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Altitude- and Sex-Specific Variation in Roosting Ecology and Thermoregulation of <em>Myotis lucifugus</em> in Yellowstone National Park

Fifty-nine female and six male little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) were radio-tagged during the summers of 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 in Yellowstone National Park. The grand models for daily maximum skin temperature (F98,154 = 1.55, P = 0.007), daily minimum skin temperature (F98,154 = 1.33, P = 0.05), and daily variation in skin temperature (F98,154 = 1.56, P = 0.006) were significant across roost type and reproductive condition class for adult females. Roosts were classified into Types A (warmest roosts), B (roosts with largest daily temperature variance), and C (stable and cool roosts) depending on differences in mean maximum, minimum, and variance in temperatures per day (P < 0.001). A total of 347 torpor bouts were recorded from 38 females across the 2012 to 2015 summer seasons. Bats across different reproductive classes and roost types used torpor at different hours of the day. My research suggests that adult female little brown myotis at high elevations in the Park extensively use and rely on building structures for roosting sites during the reproductive season, whereas males used primarily natural roosts.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uky.edu/oai:uknowledge.uky.edu:forestry_etds-1034
Date01 January 2017
CreatorsSlusher, Alexandra C.
PublisherUKnowledge
Source SetsUniversity of Kentucky
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations--Forestry

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