Roost Selection by Male Indiana Myotis Following Forest Fires in Central Appalachian Hardwoods Forests

Johnson, Joshua B.; Ford, W. Mark; Rodrigue, Jane L.; Edwards, John W.; Johnson, Catherine M.

doi:10.3996/042010-jfwm-007

Cited by 37 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Most studies reporting the effects of fire on bats have been carried out on North American forests with special attention to insectivorous species (Boyles & Aubrey 2006;Dickinson et al 2008;Loeb & Waldrop 2008;Lacki et al 2009;Layne 2009;Fisher & Wilkinson 2005;Johnson et al 2010;Dickinson et al 2010;Perry 2011;Silvis 2011;Armitage & Ober 2012). According to Fisher & Wilkinson (2005), bat activity after fire may vary according to the density of the remaining trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The response of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to an incidental fire on a gallery forest at a Neotropical savanna

Oliveira

Aguiar

2015

Biota Neotrop.

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Fire is a common and natural event in Cerrado that can influence the composition of trees and mammals and change the entire conditions of the environment. This study was developed in a gallery forest of Distrito Federal - Brazil. Bat samplings were conducted for a total of six nights after a fire that happened on the gallery forest. Three samplings were conducted: one day, three months and seven months after fire. A total of nine mist nets (12 m x 3 m) were opened from 7pm to 1am. Captured bats were measured and identified to species. Shannon index measured the species diversity of bats in the gallery forest over time. A rarefaction curve was made to assess the estimated bat richness in each of the samplings and a chi-square test was used to check whether there have been changes on bat abundances over time. A total of 46 bats from 8 different species and one family were captured. The most abundant species was Sturnira lilium. Species diversity and abundance increased over time and there was a gradual accumulation of species and specimens indicating that the succession and recovery of the forest occurs due to a temporal addition of specimens and species in the assemblage and not as punctual occurrences. Probably, this recovery pattern reflects a gradual increase in the availability of resources and recovery of the forest canopy, progressively offering more shelter and food for the bat assemblage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The response of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to an incidental fire on a gallery forest at a Neotropical savanna

Oliveira

Aguiar

2015

Biota Neotrop.

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“…Bats with intermediate wing-loading, such as the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), are capable of foraging in a variety of conditions (Ford et al 2005). Th erefore, body morphology and echolocation call characteristics, coupled with roost site selection (Johnson et al 2009, Johnson et al 2010b, provide the information necessary for reasonable species-specifi c predictions about how bats use habitats such as the forested landscapes of the central Appalachians. Th ese predictions are not limited to spatial use of habitat but may include temporal aspects as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nightly and yearly bat activity before and after white-nose syndrome on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia

Johnson¹,

Rodrigue²,

Ford³

2013

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In the central Appalachians, conservation concern about bat communities and their population status has become increasingly more significant with the advent and spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS). However, managers often are hampered in their response to WNS by the lack of information on pre-WNS local distribution, abundance, or activity patterns for most bat species. At the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF), Tucker County, WV, where bat research has been conducted since the mid-1990s, we acoustically monitored bat activity a total of 20 nights each at four sites for 4 years-3 years before and 1 year after WNS was detected-to better assess those local patterns. Within sampling nights, activity of northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) peaked directly after sunset and declined throughout the night, whereas activity of little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and Indiana myotis (Myotis sodalis) had a unimodal distribution that peaked in the middle of the night. Activity of many bat species differed among sample sites and was highest at a small, artificial pond located on a dry ridgetop. Activity of little brown myotis, northern myotis, and Indiana myotis was lower post-WNS than pre-WNS, consistent with the species' precipitous declines previously reported in WNS-affected areas in the Northeast and upper portions of the Mid-Atlantic. Cover PhotoNorthern myotis. Photo by Jane Rodrigue, U.S. Forest Service.

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“…The mechanism behind a positive response to fire by Florida bonneted bats is not clear. Bat activity may increase following prescribed burns because of improvements in roosting habitat (Boyles and Aubrey ; Johnson et al , ), a reduction of understory vegetative clutter (Armitage and Ober , Buchalski et al ), an increase in availability of insect prey (Lacki et al ), or some combination of these factors. Although changes to forest structure (e.g., roost creation or clutter reduction) cannot be ruled out, we argue that it is less relevant in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity of an endangered bat increases immediately following prescribed fire

2018

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Spatiotemporal responses of bats to fire are not well understood. Fire can indirectly influence bat activity through changes to understory vegetation, insect prey availability, and roost tree abundance. High‐flying bats may be less influenced by fire‐induced changes to the understory because they forage above the forest canopy. Fire‐dependent forests are prevalent across the range of the endemic Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus), a large, high‐flying, and critically endangered species, yet effects of fire management on this species are completely unknown. To investigate short‐term responses of these bats to fire, we conducted pre‐post‐treatment‐control experiments in 4 prescribed burns during 2 seasons (dry, wet). For 12 nights pre‐burn and 24 nights post‐burn, we surveyed bat activity acoustically at 3 sites within each burn (treatment) and 3 adjacent sites (control). Using mixed‐effects models to test the effect of treatment on bat activity, we found that bat activity significantly increased post‐burn in treatment sites relative to control sites, with more pronounced effects during dry season burns. We also detected significantly more feeding buzzes (foraging activity) in treatment sites than control sites, and a negative trend over time in the burn effect size post‐burn. We suggest that bats are attracted to increased availability of insect prey immediately following burns, particularly during the dry season when prey may be limited. Our results suggest that burns have short‐term positive effects on Florida bonneted bats and that restoring fire to fire‐dependent forests may improve foraging habitat for this species. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.

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Roost Selection by Male Indiana Myotis Following Forest Fires in Central Appalachian Hardwoods Forests

Cited by 37 publications

References 38 publications

The response of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to an incidental fire on a gallery forest at a Neotropical savanna

The response of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) to an incidental fire on a gallery forest at a Neotropical savanna

Nightly and yearly bat activity before and after white-nose syndrome on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia

Activity of an endangered bat increases immediately following prescribed fire

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