FRTC Modernization EIS Supporting Study Bat Survey Report This Page Intentionally Left Blank FINAL Survey Report Passive Acoustic Bat Surveys in Support of the Proposed Fallon Range Training Complex Expansion, Nevada MAY 2018 Prepared for: Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest San Diego, CA Prepared by: ManTech SRS Technologies, Inc. Environmental, Range, and Sustainability Services Solana Beach, CA Bat Survey Report – Proposed FRTC Expansion Final TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 PROJECT AREA .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 OVERVIEW OF BAT POPULATIONS AND DISTRIBUTION IN NEVADA ............................................................. 3 1.3 SEASONAL ROOSTING AND BEHAVIOR OF BATS IN NEVADA ....................................................................... 3 2.0 METHODS .......................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 DETECTION OF BAT SOUNDS ................................................................................................................ 5 2.2 RECORDING METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 FIELD METHODS ................................................................................................................................ 6 2.3.1. Driving Transects (Mobile Acoustic Sampling) ........................................................... 6 2.3.2. Acoustic Recorder Sites (Passive Fixed Point Sampling) ............................................. 9 3.0 RESULTS........................................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 DRIVING TRANSECTS ........................................................................................................................ 16 3.2 ACOUSTIC RECORDERS (FIXED LOCATIONS) .......................................................................................... 17 3.3 SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS ..................................................................................................................... 21 3.3.1. Family Molossidae .................................................................................................... 22 3.3.2. Family Vespertilionidae ............................................................................................ 23 4.0 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................. 35 5.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 37 Appendix A: General Discussion of Capture and Acoustic Surveys from Bradley et al. (2006) List of Figures Figure 1. Regional Location of the Proposed FRTC Expansion Areas ............................................................ 2 Figure 2. Driving Transect Routes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ......................................................................................... 7 Figure 3. Driving Transect Routes 4, 5, and 6 ............................................................................................... 8 Figure 4. Location of Acoustic Recorder Sites Bat01, Bat02, and Bat03 within the Proposed B-17 and DVTA Expansion Areas ................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 5. Location of Acoustic Recorder Sites Bat04, Bat05, Bat06, and Bat07 within the Proposed DVTA Expansion Area .................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 6. Location of Acoustic Recorder Site Bat08 within the Proposed B-16 Expansion Area ................ 13 Figure 7. Location of Acoustic Recorder Sites Bat09 and Bat10 within the Proposed B-20 Expansion Area .............................................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 8. SM4BAT FS Acoustic Recording Unit Set-up ................................................................................ 15 Figure 9. Number of Classified Bat Recordings by Recording Station (September – December 2017) ...... 17 Figure 10. Total Number of Bat Recordings by Species and Recorder Station (September – December 2017) .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Page i Bat Survey Report – Proposed FRTC Expansion Final Figure 11. Example of a Bat Spectrograph .................................................................................................. 21 Figure 12. Example Graph Illustrating Recordings, Dates, Linear Trends in Detections, and Minimum Ambient Temperature ............................................................................................................... 21 Figure 13. Brazilian Free-tailed Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ................................. 22 Figure 14. Brazilian Free-tailed Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ................................................................ 22 Figure 15. Western Pipistrelle Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ......................................... 23 Figure 16. Western Pipistrelle Echolocation Spectrograph ........................................................................ 23 Figure 17. Silver-haired Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ............................................. 24 Figure 18. Silver-haired Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ............................................................................ 24 Figure 19. Hoary Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ........................................................ 25 Figure 20. Hoary Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ....................................................................................... 25 Figure 21. California Myotis Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ............................................ 26 Figure 22. California Myotis Echolocation Spectrograph............................................................................ 26 Figure 23. Western Small-footed Myotis Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ........................ 27 Figure 24. Western Small-footed Myotis Echolocation Spectrograph ....................................................... 27 Figure 25. Yuma Myotis Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ................................................... 28 Figure 26. Yuma Myotis Echolocation Spectrograph .................................................................................. 28 Figure 27. Big Brown Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ................................................. 29 Figure 28. Big Brown Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ................................................................................ 29 Figure 29. Western Red Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ............................................ 30 Figure 30. Western Red Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ............................................................................ 30 Figure 31. Little Brown Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period .............................................. 31 Figure 32. Little Brown Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ............................................................................. 31 Figure 33. Pallid Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ......................................................... 32 Figure 34. Pallid Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ........................................................................................ 32 Figure 35. Townsend’s Big-eared Bat Classified Recordings during the Survey Period .............................. 33 Figure 36. Townsend’s Big-eared Bat Echolocation Spectrograph ............................................................. 33 Figure 37. Long-legged Myotis Classified Recordings during the Survey Period ........................................ 34 Figure 38. Long-legged Myotis Echolocation Spectrograph ....................................................................... 34 Page ii Bat Survey Report – Proposed FRTC Expansion Final List of Tables Table 1. General Seasonal Bat Behavior and Occurrence at Roosts ............................................................. 4 Table 2. Description of Bat Acoustic Recorder Sites ..................................................................................... 9 Table 3. Bat Acoustic Detections during Driving Transects (Sep 2017) ...................................................... 16 Table 4. Number of Classified Bat Recordings for Each Species by Recording Station (September – December 2017) ........................................................................................................................... 18 Table 5. Summary of Regulatory Status and Roost Types for Bat Species Detected during 2017 Passive Acoustic Survey Efforts ................................................................................................................. 19 Page iii Bat Survey Report – Proposed FRTC Expansion Final Acronyms and Abbreviations