An acoustic-based method for locating maternity colonies of rare woodland bats.

ABSTRACT: Locating colonies of rare bats can be a time consuming process, as it is often difficult to know where to focus survey effort. However, identifying peaks of bat activity via acoustic monitoring may provide insights into whether a colony is locally present, and help screen out sites with low potential. Using a triage approach, we developed a survey methodology for locating colonies of the woodland-specialist barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastellus). We investigated whether woodland occupancy by a colony could be predicted by acoustic data, and assessed the influence of survey effort (number of acoustic detectors deployed) on detectability. The methodology was then trialled in citizen science surveys of 77 woodlands, with follow-up radio-tracking surveys by specialists being used to

SUBMITTER: O'Malley KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10557938 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature