With declines in abundance and changing distribution of White-nose Syndrome (WNS)-affected bat species, increased reliance on acoustic monitoring is now the new "normal". As such, the ability to accurately identify individual bat species with acoustic identification programs has become increasingly important. Additionally, how bat distribution and habitat associations have changed at the local to sub-landscape scale in the post WNS environment is important to understand. The significance of these changes, relative to bat activity, may be based on the species-specific susceptibility to WNS. We used data collected from Fort Drum Military Installation, New York from the summers of 2003-2017 to analyze the accuracy of acoustic software programs, and assess the changes in relative bat activity, occupancy, and distribution induced by WNS.
Our results indicate that continued acoustic monitoring of bat species, such as the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) in the Northeast, to assess ongoing temporal and spatial changes, habitat associations, and as a guide to direct future mist-netting should rely more on relative activity as the metric of choice. Furthermore, the continuous spread of WNS across North America will have strong negative effects on bat populations and communities, this study points to how individual species (both impacted and non-impacted) will respond to WNS. We believe that our results can help users choose automated software and MLE thresholds more appropriate for their needs to accurately address potential changes in communities of bat species due to impacts of WNS or other factors. / MS / White-nose Syndrome (WNS), was first documented in the United States in 2006. The fungus that causes WNS grows on the exposed tissues of hibernating bats and causes abnormal frequent arousal and activity through winter that consequently leads to premature loss of critical fat reserves and disruption of water balance. To date millions of cave-hibernating bats have been killed by White-nose Syndrome. With declines in abundance and changing distribution of WNS-affected bat species, the ability to accurately identify individual bat species with acoustic identification programs has become increasingly important. Additionally, how bat distribution and habitat associations have changed at the local to sub-landscape scale in the post WNS environment is important to understand. We used data collected from Fort Drum Military Installation, New York from the summers of 2003-2017 to analyze the accuracy of acoustic software programs, and assess the changes in relative bat activity, occupancy, and distribution induced by WNS.
Looking at this disease through time is important because it allows us to predict how bat communities in areas where the disease has not yet reached may change if there is an outbreak. Our results indicate that continued acoustic monitoring of bat species in the Northeast, to assess ongoing temporal and spatial changes, habitat associations, and as a guide to direct future mist-netting should rely more on relative activity as the metric of choice. This information can be directly applied with on the ground management for bats, which can buffer against the additional consequences this disease has on bat populations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/95937 |
| Date | 12 June 2018 |
| Creators | Nocera, Tomas |
| Contributors | Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Ford, W. Mark, Carstensen, Laurence W., Silvis, Alexander |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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