Cooperative Agreement for CESU-Affiliated Partner of the Southern Appalachian Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

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The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research in two questions of major interest: (1) what are the dietary effects of contaminants on insectivores and (2) how can dietary effect pathways be better incorporated into assessments of insectivores in Natural Resource and Damage Assessment (NRDAR) cases in the Unites States? Bats are widespread insectivores in North America and many species are in decline due to multiple stressors including—including through diet-mediated contaminant exposure and loss of food sources in response to contaminants that cause prey mortality (Kraus et al., 2023). For example, emerging adult aquatic insects, which can be greatly affected by contaminants (Kraus et al., 2023), are an important and nutritious food source. Riparian spiders, which are super-accumulators of some contaminants, also fall prey to some bats. These dietary traits expose bats as a group, including many federally threatened and endangered (T&E) species, to the effects of multiple contaminant classes on diet quality and quantity.