Assessing Status of Residual Populations of Threatened Bats

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IRock Creek Park (ROCR) is one of only two NPS units with successful maternity colonies of the threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis, MYSE).  This project will document:  post-WNS roost location and type, extent of non-random assorting social networks, reproductive output to assess viability and population status, and to inform regional conservation guidelines.  Additionally, artificial roost structures preferentially used by MYSE will be placed in a variety of habitat conditions at and near known MYSE maternity activity to facilitate juvenile recruitment and overwinter survival counts.  Roost structures will allow ROCR to band more MYSE, collect tissue for genetics, obtain fungal swabs, record echolocations to document activity patterns and provide more MYSE to track to natural roosts and foraging habitat via radio-tracking due to frequent roost-switching.  Lastly, funding will be used to continue DOI-led bat outreach sessions at ROCR and to develop monitoring workshops for NPS and other agency staff.

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