Winter acoustic bat monitoring: 2021-2022 results from Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park
Maddox ML. 2022. Winter acoustic bat monitoring: 2021-2022 results from Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/MORU/NRDS—2022/1358. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrds-2293496
The Black Hills and Northern Great Plains regions of South Dakota and Wyoming harbor numerous bat species that utilize the region’s unique landscape features to carry out vital life functions. While extensive summer acoustic monitoring has been conducted by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network, winter acoustic surveys have been limited to only a few parks in the region, and there is still much unknown about winter bat activity in this area. Acoustic detectors were deployed at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Badlands National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park between mid-October through the beginning of February with the goals of 1) determining which species were present at each park during the months surveyed, 2) tracking how bat activity levels shifted based on environmental factors, and 3) identifying areas of potential importance to overwintering bats. Acoustic recordings were analyzed using SonoBat and a manual review process. Echolocation calls from 11 bat species were documented throughout the study, with the most frequently identified species being silver-haired bats, hoary bats, and big brown bats. The federally threatened northern long-eared bat was only documented from Wind Cave National Park. Overall activity levels generally peaked shortly after sunset and appeared to follow trends in nightly temperatures.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Maddox, Max
- Date of Issue
- 2022-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/nrds-2293496
- Units
- BADL , DETO , MORU , NGPN , NRSS , WICA
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals