(3) Bat Activity in Cove, Upland, and Thinned/Burned Sites on the Domain

     Many eastern US bat species are threatened by white-nose syndrome (WNS), and five species are now listed as threatened or endangered.  Land managers have started experimenting with forest thinning and prescribed fire... [ view full abstract ]

     Many eastern US bat species are threatened by white-nose syndrome (WNS), and five species are now listed as threatened or endangered.  Land managers have started experimenting with forest thinning and prescribed fire to determine how such methods might affect bat species of the southeastern US. Previous work has found that forest thinning and burning resulted in an increase in bat activity by altering forest structure (Grindal and Brigham, 1998; 1999; Loeb and Waldrop, 2008; Titchenell et al., 2011; Armitage and Ober, 2012; Cox et al., 2015). For this study, our objectives were to compare three treated (thinned and burned) , three untreated upland areas,  and three cove forests for the number of bat visitors as well as species’ presence. Overall, we detected twelve different species across our study areas, including three that are endangered (northern long-eared, grey, Indiana). Overall, the thinned and burned (treated) upland sites had the greatest bat activity (mean observations per hour), particularly for big brown bat and the silver-haired bat. Species in the genus Myotis were frequently observed in the cove forest.