Expedition Field Techniques BATS Kate Barlow Geography Outdoors: the centre supporting field research, exploration and outdoor learning Royal Geographical Society with IBG 1 Kensington Gore London SW7 2AR Tel +44 (0)20 7591 3030 Fax +44 (0)20 7591 3031 Email
[email protected] Website www.rgs.org/go October 1999 ISBN 978-0-907649-82-3 Cover illustration: A Noctilio leporinus mist-netted during an expedition, FFI Montserrat Biodiversity Project 1995, by Dave Fawcett. Courtesy of Kate Jones, and taken from the cover of her thesis entitled ‘Evolution of bat life histories’, University of Surrey. Expedition Field Techniques BATS CONTENTS Acknowledgements Preface Section One: Bats and Fieldwork 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Literature Reviews 3 1.3 Licences 3 1.4 Health and Safety 4 1.4.1 Hazards associated with bats 5 1.5 Ethics 6 1.6 Project Planning 6 Section Two: Capture Techniques 8 2.1 Introduction 8 2.2 Catching bats 8 2.2.1 Mist-nets 8 2.2.2 Mist-net placement 10 2.2.3 Harp-traps 12 2.2.4 Harp-trap placement 13 2.2.5 Comparison of mist-net and harp-traps 13 2.2.6 Hand-netting for bats 14 2.3 Sampling for bats 14 Section Three: Survey Techniques 18 3.1 Introduction 18 3.2 Surveys at roosts 18 3.2.1 Emergence counts 18 3.2.2 Roost counts 19 3.3 Population estimates 20 Expedition Field Techniques Section Four: Processing Bats 22 4.1 Handling bats 22 4.1.1 Removing bats from mist-nets 22 4.1.2 Handling bats 24 4.2 Assessment of age and reproductive status 25 4.3 Measuring bats 26 4.4 Identification 28 4.5 Data recording 29 Section Five: Specimen Preparation