Abstract
Little information has been published on selection of tree roosts by eastern pipistrelles (
Perimyotis subflavus) in forested environments, and no radiotelemetry-based studies have been conducted on males in forested settings. Therefore, we used radiotelemetry to characterize summer roost selection by 21 male (33 roosts) and 7 female (14 roosts) eastern pipistrelles during 6 years in a forested region of the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. All roosts were located in the vegetation of tree canopies; 50% of roosts of females and 91% of roosts of males were in dead leaves of deciduous trees. Three (43%) of 7 maternity colonies were in dead needles of large live pines (
Pinus echinata); this is the 1st documented use of pines by this species for roosting. Males selected tree sizes randomly but females selected trees that were larger (P < 0.05) than random. For males, 87% of roosts were in oaks (
Quercus), and males roosted at sites with more midstory hardwoods, more large pines in the overstory, less canopy cover, and farther from the nearest trees than random locations. In a landscape offering a diversity of forest habitats, eastern pipistrelles during summer roosted mostly in leaves of oaks in mature (≥50-year-old) forest with a relatively complex structure and a hardwood component.
Keywords
Arkansas,
bats,
interior highlands,
Ouachita Mountains,
Perimyotis,
pipistrelle bat,
Pipistrellus subflavus,
roost selection,
roosting
Citation
Perry, Roger W.; Thill, Ronald E. 2007. Tree roosting by male and female eastern pipistrelles in a forested landscape. Journal of Mammalogy. 88(4): 974-981. https://doi.org/10.1644/06-mamm-a-215r.1