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ROOST SELECTION and LANDSCAPE MOVEMENTS of FEMALE INDIANA BATS at the GREAT SWAMP NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW JERSEY by MARILY

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ROOST SELECTION and LANDSCAPE MOVEMENTS of FEMALE INDIANA BATS at the GREAT SWAMP NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW JERSEY by MARILY ROOST SELECTION AND LANDSCAPE MOVEMENTS OF FEMALE INDIANA BATS AT THE GREAT SWAMP NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, NEW JERSEY By MARILYN EAMES KITCHELL Bachelor of Science Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia 2002 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of William Paterson University In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE December 2008 ii ABSTRACT Much effort has been expended studying the roosting ecology of the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) during the maternity season; yet there is a paucity of studies on roosting behavior in the northeastern U.S., where populations have increased significantly over the last 40 years. The primary goals of this study were to identify and characterize roosts selected by reproductively active females in and around Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge; to observe behavior such as colony size, roost fidelity, home range size and foraging activity; and to compare results to studies conducted elsewhere in the species’ range and to randomly selected trees. Mist nets were placed across stream and forested corridors to capture bats from May 15-August 15, 2006-2007. Transmitters were placed on adult female M. sodalis , and bats were tracked daily to identify roosts and foraging areas. The characteristics of both roost trees and randomly selected trees, and their surrounding habitat (0.1 ha) were measured. Emergence counts were conducted during 2007 at all trees containing transmittered bats. Using all known locations (capture site, roosts, and estimated foraging points), home range estimates were produced using minimum convex polygons (MCP) and fixed kernel density estimates (KDE). Twenty-four females were tracked to 74 roosts representing 3 colonies during 2006-2007; only 2 roosts were re-used by different bats during the course of the study. Peak emergence counts at 4 primary trees were 252, 164, 52 and 55 bats. Selected roosts were largely similar to those documented elsewhere; however, several variables differed significantly between years, including dbh, height and canopy closure. Comparisons with randomly selected trees revealed that M. sodalis selected shagbark hickory ( Carya ovata ) and American elm ( Ulmus americana ) more often than would be expected; and that roost plots had fewer, larger trees and a greater proportion of suitable roost trees than random plots. Roost switching occurred on average once iii every 1.8 (± 0.27 se) days, and mean distance moved between consecutive roosts was 1003.4 (± 299.98) m. Mean home range size was 236.6 (± 136.45) ha for MCP estimates and 325.0 (± 33.10) ha for 50% KDE estimates. The variation in roost characteristics observed between years emphasizes that Indiana bats may be flexible in their roost requirements even within a study site. Furthermore, the number of colonies found, the number of roosts identified and the average distance moved between roosts suggest that Great Swamp NWR may represent ideal maternity habitat for Indiana bats. Lastly, the large home ranges identified suggest that bats may range widely across the habitats available to them, even if roosting and foraging habitat is not limiting. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the invaluable support of volunteers and associates too numerous to mention. I must first thank my husband, Dave, for his immense patience and support as the first two years of our marriage succumbed to the demands of graduate school and field research. You managed to keep me grounded, reassured and well fed during this long process (a thankless task, I know) and you are the most amazing husband, partner and friend a girl could ask for. With equal gratitude I must thank my advisor, Dr. Lance Risley, who in addition to providing most of the field equipment, much undergraduate assistance and continual guidance, spent countless hours in the field helping me to build the skills and confidence necessary to complete this project. I have much appreciated your reality-checks and humor through this long process, and thank you (and Jane) for patiently accepting late-night and vacation-interrupting phone calls and e-mails from the field. Maybe one of these days I’ll see that boat. I would also like to thank committee members Dr. Stephen Vail, Dr. Michael Sebetich, and Dr. Michael Horne, who provided encouragement and valuable comments and feedback throughout this process. I am grateful to Mike Horne for providing much oversight and assistance in planning and carrying out this project; to Steve Vail for taking me up in the plane to see things from the air; and to Dr. Mike Peek for providing considerable statistical support. Annette Scherer, Melissa Craddock and Mick Valent provided valuable oversight, assistance and guidance to this project; Bill Koch and Steve Henry provided logistical support, and many other Great Swamp staff lent helping hands. Rick Schauffler and Susan Guiteras provided GIS expertise; Cal Butchkoski was immensely helpful in aiding with the analysis of v telemetry data; and Kristen Watrous generously served as my model for how to craft this project. The field work could not have been completed without the dedicated assistance of interns Amy Gottfried, Stephany Caraballo, Buket Hakanoglu, Ben Alexandro, and Mike Whitby; and the numerous volunteers who aided with emergence counts, echolocation surveys and mist net surveys. My appreciation goes to Justine Barth, Don and Tracy Ord, Ervin Hoag, Cheralyn Chemaly, the Great Swamp Greenhouses, and the Somerset County Environmental Education Center, who graciously provided access to their property. Additional thanks to Carl Herzog, Rick Dutko, Monica Juhasz, John Chenger, Lindsey Wight, James Kiser, Tim Carter and Lori Pruitt for providing information during the writing of the thesis. I am grateful to Sharon Marino, friend and mentor, whose idea it was to scrape together a few dollars to look for bats at Great Swamp; and to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5 Refuges and Ecological Services for providing funding to support this project. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1 INDIANA BAT LIFE HISTORY ......................................................................................................3 POPULATION STATUS OF INDIANA BATS .....................................................................................7 THE HISTORY OF INDIANA BATS IN NEW JERSEY ........................................................................9 STUDY AREA .........................................................................................................................12 METHODS AND MATERIALS...............................................................................................19 ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION ............................................................................................19 Acoustic monitoring ..........................................................................................................19 Mist netting .......................................................................................................................19 IDENTIFICATION , CHARACTERIZATION , AND USE OF ROOST TREES ............................................23 Characteristics of roost trees..............................................................................................24 Characteristics of roost tree plots.......................................................................................24 Roost occupancy ...............................................................................................................25 Roost fidelity.....................................................................................................................29 Landscape patterns ............................................................................................................30 Random trees and plots......................................................................................................30 FORAGING AND HOME RANGE ESTIMATION ..............................................................................31 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................................33 ABUNDANCE AND DISTRIBUTION....................................................................................34 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................34 Acoustic monitoring ..........................................................................................................34 vii Mist netting .......................................................................................................................34 Myotis sodalis captures .....................................................................................................38 DISCUSSION ...........................................................................................................................43 Mist netting .......................................................................................................................43 Recaptures.........................................................................................................................45 Myotis sodalis captures .....................................................................................................46
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