Inventory surveys for bats and California spotted owls at Devils Postpile National Monument: Final report
Blakey R, Buhler M, Young L, Wilkerson B, Siegel RB. 2023. Inventory surveys for bats and California spotted owls at Devils Postpile National Monument: Final report. Natural Resource Report. NPS/DEPO/NRR—2023/2575. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2300702
For its size, Devils Postpile National Monument supports a diverse assemblage of nocturnal fauna. Our summer 2022 surveys recorded 15 bat species within the monument. Five of these species had not been previously confirmed in the monument, including two of the three sensitive species targeted: pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) and fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes). No California Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) were confirmed, but a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) was recorded. Across the disturbance categories of interest identified by monument leadership (e.g., high, moderate, and low levels of fire and blowdown disturbance), there was little variability in bat species richness, total activity, or individual species occurrence. Sites with moderate levels of disturbance recorded the most species and highest levels of activity compared to high and low disturbance, and both priority species were recorded within all three disturbance categories. Targeted surveys (e.g. radio-tracking, multiple season visits) would be required to determine the importance of the monument for critical life stages of its sensitive bat species, such as breeding. Within the fire-prone North American West, roosting habitat requirements for bats presents a key knowledge gap impeding bat conservation in the region (Loeb and Blakey 2021).
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Blakey, Rachel; Buhler, Monica; Young, Lizzy; Wilkerson, Bob; Siegel, Rodney
- Date of Issue
- 2023-10
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2300702
- Units
- DEPO , IMD , NRSS
- Keywords
- bat, California spotted owl, Devil's Postpile National Monument, IMD, Inventory, inventory and monitoring, Myotis, National Park Service, NPS, NPS Inventory and Monitoring Division, Species Inventory Program, survey
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | At-risk Biota | T&E Species and Communities