U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) Draft Recovery Plan: First Revision April 2007 Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region - Region 3 Fort Snelling, Minnesota 2 Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) Draft Recovery Plan: First Revision April 2007 Edited by Lori Pruitt U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office and Leslie TeWinkel U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3 Regional Office – Fort Snelling, Minnesota For Region 3 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fort Snelling, Minnesota Approved: ___XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_______ Regional Director, Region 3 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Date: ______________________ 3 Disclaimer Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions which are believed to be required to recover and/or protect listed species. Plans are published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sometimes prepared with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, state agencies, and others. Objectives will be attained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views nor the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the plan formulation, other than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They represent the official position of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only after they have been signed by the Regional Director. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and completion of recovery tasks. Literature Citation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2007. Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) Draft Recovery Plan: First Revision. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fort Snelling, MN. 258 pp. Availability Availability: Recovery plans can be downloaded from the Fish and Wildlife Service website: http://endangered.fws.gov Cover photo: Indiana bat roosting under the bark of a hickory tree. Photo credit: ©Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, Inc. (www.batcon.org). 4 Acknowledgements The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) gratefully acknowledges the commitment of the Indiana Bat Recovery Team both to the development of the Draft Indiana Bat Recovery Plan: First Revision (Plan) and to the overall conservation of the species. The Recovery Team is composed of the following individuals: Rick Clawson, Team Leader, Missouri Department of Conservation; Virgil Brack, Jr., Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation, Indiana State University; Bob Currie, USFWS Asheville, North Carolina, Field Office; Gene Gardner, Missouri Department of Conservation; Michael Harvey, Tennessee Tech University; Scott Johnson, Indiana Department of Natural Resources; Al Kurta, Eastern Michigan University; John MacGregor, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife; Craig Stihler, West Virginia Department of Natural Resources; Karen Tyrell, Team Consultant, BHE Environmental, Inc.; and Lori Pruitt, Recovery Team Coordinator, USFWS Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office. The Plan resulted from the collective effort of many biologists dedicated to the species’ conservation. The USFWS is grateful for the contributions of the following individuals who wrote portions of this document: Rick Clawson, Missouri Department of Conservation Bob Clevenstine, USFWS Rock Island, Illinois, Field Office Paul Cryan, USGS Fort Collins Science Center Bob Currie, USFWS Asheville, North Carolina, Field Office Theresa Davidson, USFWS Columbia, Missouri, Field Office Jessica Hogrefe, USFWS East Lansing, Michigan, Field Office Andrew King, USFWS Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office Al Kurta, Eastern Michigan University Vicky Meretsky, Indiana University Tom O’Shea, USGS Fort Collins Research Center Georgia Parham, USFWS Region-3 Regional Office Mary Parkin, USFWS Region-5 Regional Office Lori Pruitt, USFWS Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office Dan Sparks, USFWS Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office Leslie TeWinkel, USFWS Region-3 Regional Office Susi vonOettingen, USFWS New England Field Office The draft Recovery Criteria were developed primarily during a meeting held at the USFWS Region-3 Regional Office in November 2005. The following individuals provided significant contributions at this meeting: Virgil Brack, Rick Clawson, Bob Currie, Al Hicks (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation), Al Kurta, Vicky Meretsky, TJ Miller (USFWS Region-3 Regional Office), Mary Parkin, Lori Pruitt, Stephanie Scheetz (formerly with USFWS Region-4 Regional Office), Annette Scherer (USFWS New Jersey Field Office), Jennifer Szymanski (USFWS Region-3 Regional Office), and Leslie TeWinkel. Additionally, Tom O’Shea, Vicky Meretsky, and Andrew King provided expert advice on issues related to the population biology of the species that assisted in further refining the Criteria. Substantial internal review has occurred prior to the publication of the draft Plan. The following USFWS employees provided regional-level coordination, review, and expertise: Bob Currie, 5 Ken Graham (Region-4 Regional Office), Andrew King, Lynn Lewis (Region-3 Regional Office), Marty Miller (Region-5 Regional Office), Mary Parkin, Lori Pruitt, Scott Pruitt (Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office), Stephanie Scheetz, Annette Scherer, Jennifer Szymanski, and Leslie TeWinkel. Kelly Herrmann, the USFWS’s Region-3 Endangered Species Assistant, provided administrative and logistical assistance. The USFWS also recognizes the USFWS Field Office staffs throughout the range of the Indiana Bat who provided valuable reviews and insights. Thanks also go to Teresa Woods, USFWS Region-3 Regional Office, and Steve Morey, USFWS Region-1 Regional Office, for their work organizing and facilitating the Indiana Bat Risk Assessment Workshop in March 2005. Finally, sincere thanks to Wendi Weber and TJ Miller from the USFWS Region-3 Regional Office for their assistance in shepherding the draft Plan through to publication. 6 Executive Summary Current Species Status: The Indiana bat is a temperate, insectivorous, migratory bat that hibernates colonially in caves and mines in the winter. In spring, reproductive females migrate and form maternity colonies where they bear and raise their young in wooded areas. Males and nonreproductive females typically do not roost in colonies and may stay close to their hibernaculum or migrate to summer habitat. Summer roosts are typically behind exfoliating bark of large, often dead, trees. Both males and females return to hibernacula in late summer or early fall to mate and enter hibernation. The species was originally listed as in danger of extinction under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, and is currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The current Recovery Priority of the Indiana Bat is 8, which means that the species has a moderate degree of threat and high recovery potential. As of October 2006, the Service had records of extant winter populations at approximately 281 hibernacula in 19 states and 269 maternity colonies in 16 states. The 2005 winter census estimate of the population was 457,000. Biologically intrinsic needs of this species include limiting use of fat during hibernation, obligate colonial roosting, high energy demands of pregnant and nursing females, and timely parturition and rapid development and weaning of young. Factors that may exacerbate the bats vulnerability because of these constraints include energetic impacts of significant disruptions to roosting areas (both in hibernacula and maternity colonies), availability of hibernation habitat, and connectivity and conservation of roosting-foraging and migration corridors. Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors: During winter, Indiana bats are restricted to suitable underground hibernacula. The vast majority of these sites are caves located in karst areas of the east-central United States; however, Indiana bats also hibernate in other cave-like locations, including abandoned mines. Suitable hibernacula in the central and southern United States often provide a wide range of vertical structure. These hibernacula tend to have large volumes and often have large rooms and vertical or extensive passages, often below the lowest entrance. Cave volume and complexity help buffer the cave environment against rapid and extreme changes in outside temperature, and vertical relief helps provide a range of temperatures and roost sites. Most Indiana bats hibernate in caves or mines where the ambient temperature remains below 10°C (50.0°F) but infrequently drops below freezing, and the temperature is relatively stable. In summer, most reproductive females occupy roost sites under the exfoliating bark of dead trees that retain large, thick slabs of peeling bark. Primary roosts usually receive direct sunlight for more than half the day. Roost trees are typically within canopy gaps in a forest, in a fenceline, or along a wooded edge. Habitats in which maternity roosts occur include riparian zones, bottomland and floodplain habitats, wooded wetlands, and upland communities. Indiana bats typically forage in semi-open to closed (open understory) forested habitats, forest edges, and riparian areas. 7 Threats to the Indiana bat vary during its annual cycle. At the hibernacula, threats include modifications to caves, mines, and surrounding areas that change airflow and alter microclimate in the hibernacula. Human disturbance and vandalism pose significant