2 BATS AND FLOWERS WHY KATYDIDS IN 0 C IN AN EVOLUTIONARY RACE STOP THEIR SINGING A 0 LU N 8 D N ES UA -2 LR 0 E 0 PO R 9 WWW.BATCO N.ORG FALL 2009 T

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BAinT thS e BBUUNNKKEERRSS Volume 27, No. 3, fall 2009 P.O. Box 162603 , Austin, Texas 78716 BATS (512) 327-9721 • Fax (512) 327-9724

FEATURES Publications Staff Director of Publications: Robert Locke Photo Editor: Meera Banta 1 Going to Great Lengths Graphic Artist: Jason Huerta Bats & flowers stage an evolutionary race Copyeditors: Angela England, Valerie Locke BATS welcomes queries from writers. Send your article pro - by Nathan Muchhala posal with a brief outline and a description of any photos to the address above or via email to: [email protected] . Members: Please send changes of address and all cor res - 4 Singing Bat Detectors pondence to the address above or via email to members@bat - con.org . Please include your label, if possible, and allow six Katydids know when to shut up weeks for the change of address. by Hannah ter Hofstede Founder/President Emeritus: Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle Board of Trustees: Executive Committee: 7 Bats along the Jordan River John D. Mitchell, Chair Bert Grantges, Secretary Military bunkers are becoming bat houses Marshall T. Steves, Jr., Treasurer by Eran Levin Jeff Acopian; Anne-Louise Band; Eugenio Clariond Reyes; Bettina Mathis; Sandy Read; Walter C. Sedgwick; Marc Weinberger. 11 Softening the Blow Advisory Trustees: Sharon R. Forsyth; Elizabeth Ames Jones; Travis Mathis; Wilhelmina Robertson; William New wind-energy research could help reduce bat kills Scanlan, Jr. Verne R. Read, Chairman Emeritus by Rebecca Patterson Scientific Advisory Board: Dr. Leslie S. Hall, Dr. Greg Richards, Bruce Thomson, Australia; Dr. Irina K. Rakhmatulina, Azerbaijan; Dr. NEWS & NOTES Luis F. Aguirre, Bolivia ; Dr. Wilson Uieda, Brazil; Dr. M. Brock Fenton, Canada ; Dr. Jiri Gaisler, Czech Republic; Dr. Uwe Schmidt, Germany; Dr. Ganapathy Marimuthu, Dr. Shahroukh Mistry, India; Dr. Arnulfo 14 Of bats and wine Moreno, Mexico; Ir. Herman Limpens, Netherlands; Dr. It’s time to apply for BCI Scholarships Armando Rodriguez-Duran, Puerto Rico; Dr. Ya-Fu Lee, Taiwan; Dr. Denny G. Constantine, Robert Currie, Dr. Do Bats Drink Blood? Theodore H. Fleming, Dr. Thomas H. Kunz, Dr. Gary F. McCracken, Dr. Don E. Wilson, United States; Dr. A plan for WNS José R. Ochoa G., Venezuela. Working together for bats and turkeys Membership Manager: Amy McCartney BATS (ISSN 1049-0043) is published quarterly by Bat BCI Member Snapshot Con ser vation International, Inc., a nonprofit corporation supported by tax-deductible contributions used for public The Wish List education, research and conservation of bats and the ecosys - tems that depend on them. © Bat Conser vation International, 2009. All rights reserved. Bat Conservation International’s mission is to conserve the world’s bats and their ecosystems in order to ensure a healthy planet. A subscription to BATS is included with BCI membership: Senior, Student or Educator $30; Basic $35; Friends of BCI $45; Supporting $60; Contributing $100; Patron $250; COVER PHOTO: The lesser mouse-tailed bat is a frequent user of abandoned Sustaining $500; Founder’s Circle $1,000. Third-class postage Israeli military bunkers that were modified to make them more friendly for paid at Austin, Texas. Send address changes to Bat Conser - roosting bats. (Story on Page 7.) vation International, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716. © MERLIN D. TUTTLE, BCI / 8403101 Evolving Together ats play essential roles in healthy ecosystems – so much plants open their flowers at night or changed shape to Bso that various bat species have impacted the evolution attract bats and improve pollination. This evolutionary tit of insects they hunt or plants they pollinate. Bats evolved for tat has been going on for at least 50 million years. hunting aids, such as echolocation (emitting ultrasonic This issue of BATS features research that explores how an sounds and analyzing returning echoes to catch prey and evolving plant led one bat species to grow an enormously avoid obstacles in the dark), or grew longer snouts to reach long tongue and how katydids learned to escape attacking into flowers and lap nectar. Insects responded, for example, bats. Bats not only contribute greatly to nature, they helped by evolving hearing that is sensitive to ultrasound, while to shape it through many examples of coevolution.

GOING TO GREAT LENGTHS Bats & flowers stage an evolutionary race

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fter hanging motionless for a spell, the bat suddenly stretches, cat-like, unfurling first one wing, then the other. It yawns widely and extends its tongue. And keeps extending it – longer and longer This bat extends its in a remarkable display. This is a tube-lipped nectar bat, and its tongue, at full stretch, reaches more remarkably long tongue 1 into a semiartificial flower Athan 1 ⁄2 times its body length. composed of a local plant The bat in my screened-in tent in Ecuador laps sugar-water from the bottom of a plastic test tube and a plastic test tube. The – and contributes to my efforts to determine why evolution produced such a spectacular tongue. test tube is attached to a I discovered this unique bat during fieldwork for my Ph.D. dissertation for the University of protractor-like device that Miami. In a paper coauthored with two Ecuadorian biologists, we named the species the tube-lipped measures the force that’s nectar bat ( Anoura fistulata ) because of its distinctive elongated lower lip. being applied by the bat.

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 1 BATS Subsequent research demonstrated that this bat can extend is a repetitive loop: the flower grows longer to ensure pollina - its tongue some 3.3 inches (8.5 centimeters), twice as long as tion, while the moth’s tongue lengthens to reach more nectar, other nectar bats and longer, relative to body length, than any which causes the flower to grow longer, and so on. other mammal. Novel modifications of its mouth and throat The diet of tube-lipped nectar bats includes nectar from the allow it to store large portions of its retracted tongue in a flower Centropogon nigricans , which stores its nectar at the base 1 sleeve of tissue inside the rib cage. of 3- to 3 ⁄2-inch (8- to 9-centimeter) tubes. Could this plant and What evolutionary pressures could have brought about bat have coevolved in a race similar to that envisioned by such a spectacular tongue? In 2008, I returned to Ecuador Darwin? As with moths, the benefit of increased tongue lengths with financial support from Bat Conservation International to in nectar bats is clear: it allows the animal to reach more nectar. explore this question. The value of long tubes for the plant, however, is not as obvi - One possible answer was suggested by Charles Darwin. He ous. Unlike moths, Anoura fistulata and other nectar-eating bats hypothesized that the remarkably long tongue of a giant hawk drink nectar by extending and retracting the tongue, much as a moth in Madagascar evolved in a “race of increasing lengths” dog laps up water. This means that the bats will fully insert their with the exceptionally long nectar spur of the Malagasy star heads into even short-tubed flowers and extend their tongues orchid. Although the term “coevolution” wasn’t coined until only as far as needed to reach the nectar. So why would evolv - the 1960s, this was one of the first descriptions of a coevolu - ing a longer tube help the flower? tionary process. I suspected that although bats will fully insert their heads Darwin reasoned that, for moths, tongues equal to or into any flower, they push especially hard against flowers with longer than flower tubes would be required to reach all of the long tubes in an effort to reach that last drop of nectar. This nectar. From the flowers’ perspective, the tubes needed to be extra force should mean that they pick up and deposit more longer than moth tongues to ensure that the moth has to push pollen grains, which allows the plant to produce more seeds. its head into the flower, and thus pick up (or deposit) the To test this idea, I traveled into the cloud forests of pollen found there. A moth’s tongue (or proboscis) functions Ecuador’s Bellavista Reserve. With the help of three field assis - like a straw: nectar is sipped through a groove in the center. So tants, I set up nets around C. nigricans flowers and captured if a moth’s tongue is longer than the floral tube, it could con - four tube-lipped nectar bats. I held these bats for four days in sume all of the nectar while hovering outside of the flower and separate screened tents and performed two sets of experiments never actually touching the flower’s reproductive parts; the with them. flower goes unpollinated. The result of those opposing needs The first experiment involved flower proxies: plastic test

courtesy of NathaN muchhala

A tube-lipped nectar bat feeds on nectar from a flower of Aphelandra acanthus in Ecuador.

BATS 2 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 photos courtesy of NathaN muchhala Nathan Muchhala peers through a microscope ( left ) to count pollen grains deposited in flowers by nectar-eating bats. The screen enclosures ( right ) housed the bats and the experiments, which demonstrated that longer flow - ers collected more pollen. tubes cut to six different lengths. I attached wire “stems” to the rather than those pushing directly into the flower. tubes and placed them in front of protractor-like plates But regardless which aspect of bat behavior is responsible designed to measure the force with which the bats pushed into for the difference, this research clearly demonstrates that bats the tubes. I poured small amounts of sugared water into the are more efficient pollinators of longer flowers. In combina - tubes, set them up in the tents and recorded the bats with tion with a length benefit to bats – longer tongues give access night-vision video cameras. I scored each bat visit in terms of to more nectar – this sets up the conditions for a coevolution - duration and force. The experiment showed that longer tubes ary race between plant and bat. The remarkable tongue of this resulted in longer visits, but had no effect on visit force. recently discovered bat likely evolved in a “race of increasing Next, I used semiartificial flowers. I cut actual C. nigricans lengths” similar to that envisioned by Darwin more than 150 flowers near the base of their tubes and placed them in either years ago. of two different lengths of plastic tubes. This allowed me to Not surprisingly, C. nigricans is completely dependent on manipulate the length of flowers without affecting the repro - tube-lipped nectar bats for pollination and only occurs where ductive parts. the bat species occurs. That’s not so for the bats, how ever. I Like most flowers, those of C. nigricans have both male and found pollen from other flowers on the fur of tube-lipped nec - female reproductive parts. Each flower goes through a male tar bats. And although the range of the plant is restricted to a phase, producing pollen and placing it on visiting pollinators, small part of the northwestern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, for several days, followed by several days of a female phase, these bats have been confirmed throughout the eastern and during which it collects pollen from pollinators to fertilize its western slopes and as far north as central Colombia. seeds. Flower length could affect the success of either the male This raises a whole new set of questions. For instance, what phase (how much pollen is “exported”) or female phase (the other flowers do tube-lipped nectar bats visit? Have other “import” of pollen). long-tubed flowers coevolved with it? Are the tongues of tube- For each of the two tube lengths, I allowed the captive bats lipped nectar bat populations shorter in forests with shorter to visit a single male-phase flower followed by a single female- flowers, as the coevolutionary scenario would predict? I hope phase flower. I then collected pollen from the female-phase to study the diet of these amazing bats throughout the rest of flowers and used a microscope to count how many grains had their range in order to address these sorts of questions. been transferred. Results showed a strong benefit to increased flower length: longer male-phase flowers exported 123 percent NATHAN MUCHHALA is a postdoctoral researcher at the more pollen than the shorter flowers, and longer female-phase University of Toronto. This research was supported by a BCI grant flowers received 144 percent more pollen. made possible by BCI Members Edmund S. and Marie Morgan. I filmed these visits to the semiartificial flowers and record - ed visit duration and force. Unexpectedly, the flowers that You can help this young scientist continue research on this and were most successful in transferring pollen did not receive related questions concerning the diet and evolution of this new bat longer or more forceful bat visits. Although longer flowers species. Muchhala seeks a BCI grant of $5,040 to cover field- clearly enjoy better pollination, the reason remains unclear. I research costs for eight weeks in Ecuador, which includes training suspect that my method of measuring force was inadequate for several Ecuadorian biology students in bat-research techniques. To the task, recording forces that push the flower up or down help support this research, please visit www.batcon.org/ggnm.

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SINGING BAT DETECTORS Katydids know when to shut up

by Hannah ter Hofstede

courtesy of haNNah ter hofstede

n the war between bats and night-flying insects, the bats use their biosonar systems for tracking prey, while many insects evolved ultrasonic hearing to monitor bats’ echolocation calls, which permits sophisticated Iescape maneuvers. The result is a remarkable array of predator-prey adap - tations built around aerial dogfights. Gleaning bats, however, snatch their prey off plants, rocks and other surfaces and use quieter echolocation calls that are difficult for insects to hear. How does that affect the interactions between predator and prey? Early researchers called the gleaners “whispering bats” because their calls tend to be fainter – as well as shorter and higher-frequency – than those of bats that hunt flying insects. Although gleaning bats still echolo - cate, mostly to avoid obstacles in flight, many rely on prey-generated sounds, such as rustling noises or calling songs, to locate prey. That suggests a potentially effective defense against gleaning bats: the insects need to know when to shut up. If insects can hear the approach of a gleaning bat, they might be able to silence themselves in time to prevent the attack. This lethal contest between predator and prey was the subject of my Ph.D. research at the University of Toronto. Working with Professor James Fullard (author of “Predator and Prey: Life and Death Struggles” in the Summer 1991 issue of BATS magazine), I conducted my research at Top photo: Bats and katydids do battle around the world. the Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS) in Southern Ontario, In Latin America, this D’Orbigny’s round-eared bat Canada. This is an ideal site that provides abandoned mines for capturing (Tonatia sylvicola ) prepares to capture a katydid. (The bats, a large outdoor flight room for behavioral experiments and a diverse species was not part of this study.) Bottom: A conehead abundance of insects. katydid like those studied by Hannah ter Hofstede.

BATS 4 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 My work was inspired by earlier research by Paul Faure of myotis I caught that summer had similar reactions: they McMaster University in Canada and Ronald Hoy of Cornell ignored silent katydids, but often – though not always – made University in the United States, who found that conehead short work of those that burst into song. katydids ( Neoconocephalus ensiger ) stopped singing in response Over the next two years, we tested more than 60 northern to pulses of ultrasound. Could that be a defense against glean - myotis for their responses to katydid calling songs – using ing bats? either live katydids or a recorded calling song broadcast from Katydids are closely related to crickets and, like crickets, a speaker – during their first 15 minutes in the flight room. the males produce a song to attract females by rubbing their About one-third of the bats hovered in front of or landed on forewings together. Katydids also have ears that are sensitive to the katydid/speaker. The number of bats responding to the ultrasound – the high-frequency sounds, mostly beyond katydid song increased over the summer, possibly as these bats human hearing – that bats use for echolocation. grew more accustomed to this insect as prey. My first step was to identify bat species that were gleaning For comparison, we watched the bats’ responses to the these insects. Eight species are found in Ontario, but only one, unfamiliar song of a cricket. Some bats hovered near the the northern myotis ( Myotis septentrionalis ), appears to special - speaker but none landed in response to the cricket song. We ize in gleaning. I captured several northern myotis in the area also tested six bats with katydids singing in potted grasses to and caught conehead katydids in the fields by following their see if the bats can remove the prey from their natural singing songs at night and picking them off grass stems. One evening, I perch. Three of the bats attacked the katydids in the grass; one released several katydids and one northern myotis into the flight successfully removed and ate the insect. room for the first time, then sat back with a night-vision scope Next we confronted a puzzle: Northern myotis were both to see what might happen. I was not disappointed. interested and skilled at gleaning katydids in the flight room, The bat perched on a wall near the ceiling, while a katydid yet katydids have never been reported in diet analyses of these sat barely 12 inches (30 centimeters) away. Predator and prey bats. The feeding behavior we observed provided a likely solu - seemed unaware of each other. Suddenly, the katydid began to tion to this conundrum. sing. The bat’s ears started twitching, and after several seconds, A northern myotis typically grabs the katydid by the back he took off, landed on the katydid and ate it. Other northern of the “neck” and vigorously chomps to kill the prey. Then the

courtesy of haNNah ter hofstede

This bat was among several north - ern myotis that pursued katydids in a flight room as part of a study of predator-prey inter - actions and tactics.

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 5 BATS bat positions itself head up, grasping a surface with thumbs maneuver katydids by subjecting individual bats to four sce - and hind feet so the tail membrane forms a pouch, over which narios: 1) a continuous calling song played from a speaker in the insect is eaten. The bat eats the body, starting at the head the flight room with a dead katydid on the surface as a target; and working downward, while letting larger, harder body parts 2) same as Scenario 1, but without the katydid; 3) an inter - such as wings and legs fall into the tail-membrane pouch. rupted calling song, in which we stopped the song as the bat Finally, the bat picks through the remains in the pouch, eating flew towards the speaker with a dead katydid on the surface; any meaty bits before dropping remnants to the ground. and 4) same as Scenario 3, but without the katydid. Bat-diet analyses usually involve examining fecal samples for The bats landed on the speaker as long as the calling song insect parts. When feeding on katydids, however, these bats did played continuously during their approach, but they broke off not consume the hard parts that are used for identification, so the attack if the sound stopped, regardless of whether a katy - fecal analysis may not be the best way to find katydids in a small did was present. This means the bats have no countertactic up bat’s diet. Fecal analysis for several captive bats that had recent - their wings, and simply shutting up is an effective katydid ly eaten katydids revealed very few parts that could be identified. defense against these gleaning bats. If northern myotis hunt katydids, what defenses have Katydids obviously find themselves in a difficult situation: evolved in katydids? We recorded the “search” and “attack” they must sing to attract a mate, but singing runs the real risk echolocation calls of northern myotis and played them to of attracting gleaning bats. Their remarkable ability to hear katydids that were singing in cages. Sure enough, the katydids and react to the ultrasonic calls of bats helps them survive this consistently stopped singing in response to calls broadcast at dilemma. Our flight-room observations show that bats can realistic intensities. sometimes sneak up on katydids. But when the prey hears the This seems like an effective antipredator strategy, but do predator in time, katydids can often deprive the bat of the one the bats have a countermeasure? Could they switch from pas - thing it needs to find them: that chirping beacon that seems to sive listening to echolocation to detect a silent target? Perhaps say “dinner.” the bat can remember the last spot where it heard prey songs and attack there. HANNAH TER HOFSTEDE is a post-doctoral researcher at the In collaboration with John Ratcliffe of the University of University of Bristol School of Biological Sciences in the United Southern Denmark, I tested whether northern myotis can out - Kingdom.

courtesy of haNNah ter hofstede Bats’ responses to katydid songs were explored in this flight room in Ontario, Canada. The recorded calls were played over speakers placed in various positions behind the black screen. The bats typically responded by flying to the mesh-covered hole closest to the speaker.

BATS 6 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 BBAATTSS AALLOONNGG TTHHEE JJOORRDDAANN RRIIVVEERR

MMiilliittaarryy bbuunnkkeerrss aarree bbeeccoommiinngg bbaatt hhoouusseess

by Eran Levin

photos courtesy of eraN leViN unkers and bomb shelters dot the historic 60 miles (96 kilo - meters) of the Jordan River Valley between Israel and Jordan. Since the peace agreement of 1994, most have been abandoned B– except by an assortment of bats, which roost precariously on the slick ceilings and walls of some bunkers. Giving a conserva - tion twist to the notion of beating swords into plowshares, our team, with help from a BCI Global Grassroots Conser vation Fund grant, converted these old bunkers into prime bat roosts. The valley, no more than five miles (8 kilometers) wide, lies between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Its climate varies from Mediterranean in the north, with warm, dry summers and relatively rainy winters, to extreme desert in the south. The valley, with its rich soil, warm climate and water from the river and frequent oases, is extremely fertile. It also hosts remarkably diverse flora and fauna, including at least 27 bat species (out of a total of 33 reported in Israel.) Except for the Egyptian rousette fruit bat ( Rousettus aegyp - tiacus ), all are insect eaters. There are many farms on both sides of the river, including numerous organic date-palm planta - (Top photo ) The lesser horseshoe bat (left) and Blasius’ horseshoe tions. These bats – as consumers of agricultural pests – are sig - bat are among species that seek refuge in old military bunkers in nificant assets for farmers and increasing their numbers Israel. So does this lesser mouse-tailed bat ( bottom photo ) that promises real benefits, a point we stressed in the education clings to plastic mesh installed in the conservation project.

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 7 BATS aspects of our work. Roosting sites are probably a limiting factor for bat populations, since most natural caves in the Jordan Valley have been disturbed by human activities. The fact that bats colonized the military bunkers shortly after they were abandoned supports this hypothesis. I had previously surveyed most of these bunkers, which are located between the river and Israeli border fences, as part of my Ph.D. research on greater mouse- tailed bats ( Rhinopoma microphyllum ). Each bunker consists of several tunnels leading to an underground room (roughly 13 by 40 feet [4 x 12 meters]). They are rarely visited; our surveys and modification work required permission from the Israeli military. With help from the Israeli Defense Force and the Nature and Parks Authority, we located more than 20 abandoned bunkers and bomb shelters. Their metal courtesy of eraN leViN ceilings and walls, however, are too slick for bats to Eran Levin applies a bat-friendly surface to the slick, metal ceiling of an easily cling to. We found bats hanging from aging elec - abandoned military bunker in the Jordan River Valley. courtesy of eraN leViN

An assortment of bats, including these clusters of trident leaf-nosed bats, quickly moved into old bunkers that were retrofitted with an assortment of surface materials that bats can easily grip.

BATS 8 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 courtesy of eraN leViN

Military bunkers like these are sprinkled along the Jordan River Valley between Israel and Jordan. Most were abandoned after the peace agreement of 1994, although bats of at least a dozen diverse species have colonized them. An Israeli team, with support from BCI’s Global Grassroots Conservation Fund, has been remodeling bunker interiors to better meet the needs of bats as natural roosts disappear. tric cables and assorted braces and shelves. Some bunkers were misdirected and needless efforts to eradicate Egyptian rousette almost filled with abandoned equipment and assorted rubbish, fruit bats (see “The Bats of Israel,” BATS Spring 2003). while the entrances to others were closed or blocked. Our team included Eran Amichai of Tel Aviv University, I identified 10 bat species using the structures as day roosts Amit Dolev of the Society for the Protection of Nature in or maternity roosts. That total is now 12 species, including Israel and Aviam Atar of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. two listed by the IUCN as critically endangered in the Israel Our approach to converting these old bunkers into bat Region, three as endangered and five as vulnerable. These bats houses was to first clear trash and entrance obstructions, then include species that are typically classified as European, Afri - to cover the slick, metal ceilings with bat-friendly materials can and Mediterranean. that give the animals a rough surface they can grasp securely. For four species – the greater horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus We did this by applying plaster mixed with gravel, attaching ferrumequinum ), Geoffroy’s myotis ( Myotis emarginatus ), tri - plastic mesh, installing simple wood structures, stretching dent leaf-nosed bat ( Asellia tridens ) and Egyptian slit-faced bat ropes or spraying a layer of lumpy, polyurethane foam. (Nycteris thebaica ) – the bunker populations represent the first We fully converted eight bunkers with a mix of treatments. maternity colonies discovered in Israel since the mass decline The bats quickly embraced their remodeled roosts and began in bat populations. During the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, bats of moving in almost immediately. The most common species many species were devastated in the region, largely because of using the bunkers during summer is the trident leaf-nosed bat,

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 9 BATS with several thousand individuals forming the species’ only the Palestinian authority, and the work itself was possible as a known maternity colony in Israel. result of the peace treaty with Jordan. We hope this project Trident leaf-nosed bats and Geoffroy’s horseshoe bats will strengthen the peace agreement with our neighbors and seemed to prefer ceilings of polyurethane foam and plaster- provide a basis for future cooperation in bat conservation. and-gravel; greater horseshoe bats favored ropes; while mouse- tailed bats chose plastic mesh and wood structures. ERAN LEVIN is a graduate student in zoology at Tel Aviv We also positioned temperature dataloggers in each bunker University, a member of the Society for the Protection of Nature to monitor conditions. Horseshoe bats typically chose cooler in Israel’s Mammals Research Center. He supervises a project for bunkers than other species. the rehabilitation of insectivorous bat populations in urban areas We fully expect increasing numbers of bats, as well as addi - of Israel. tional species, to colonize these much-improved roosts – find - ing refuge in these military relics. The bunker bats will bene - fit farmers along both sides of the Jordan, a fact we will pub - This project also received funding from the Society for Protection licize with education and outreach. of Nature in Israel, Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Our project area is along Israel’s border with Jordan and Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. N i V e l

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Before Israeli conservationists remodeled the bunkers into superior roosts, bats were unable to cling to the slick surfaces. Instead, they were forced to hang from old electric cords, bracing and other surfaces. Many more bats are expected to move into shelters that are now bat friendly. BCI’s Global Grassroots Conservation Fund supports innovative bat conser - vation projects like this one around the world. Your help can make a real difference. Support Global Grassroots at www.batcon.org/grassroots .

BATS 10 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 ©michael schirmacher, Bci / 0045780 SOFTENING THE BLOW

New wind-energy research could help reduce bat kills

Ed Arnett of BCI examines a dead bat found by his chocolate by Rebecca Patterson labrador, Sage, at the Casselman Wind Power Project near Rockwood, Pennsylvania.

©michael schirmacher, Bci / 0045819 he morning sun is barely rising over the dogs are skilled at spotting forested Pennsylvania ridge top when three dead bats in waist-high grass giant blades twist slowly to catch the wind and other daunting terrains. Tand begin rotating on their 263-foot (80- This experiment could prove meter) tower. Electricity starts flowing from extremely important, and it the wind turbine almost immediately. was a long time in the making. And soon after, a team of BCI field biol - Arnett is here to help ensure ogists in bright-orange vests and hard hats the project’s success. begin scouring the fields surrounding this The idea for this study was and other turbines at the Casselman Wind first proposed at the initial Power Project. On this balmy July day, the meeting of the Bats and Wind This dead bat was recovered from beneath a wind biologists are collecting data and searching turbine at the Casselman Wind Power Project in a Energy Cooperative (BWEC) for bat carcasses, just as they did during the study that found such bat kills can be reduced by in 2004. The BCI-led program freezing rains of early spring. The turbines shutting down turbines on certain low-wind nights. was formed in response to an and the biologists are both part of an experi - alarming number of bat fatali - ment designed to reduce the number of bats that are being ties discovered at a wind-energy facility at Mountaineer, West killed at wind-energy facilities around the United States and Virginia. This unusual collaboration of conservationists, indus - elsewhere. try and government was charged with prioritizing and con - Ed Arnett, BCI’s Co-director of Programs, arrives at the ducting research designed to reduce bat kills at wind turbines. Iberdrola Renewables wind farm with two assistants, a pair of BWEC was founded by BCI, the American Wind Energy chocolate Labrador retrievers – experienced hunting dogs Association, the National Renewable Energy Lab and the U.S. trained to search for bat carcasses under turbine blades. The Fish and Wildlife Service. Arnett is the BWEC Coordinator.

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 11 BATS Tens of thousands of bats are being killed at wind farms in The world’s leading provider of wind power, Iberdrola the eastern United States each year in collisions with the spin - Renewables (formerly PPM Energy) allowed BWEC scientists ning turbine blades and from related causes. Nationwide, con - to use the Casselman Wind Power Project for the study. The firmed bat kills include 12 of the United States’ 46 bat species. first U.S.-based curtailment experiment was conducted from Little brown myotis ( Myotis lucifugus ) are common wind- July through October 2008, and researchers were back power victims, almost 25 percent of bat kills at some sites – and beneath the turbines again this year. also the hardest hit by White-nose Syndrome. Reducing wind- “We are proud to offer our Casselman site for this impor - power mortality becomes especially urgent among bat popula - tant experiment and fully support efforts of the BWEC,” tions that are being simultaneously devastated by WNS. Andrew Linehan, Iberdrola Renewables director of permit - Studies at Mountaineer and at Pennsylvania sites showed ting, said. “We … recognize there is an impact on bats that that bats were most often killed during migratory periods and requires scientific study.” on nights when wind speeds were low. (Subsequent research The BWEC team monitored fresh bat kills daily at 12 of finds that roughly 85 percent of bat deaths occur during the Casselman’s 23 turbines from July 26 through October 10. fall migration from late July through mid-October.) This led Each night, four randomly selected turbines were left to oper - BWEC scientists five years ago to propose a test of the hypoth - ate normally, kicking into action when wind speed reached 7.8 esis that curtailment – shutting down wind turbines during miles per hour (3.5 meters/second). The other eight were set low-wind periods at night – could reduce the number of bat to remain idle until winds reach 11.2 to 14.5 mph (5 to 6.5 fatalities. During such periods, relatively little electricity was m/s). Researchers found no significant fatality differences being produced, which minimizes the costs of curtailment. between the two experimental wind-speed thresholds. Ten But persuading the wind industry to temporarily shut other non-curtailed turbines, monitored for a separate study, down perfectly serviceable turbines in hopes of saving bats were used for comparison as a second control group. proved to be a tough sell. After being rebuffed by several wind- Our initial results are certainly promising. At Casselman, energy companies, BWEC scientists were finally able to test nightly bat fatalities were 53 to 87 percent lower at curtailed the curtailment hypothesis last year. turbines than at fully operational units. The average drop in

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Field-research technician Paula Shover ( left photo ) searches for bat carcasses near giant wind tur - bines at the Casselman Wind Project. Casselman’s owner, Iberdrola Renewables, allowed BCI to conduct this critical research in hopes of reducing wind-energy bat kills. ( Right ) Shover marks the location of a bat killed at one of the turbines.

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©michael Baker, Bci / 0046327 An acoustic engineer from Deaton Engineering Inc. of Georgetown, Texas, installs a prototype acoustic-deterrent device on a turbine at the Locust Ridge Wind Farm at Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The device, which is undergoing field tests, is designed to keep bats from approaching the wind turbines by broadcasting ultrasonic noise. bat kills was 73 percent per night. These figures are consistent deterrent at operating wind turbines. The device is designed to with the 50 to 60 percent reductions reported from two simi - broadcast ultrasonic noise that should interfere with the bats’ lar curtailment studies, one each in Germany and Canada. own echolocation-based navigation system to such an extent BCI scholarships and other grants helped support research led that the animals steer clear of the turbines. BWEC is deploy - by the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada (“Prairie ing the devices on operational turbines to determine their Winds,” BATS Fall 2007). impact on bat fatalities. Once again, Iberdrola Renewables The study also found that temporarily stopping turbines stepped forward to support critical BWEC research and is on low-wind nights results in minimal power losses annually. hosting the deterrent study at a different Pennsylvania facility. If the temporary curtailment procedures were applied to all 23 We are making progress toward the day when bats and Casselman turbines during the migration period of approxi - wind turbines can share the landscape without littering the 1 mately 2 ⁄2 months, total electricity output for the year would ground with carcasses. But the expanding wind industry will be reduced by less than one percent. not wait for the results of conservation science. BCI With the number of wind-energy projects growing rapidly researchers face a tight deadline as more bats are dying every around the country, it is vital that scientists demonstrate feasi - day. But with the continued support of BCI members, gov - ble methods for sharply reducing the number of bat fatalities ernment and industry, we will reach this goal. and that wind-power operators adopt them. While continuing their curtailment studies, BWEC scien - REBECCA PATTERSON is the Programs Assistant at Bat tists also are conducting the first tests of a prototype acoustic Conservation International.

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 13 BATS NEWS AND NOTES Of bats and wine by Ed Arnett

s the sun sets over the Texas Hill Country, the workday both species is a real benefit because they will eat a wider range Acomes to an end for the owners and employees of Singing of insect pests.” Water Vineyards. But it’s just beginning for the night shift. The Holmbergs are devoted ambassadors for bats, touting These workers emerge each summer evening from small wood - the benefits of their “night-time helpers” to customers, family en boxes atop 15-foot (4.5-meter) poles scattered amid rows of and friends. This fall, BCI plans to help the Singing Water merlot, Syrah and pinot grigio grapes. Their job is to wreak Vineyards erect larger bat houses better designed to bring still havoc among insects in the area, and they’re good at it – for more bats into the operation. these workers are bats lured to the vineyard by bat houses. Whether bats truly control insect-transmitted Pierce’s dis - Dick and Julie Holmberg purchased this property near ease remains unknown and research is needed to fully demon - Comfort, Texas, in 1993 and planted their first grapes five strate the importance of bats to the wine industry. But in the years later. Initial plans to sell grapes to Central Texas wineries meantime, having bats around can only help – and they will soon blossomed into their own commercial winery. The always have a home and a job at the Singing Water Vineyards. retired Exxon human-resources specialist said he and his wife named their vineyard after “the wonderful sound that fills the ED ARNETT is BCI’s Co-director of Programs. air as the waters of Bruins Creek cascade over the waterfall on the property.” ©ed arNett, Bci/ 0046324 “I got very interested in promoting bats,” Dick Holmberg said, “when I read somewhere that bats ... eat leafhoppers, which are known to transmit Pierce’s disease, which is devas - tating to the wine industry.” The Holmberg vineyards are now patrolled by the residents of three bat houses, he said, adding that “it took about a year before we noticed any bats using the houses.” “We’ve always tried to promote an organic approach to our operation and use as few chemical applications as possible,” Holmberg said. “I don’t know if it’s because of the bats them - selves or in combination with our light use of some pesticides, but so far we’ve never had Pierce’s or any other insect-related disease here at the vineyard.” Grapes are an economically vital industry around much of the world, with tens of millions of acres planted in grapes worldwide. But as with most agricultural crops, grapes are bedeviled by an assortment of pests and pathogens. The University of California’s Statewide Integrated Pest Manage - ment Program says at least 24 insects and mites can damage grapes and the vines that grow them. Bats, meanwhile, are primary predators of night-flying insects, including many pests that annually cause billions of dol - lars in damage to crops and forests. The diets of various bat species include a staggering array of moths, flies, beetles, froghoppers (spittlebugs), leafhoppers, plant hoppers, grasshop - pers, stinkbugs and cicadas. And researchers have documented that insects often avoid areas where bats are foraging. BCI Conservation Biologist Mylea Bayless, an artificial- roost specialist, confirmed that both evening bats ( Nycticeius humeralis ) and Mexican free-tailed bats ( Tadarida brasiliensis ) were roosting in the Singing Water bat houses. “These two species have different feeding styles and, together, can con - sume several different insect pests,” Bayless said. “Evening bats BCI Conservation Biologist Mylea Bayless ( right ) and Dick are far more maneuverable than freetails and are more likely to Holmberg, owner of Singing Water Vineyards in Texas, examine be feeding near the ground among the grape vines. Having bats in a bat house Holmberg installed on the vineyard.

BATS 14 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 NEWS AND NOTES It’s time to apply for BCI Scholarships CI’s Student Research Scholarship program is accepting tions for 2010 BCI Scholarships is December 15, 2009. Bapplications for 2010 awards. Since 1990, BCI Applications are judged by a panel of non-BCI scientists, and Scholarships have been helping top students at universities awards are announced in March. around the world conduct research that contributes to the BCI has awarded 275 scholarships totaling $674,750 in knowledge needed to conserve bats and their habitats. the past 19 years. With matching funds from other conserva - Scholarships of up to $5,000 each for the 2010-11 acade - tion organizations, government agencies and private founda - mic year will support research projects that directly impact bat tions, our investment helped generate a total of $4.8 million conservation anywhere in the world. Qualified research should in conservation-related research in 58 countries. address at least one of these issues: answering ecological or U.S. Forest Service International Programs partnered with behavioral questions that are essential to conservation or man - BCI in 2005 to establish the Bats in International Forestry agement; resolving an economic problem that will improve Scholarship Fund, which provides BCI scholarships for support for conservation; or documenting key ecological or research conducted in developing countries. Students from economic roles of bats. any university are eligible for these awards, and all qualified Scholarship applications must be completed online at BCI’s applicants will automatically be considered. Bats in website (www.batcon.org/index.php/what-we-do/grants/student- International Forestry Scholarships have supported 39 stu - research-scholarships.html ). The deadline for receipt of applica - dent-research projects in 19 countries. BCI provided 19 scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year. Among them were: • David Armitage (University of Florida): Effects of prescribed • Lee-sim Lim (Queen Mary, University of London): burning on insect and bat communities, Florida USA; Conservation consequences of forest fragmentation, • Kristine Bohmann (University of Copenhagen): Free-tailed Malaysia; bats and the pest moth Eldana saccharin , Swaziland; • Emma Stone (University of Bristol): Impact of artificial light - • Beth Clare (University of Guelph): Dietary resource parti - ing on bat behavior, United Kingdom. tioning in a bat community, Costa Rica;

Review Do Bats Drink Blood? Fascinating Answers to Questions about Bats by Barbara A. Schmidt-French and Carol A. Butler o other animals suffer as much from myth and misinfor - Drink Blood? are concise, reasonably comprehensive and Nmation as the beleaguered bats. So Do Bats Drink Blood? include research results from an array of international bat sci - should have a prominent place on the bookshelf of just about entists. Answers run from about one-fourth of a page (such as anyone who’s interested in wildlife. “Where in the world are bats found?”) to four pages (“Are bats Presented in a Q & A format, it authoritatively covers most intelligent?”). The 25 pages of citations provide a remarkable aspects of these endlessly fascinating creatures, from “When resource. did bats evolve?” (at least 52 million years ago) to “Can bats Bats of more than 1,100 species have much in be domesticated?” (sort of sometimes, but for a host of common, and this book reflects that, but more reasons, don’t try it). A sample factoid: “Micro - importantly, it emphasizes the wondrous diversity of bat pups are born feet first, … [while] megabats bats that live in varied habitats on every continent are born head first.” but Antarctica. Their ecological and economic The 155-page publication (paperback, benefits are well documented. And in addition to $21.95) is written by Barbara A. Schmidt-French, lots of accessible science, there are also answered a leading bat rehabilitator and former Science questions about threats to bats, evicting bats Officer for Bat Conservation International, and from buildings, erecting a bat house, pho - Carol A. Butler, an author and photographer. It’s the tographing bats and “how can I help?” second volume in a planned series of Animal Q & A Knowledge really is power in bat conser - books published by Rutgers University Press. The first: vation, and by that measure, Do Bats Drink Do Butterflies Bite? Blood? is a very powerful book. The answers to the 66 questions posed in Do Bats – Robert Locke, BCI

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 15 BATS NEWS AND NOTES A plan for WNS his winter almost certainly will see White-nose Syndrome Tincreasing its devastation among hibernating bats and spreading into still more states beyond the American Northeast. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is presenting its draft framework for a plan to coordinate and manage the national response to this disastrous disease. The framework, which outlines key priorities, actions and goals for a national plan, was prepared in coordination with the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and state agencies. Other agencies, states, organiza - tions and scientists will help develop the final plan, which, the FWS said, should be available for public review this winter. Several scientists, including BCI President Emeritus Merlin Tuttle, testified before two congressional subcommit - tees in June that a coordinated federal strategy and leadership ©VermoNt fish aNd Wildlife departmeNt role are essential to dealing with this urgent wildlife crisis. A fungus called Geomyces destructans coats the faces and wings Since WNS was discovered in a cave in New York State in of most bats stricken with White-nose Syndrome. Scientists are February 2006, it has killed more than a million bats. The desperately seeking solutions to this devastating wildlife disease. FWS reports that the population of endangered Indiana myotis in its northeast region has fallen about 30 percent since dardized diagnosis of WNS in individual bats and in popula - 2007. Mortality approaching 100 percent has been reported at tions. Mitigation will require the ability to “maintain existing some major hibernation sites. WNS-free zones and WNS-free sites within the infected “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has worked passion - zone.” A key goal is to minimize disease impacts enough “to ately towards a solution to White-nose Syndrome for the past allow the future restoration of all species to their geographic several years,” said Mylea Bayless, BCI’s WNS Coordinator. and genetic abundance.” “Unfortunately, we expect WNS to move into the American The framework says the purpose of the research compo - South and Midwest in the coming years, so we are pleased to nent “is to identify and prioritize critical research needs in see an emerging national approach to addressing this crisis. areas such as disease causality, transmissibility, live-animal This framework provides a good road map for that approach. tests, bioassays, genotyping and population monitoring, and The challenge now is funding its implementation.” to assess surveillance and management action plans.” And time is running out. The FWS hopes to develop consensus standards for safe and “As WNS spreads, the challenges for managing the disease effective surveillance efforts to identify risk factors and improve continue to increase,” the Fish and Wildlife Service said in its early detection and support prioritized conservation actions. draft, which “details the elements that are critical to the inves - The draft framework can be viewed at the Fish and tigation and management of WNS.” Wildlife Service’s northeast region website: Among other things, the framework calls for developing a www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html centralized and accessible system for making WNS research, data and analyses quickly available to those involved in the BCI is refocusing its WNS Rapid Response Fund to target specif - WNS effort. It would provide uniform standards for data col - ic gaps in research and mitigation efforts around the country. Help lection, interpretation and dissemination. win the fight against White-nose Syndrome by donating at: The document notes the need for a reliable, rapid and stan - www.batcon.org/wnsdonate Clunkers for Bats You can get a little more value out of that old free. Vehicles that don’t sell at auc - car – or truck, van, motorcycle, boat or air - tion are sold for salvage. Bat con - plane – that’s cluttering up your yard. Donate servation gets the profits either it to Bat Conservation International and we’ll way. use the proceeds to help conserve bats and Call us today, toll-free, at 877- their habitats around the world. BATS-123. We’ll pick up your vehi - BCI can accept cars and other vehicles cle and haul it away. And you’ll from anywhere in the United States. The vehicle receive a receipt for your tax- doesn’t have to be running; we’ll tow it away for deductible donation.

BATS 16 FALL 2009 Volume 27, No. 3 NEWS AND NOTES TWhe ISH LIST Your help with any of these special needs will directly improve BCI’s ability to protect bats and bat habitats. To contribute or for more information, contact BCI’s Department of Develop ment at (512) 327-9721 or [email protected]. Finding Park Bats in Estonia Nearly all of Estonia’s natural forests disap - peared over the past century. And although no one was really keeping track, most bat colonies left as well. Many of those displaced bats found new homes in parklands associated with country estates built when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union. The numbers, diversity and locations of those bats are mostly unknown, and few of the parklands are protected. Biologist Matti Masing is leading a team that hopes to survey bats that for - age in important parklands during summer and hibernate there in winter. His results could be a ©roBert locke, Bci/ 0046326 critical step in winning habitat protection for the sites. The project includes training for students Working together and local conservationists in bat observation and research; community education that stresses the for bats and turkeys importance of bats; and articles in local news ave Waldien ( front left ), BCI’s Acting Executive Director, and media. Masing is seeking a BCI Global Grassroots DJames Earl Kennamer, CEO of the National Wild Turkey Conser vation Fund grant of $3,600 for the project. Federation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September. The two nonprofits pledged to work together to “conserve, enhance Volunteers for Bat Bridges and restore wildlife habitat, particularly as they relate to … bat and Bat Conservation International and the Texas wild turkey conservation and management.” Parks and Wildlife Department are working together to develop a volunteer program with Texas Master Naturalists, a citizen-science program dedi - BCI Member Snapshot cated to protecting natural resources. The program will recruit and train 10 to 20 volunteers to monitor he goes by the name bat colonies roosting in Texas bridges. Their data S“Muninn” and she founded, will help state officials plan bridge repair, main - with her husband, the non - tenance and replacement projects to minimize profit, community-service impacts on the bats. This joint project needs orange safety cones for roadways ($24 each) and organization Hercules Invictus reflective vests for the volunteers ($12 each). in Hawley, Pennsylvania. Muninn says she “always Mine Gates for Nevada Bats loved bats and the more I learn about them, the more The long-abandoned Piermont Mine is one of extraordinary I find them.” the most important mines in Nevada for Town- So they expanded their send’s big-eared bats, as well as other species. The efforts to include environ - mine, which sprawls across six levels with seven entrances, shelters a large maternity colony in its mental outreach, specifi - upper reaches, while lower levels are used for cally education about hibernation. In fact, Townsend’s big-eared bats bats. Their first Bat Fest probably utilize the old mine for all critical aspects at the Hawley Public of their lives. Scientists urge that bat-friendly gates Library was such a hit be installed at all seven entrances to protect bats that a second is on tap that depend on this site. BCI is working with federal for this Halloween season. and state partners to protect this critical mine. Government funds are available to gate entrances Share a snapshot of your bat activities with fellow members: Email it to on public land, but several gates also are needed [email protected] or mail it to Snapshot, Bat Conservation International, on private property. BCI is leading that effort and PO Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716. needs about $4,000 to complete the project.

Volume 27, No. 3 FALL 2009 17 BATS NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID AUSTIN, TEXAS P.O. Box 162603 PERMIT NO. 1530 Austin, TX 78716-2603 U.S.A.

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