Acoustic monitoring yields informative bat population density estimates.

ABSTRACT: Bat population estimates are typically made during winter, although this is only feasible for bats that aggregate in hibernacula. While it is essential to measure summer bat population sizes for management, we lack a reliable method. Acoustic surveys should be less expensive and more efficient than capture surveys, and acoustic activity data are already used as indices of population size. Although we currently cannot differentiate individual bats by their calls, we can enter call counts, information on signal and detection angles, and weather data into generalized random encounter models to estimate bat density. We assessed the utility of generalized random encounter models for estimating Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) population density with acoustic data collected at 51 total sites

SUBMITTER: Hoggatt ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10883235 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature