| Report |
Publish Year |
Description |
Filename |
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Spring roost selection and thermoregulation of silver-haired bats in the Smallwood creek area
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2021
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Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) are a tree roosting species of insectivorous bat found throughout North America. They belong to the guild of cavity-dwelling species, and as such, they are especially dependent on the presence of snags (standing dead trees) and large, mature trees, which generally have more roosting opportunities than smaller, younger trees. This species has long been thought to be migratory in much of its range. However, captures and visual and acoustic observations of this species have been recorded throughout winter at numerous locations in British Columbia, and this has begun to shift our perspective on its migratory strategies. To date, two silver-haired bat hibernacula have been identified in British Columbia. One identified hibernaculum is the Queen Victoria Mine in South-Central British Columbia. Preliminary research at this site shows that silver-haired bats use trees in the winter as hibernacula in addition to the mine site.
The large body of work on tree-roosting bats typically describes summer roost selection. Winter, fall and spring tree-roost selection in colder climates is poorly studied, and in areas where bats occupy trees year-round, little research exists on seasonal preferences. Work to describe winter and summer tree roost selection by silver-haired bats in the Smallwood area is ongoing, however little information exists on roost selection during the transitional spring period. Since much of the recommendations on bat protection in managed forests considers only summer use of trees, understanding how bats use forests throughout the year will better inform harvest timing windows to support bat conservation.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2021SpringSilverwing.pdf
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Mitigating WNS
Testing use of a Probiotic to Reduce Bat Mortality Caused by White-Nose Syndrome
(Annual Update)
|
2022
|
The goal of the Probiotic Project is to develop and test (in captive and wild trials) a cocktail of bacteria which was sourced from wings of B.C. bats with the goal of reducing the impact of white-nose syndrome (WNS). Here we summarize major milestones of the probiotic project and provide updated results from additional lab analyses that we conducted in 2021. We then outline next steps including final lab experiments, ongoing field experiments, and expansion of study sites. The latter will include an additional control site in the Greater Vancouver region and 5 - 6 study sites in Washington state (where WNS has been present for several years) as a new partnership with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2022Probiotic.pdf
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North American Bat Monitoring Program in British Columbia - 2021 Data Summary and Activity Trend Analyses (2016-2021)
|
2022
|
We have successfully completed our first six years of NABat monitoring in B.C. with a total of 53 operating grid cells, 20 of which are part of our original 22 grid cells. These data provide baselines for pre-white-nose syndrome (WNS) bat distribution and activity data in the province that can be used to gauge changes moving forward using trend analyses.
In this report we describe the acoustic NABat monitoring program and summarize the acoustic NABat data in BC. Specifically, we provide:
1) descriptions of NABat objectives;
2) progress to date, including annual sample sizes;
3) locations and site information from all grid cells in BC;
4) tabulated acoustic results from both stationary and transect sampling, including species, relative activity (stationary detectors), and relative abundance (transects) for all NABat in BC data;
5) discussion of findings and the monitoring process, including challenges, solutions, successes, significance of results, and lessons learned; and
6) future directions.
We summarize bat acoustic activity recorded by stationary detectors and mobile transects throughout the sixth year of NABat in BC. In 2021 we surveyed 53 of 55 current grid cells and once again detected all species of bats thought to occur in BC (17). Two grid cells were not monitored in 2021 due to COVID-19-related logistical and safety concerns. Species distribution changes and updated maps are described below.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2021NABat.pdf
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Year-round roost selection and thermoregulation of Silver-haired Bats in Smallwood-Garrity Area, Kootenay Lake
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2022
|
The objectives of this project are to 1) investigate characteristics of the tree roosts used in winter and summer, including roost microclimates; 2) describe the surrounding forest landscape to characterize roosting habitats in both summer and winter; 3) quantify use of torpor and describe hibernation behaviours; and 4) determine the suitability of Brandenbark(TM) as a habitat compensation tool, and whether this would provide year-round habitat replacement for this tree-roosting species. This latter objective is a collaborative project with Okanagan Nation Alliance.
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wsi_6010_rpt_2021WinterSilverwing.pdf
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| Field Data |
Publish Year |
Description |
Filename |
|
|
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Point data for the 2021 survey formatted for entry into SPI
|
wsi_6010_dct_2021.xlsm
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|
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Point data for the 2021 survey formatted for entry into SPI with updated species codes
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wsi_6010_dct_2021.xlsx
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Point data for the 2021 survey in original format
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wsi_6010_org_2021.xlsm
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