University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources Forestry and Natural Resources 2020 EFFECTS OF SHELTERWOOD AND PATCH CUT HARVESTS ON A POST WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME BAT COMMUNITY IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU IN EASTERN KENTUCKY Phillip Lee Arant University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.364 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Arant, Phillip Lee, "EFFECTS OF SHELTERWOOD AND PATCH CUT HARVESTS ON A POST WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME BAT COMMUNITY IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU IN EASTERN KENTUCKY" (2020). Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources. 57. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/forestry_etds/57 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Forestry and Natural Resources at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Phillip Lee Arant, Student Dr. Michael J. Lacki, Major Professor Dr. Steven Price, Director of Graduate Studies EFFECTS OF SHELTERWOOD AND PATCH CUT HARVESTS ON A POST WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME BAT COMMUNITY IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU IN EASTERN KENTUCKY ___________________________ THESIS ___________________________ A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Forest and Natural Resource Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky By Phillip Lee Arant Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Michael J. Lacki, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management Lexington, Kentucky 2020 Copyright © Phillip Lee Arant 2020 Abstract of Thesis EFFECTS OF SHELTERWOOD AND PATCH CUT HARVESTS ON A POST WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME BAT COMMUNITY IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU IN EASTERN KENTUCKY The impact of shelterwood and patch cuts harvests on bat communities was tested at three sites in Eastern Kentucky. Shelterwood harvests had 50% of the basal area and understory removed to create a uniform spacing of residual trees. Patch cuts had 1-hectare circular openings created to remove 50% of the basal area creating an aggregated spacing of residual trees. Acoustic detectors were deployed to assess activity levels pre-harvest. Sites were then sampled from 1 – 2 years post-harvest to determine differences. Pre-harvest data revealed little acoustic activity for the Myotis spp. at two sites. The remaining site had high activity of Myotis pre-harvest. All sites saw a large increase in bat activity post-harvest. Activity of low-frequency and mid-frequency bats increased in response to the harvests. Big brown and red bats were commonly captured within forest harvests. Tri-colored bats also captured, suggesting forest harvests could improve habitat. Myotis activity did not increase post-harvest at the site with a known population. Netting efforts revealed a remnant population of northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis). These bats were radio-tagged and tracked to day-roosts. All day roosts were in upslope habitats within 100 m of forest roads created for maintenance and logging operations. Keywords: Eastern Kentucky, shelterwood, patch cut, timber harvest, northern long-eared bat Phillip Lee Arant Signature August 20, 2020 Date EFFECTS OF SHELTERWOOD AND PATCH CUT HARVESTS ON A POST WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME BAT COMMUNITY IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU IN EASTERN KENTUCKY By: Phillip Lee Arant Michael J. Lacki Director of Thesis Steven Price Director of Graduate Studies August 20, 2020 Date Acknowledgements My project was a collaborative effort between Forestland Group, LLC, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Kentucky Division of Forestry, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources and would not have been possible without the support, time, and effort supplied by each one of them. I am grateful for the funding from Forestland Group, LLC, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I would like to thank Chris Osborne, the staff at Robinson Forest, and Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability (RCARS). Chris, David, and Erwin thank you for clearing the roads to my study site and making the road usable. I appreciate the countless hours you spent making my project possible. RCARS, I am grateful for you providing me with housing throughout my project and for accommodating the ridiculous hours of a bat biologist. Debbie and Leslie, thank you for everything you do around the Forestry and Natural Resources Department. I cannot imagine my project functioning without your assistance. Dr. Lacki thank you for being my mentor and providing me with this opportunity. This project and work would not have been possible without your planning and guidance. Dr. Stringer thank you for making an abstract idea a reality. Chase, thank you for your assistance in the field and with ‘R’ coding. You saved me countless hours of time and made the processing of hundreds of spreadsheets and hundreds of thousands of cells of data possible. I appreciate your hours of field work iii helping me collect various data. Thanks for being a great coworker and friend. Andrea thank you for taking the time to assist me. My technicians: Randi Lesagonicz, Charles Fairies, Ryan Trenkamp, Brittany Watson, Austyn Harriman, David Hejna, Jessica Dewey, Jarrod Vanover, Jeb Ayers, Zach Hackworth, and Maya Yomboro. I appreciate your hours of hard works and your persistence in the face of daunting challenges and countless obstacles. I am also grateful for your patience as I learned what it meant to lead people. David and Austyn thanks for the moral support you provided well beyond your job, over the years you have become my friends. I appreciate you being a part of my life. Marissa and Ali, I am grateful for your support, assistance trouble shooting, patience, and friendship. I cannot thank you enough for the countless number of times you answered my phone calls to discuss various problems. I could not have produced the quality of work presented within this thesis without your assistance. Perhaps more importantly, I am eternally grateful for your emotional support throughout this process. Thank you for being my friends. To my friends, Chad, Kassidy, Jesse, Ben, Wes, and Grayson thank you for emotional support. I greatly appreciate you guys listening to my rants and helping me work through my problems. I love you guys and appreciate you always being there. Mom thanks for being there for me and supporting my dreams. I appreciate you being a constant source of support. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Study Areas ....................................................................................................................11 Experimental Design ......................................................................................................... 15 Acoustic Sampling .........................................................................................................21 Analysis of Acoustic Data ..............................................................................................27 Arthropod Sampling and Analysis .................................................................................28 Mist Net Sampling .........................................................................................................38 Radio-Telemetry.............................................................................................................39 Description of Day Roosts .............................................................................................40 Results ..............................................................................................................................