Acoustic monitoring for bats at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area: Data summary report, 2016–2019
Goodwin KR and Kirschbaum AA. 2021. Acoustic monitoring for bats at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area: Data summary report, 2016–2019. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/GLKN/NRDS—2021/1322. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network initiated an acoustic monitoring program for bats in 2015. Monitoring began in 2016 at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. This report presents results for the 2016–2019 surveys. Acoustic recordings were analyzed using the software program Kaleidoscope Pro and a subset of files were manually reviewed to confirm species identifications. The four bat species previously documented at the park were reconfirmed: big brown bat, hoary bat, silver-haired bat, and little brown bat. Four additional species were documented through both automated Kaleidoscope classification and manual vetting: eastern red bat, northern long-eared bat, tricolored bat, and evening bat. With the exception of the evening bat, the presence of these species was expected since the park lies well within their known ranges. Although the park is north of the typical evening bat range, this species was observed by other researchers in both Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2016, prompting us to include it in our expanded analysis. We obtained a total of 12 manually verified evening bat recordings, suggesting that this species is at least occasionally present in the park. Activity levels for big brown bat, eastern red bat, hoary bat, silver-haired bat, and evening bat appear to be stable. Activity levels for little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, and tricolored bat appear to be declining.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Goodwin, Katy; Kirschbaum, Alan
- Date of Issue
- 2021-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GLKN , MISS , NRSS
- Keywords
- bats, GLKN General, Minnesota