased from 2,000 to 13,000 bats. Previous recommendations, based on common-sense observation, to open blocked cave entrances are confirmed by this study. The similar case of Coach Cave, Kentucky, offers the potential for recovery of 100,000 Indiana bats