Climbers for Bat Conservation: A Novel Partnership

In the last 10 years North American bat populations have declined dramatically because of mortalities at wind energy facilities (Hayes 2013) and from a fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome (WNS) (Frick et al. 2010). Much... [ view full abstract ]

In the last 10 years North American bat populations have declined dramatically because of mortalities at wind energy facilities (Hayes 2013) and from a fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome (WNS) (Frick et al. 2010). Much of this mortality has been documented in the eastern half of North America. It is unknown how much western United States bat populations have been impacted by WNS because western bats infrequently congregate at caves and mines for hibernation. It is likely that western bats utilize cracks and crevices, an abundant resource in the western United States, to a greater degree for roosting. Unfortunately, the inconspicuousness of crevices and the difficulty of observing small, nocturnal, volant animals make finding bat roosts in cracks and crevices problematic. Rock climbers have visited many rock features that are inaccessible or unknown to bat biologists and could be a valuable potential source of knowledge regarding potential bat roost locations; however, many rock climbers may be apprehensive to share information that could result in the loss of access to a valued recreational resource. Therefore the goals of this project were to: 1) improve knowledge of bat roost locations; 2) develop relationships among climbing enthusiasts and biologists throughout Colorado; and 3) empower climbers as ambassadors for bat conservation. Through the use of World Café facilitated dialogues, social media, and mobile observation recording software (iNaturalist) the researchers were able to build a collaborative network of over currently 141 rock climbers, land managers, and biologists. This collaboration has resulted in the identification of a number of bat roost locations deemed valuable for future study by bat biologists. Through the use of the aforementioned methods, the researchers have developed a potential model for collaboration that can be used throughout the western United States for improving bat conservation.