Tag: Bat monitoring

Tri-colored bats & white-nose syndrome

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
The only mammal that truly flies, bats are celebrated for many reasons. Including their looks. “Tri-colored bats are the cutest little things,” says Susan Loeb of the USDA Forest Service. “They’re tiny – they weigh less than a quarter of an ounce. And each one of their hairs has three colors on it: yellow, black,…  More 

When Detecting Bats, Methods Matter

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service Contract Science Writer  • 
If you want to record bat calls in summer, go early. Detectors recorded significantly more high-quality call files during late June and early July than August. USDA Forest Service research ecologist Susan Loeb and colleagues published results from a bat detection survey in Acta Chiropterologica. The likely reason bats had very high recorded activity in…  More 

Summing Up NABat Successes

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service contract science writer  • 
The North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) was designed to meet local needs, and it must do that if locals are expected to continue participating. NABat launched in 2015 as a collaborative, long-term program to assess the status and trends of North American bats at local, regional, and range-wide scales. NABat developed out of a…  More 

One Treatment Does Not Fit All Sizes

by Jesse Brewer, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Bats are important components of healthy forests and provide critical ecological services across numerous different ecosystems. For decades, bat populations throughout the southern U.S. have been declining due to habitat disturbance and loss. USDA Forest Service scientist Susan Loeb contributed to two recent publications to address this issue, suggesting ways to improve bat management practices…  More 

Bat Survival in Arkansas Mines

by Ivan Garcia, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
White-nose syndrome has been spreading through U.S. bat populations since 2006 and has caused mass die-offs in various regions of the country. The syndrome is caused by Pd (Pseudogymnoascus destructans), a fungus that invades the skin of bats while they hibernate. White-nose syndrome (WNS) symptoms include dehydration and irritation. These symptoms awake the bats frequently…  More 

Seminole Bats on the Move

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Over the past 48 years, Seminole bats (Lasiurus seminolus) have drastically expanded their range. “The northern edge of their summer range has expanded by 323 miles,” says Roger Perry, a USDA Forest Service research wildlife biologist. “That’s approximately 7 miles a year since 1970.” The western range is also expanding, possibly because forests are replacing…  More 

E-Noses Detect Disease in Plants, Animals & Humans

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
The fragrance of a rose comes from volatile organic compounds. Living plants, animals, humans, and even inanimate objects emit complex mixtures of VOCs. VOC mixtures are so distinctive that new words are used to describe them: volatilome, breathprint, and smellprint. “There are over 2,000 VOCs in a person’s breath,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Dan…  More 

An Early Warning System for Bats in North America

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
This week the U.S. Forest Service is participating in the celebration of Bat Week, an international effort to bring attention to the role of bats in nature and the threats they face across the world. Bats play essential roles in the health of both the environment and the economy, pollinating plants, dispersing seeds – and…  More 

U.S. Forest Service Publishes Plan for North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Just published online by the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), A Plan for the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) provides detailed guidelines for participating in NABat, an international multiagency program created to provide the data needed to make effective decisions about bat populations across the North American continent. Susan Loeb, SRS research ecologist,…  More