north american bat monitoring program (nabat). purpose create a continental-wide program to monitor...

North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)

Purpose

• Create a continental-wide program to monitor bats at local to range-wide scales

• Provide data to promote effective conservation decision-making and long-term viability of bat populations across the continent.

Goals

• Develop and maintain a long-term continental program to monitor bat distributions and indices of abundance at range-wide, regional, and local scales.

Goals

• Provide regular analyses and reporting on the status and trends of bat populations to inform managers and policy makers so that they can manage bat populations effectively.

Some Important Points

• Best for larger scale analyses• But, can be scaled down• Long-term nature–On the order of decades

National State, Federal, Tribal Response Plan

Conservation and Recovery Workgroup

The Process

• Collaborative• International• Series of 4 workshop

Targeted Species

• 47 Species – Common to US, Canada, Mexico

Monitoring Methods

• Acoustic Surveys–Mobile Transects– Stationary Points

• Colony Counts–Hibernacula–Maternity Colonies

Sampling Design – 10 x 10 km grid

Sampling Design- 10 x 10 km grid

Sampling Design

• Generalized Randomized Tessellation Stratified (GRTS) Sample

• Spatially balanced approach• Flexible– Grid cells can be dropped for logistical reasons– Grid cells assigned weights or inclusion

probabilities– Can include some samples outside design

Sampling Design

• Any subset of grid cells is also random and balanced

• Can “over-sample” selected properties– FS–DoD–NPS–Refuge

A Few Examples…

1 1082 4283 6364 8125 8286 9567 10038 10049 1132

10 146811 166012 172413 177214 183615 185216 191617 201218 202819 215620 242821 249222 252423 268424 273225 279526 279627 286028 287629 305230 324431 337232 345233 350034 351635 3548

1 1082 4283 6364 8125 8286 9567 10038 10049 1132

10 146811 166012 172413 177214 183615 185216 191617 201218 202819 215620 242821 249222 252423 268424 273225 279526 279627 286028 287629 305230 324431 337232 345233 350034 351635 3548

1 1082 4283 6364 8125 8286 9567 10038 10049 1132

10 146811 166012 172413 177214 183615 185216 191617 201218 202819 215620 242821 249222 252423 268424 273225 279526 279627 286028 287629 305230 324431 337232 345233 350034 351635 3548

1 1082 4283 6364 8125 8286 9567 10038 10049 1132

10 146811 166012 172413 177214 183615 185216 191617 201218 202819 215620 242821 249222 252423 268424 273225 279526 279627 286028 287629 305230 324431 337232 345233 350034 351635 3548

1 1082 4283 6364 8125 8286 9567 10038 10049 1132

10 146811 166012 172413 177214 183615 185216 191617 201218 202819 215620 242821 249222 252423 268424 273225 279526 279627 286028 287629 305230 324431 337232 345233 350034 351635 3548

“Over Sampling” a Property

DoD Cells

Colony Surveys

• Hibernacula surveys– Continue current surveys– 2 Independent surveys– Use NABat protocols• Data collection• Data submission

– No need to follow GRTS draw• Searching for new colonies– GRTS order may be useful

Stationary Point Acoustic Sampling

• 2-4 stationary points• 4 nights• Preferably 1 point/5 x 5 km quadrant• Any type of detector except time-

expansion or heterodyne

Selection of Stationary Point Sites

Mobile Transect

• 25-48 km (15-30 mi) long• Secondary roads• Safe to drive @ 20 mph• Assume 1 pass = 1 bat– No or minimal stops– Don’t want to back track on route

• Variety of habitats• Need to record associated lat/longs

Species Assignments - Acoustics

• Potentially biggest bottleneck• Requires knowledge & expertise• Investment of time and personnel

Species Assignments - Acoustics

• > 2 ID methods– Auto-ID programs• BCID• DFA model (Britzke et al. 2011)• Echoclass• Kaleidoscope• Sonobat

– Filters (e.g., AnalookW)– Qualitative ID

Species Assignments - Acoustics

• Lowest taxon possible• Species groups when necessary• Some visual verification needed

Freq

uenc

y (k

Hz)

Time

Data Submission

• Bat Population Database– https://my.usgs.gov/bpd/

Data Submission

• Data partnerships– Allow NABat access– Control other access

Data Sheets

• Ensure all necessary data collected– Acoustic – Colony counts

• Will develop apps for tablets and smartphones

Mobile Transect Acoustic Monitoring Datasheet

Surveyor _________________ Grid Cell # _______________ Country ___________ State/Province ____________ County (if applicable) _______________ Stationary Point Sampling Conducted (Y/N) ____________________ Date ____________ Transect Start Latitude/Longitude ________________ Transect End Latitude/Longitude ________________ Sunset Time ____________ Moon phase ______________ Time moon became visible ___________ Cloud cover ______________ Start temperature __________ End temperature ___________ Start RH ____________ End RH _____________ Start Wind Speed _____________ End Wind Speed ______________ Detector Manufacturer and Model _________________________ Microphone type _____________________ Microphone placement ____________________ Recording mode ________________________ Trigger window length _____________________ File length ______________________ Digipot sensitivity from Anabat Equalizer ______________________ Gain settings (SM2BAT+) ___________________ Habitats crossed by transect or general habitat description ____________________________________________ Additional comments about transect or conditions _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Acoustic Data Uploaders

• Will accept spreadsheets generated by– Echoclass–Kaleidoscope–BCID– Sonobat

Caveats/Concerns

• Acoustic identification– Many models, which is correct?– Metadata– Archive original data– Robustness to false +’s and –’s?

• Unknown hibernacula– Particularly in western NA

• Better/alternate analyses?

Analysis & Products

• General Technical Report– Draft available now– Final on web -- May

• Analyses– State, regional, and rangewide

analysis– Distribution & abundance

• State of North American Bats Report

Further Info• Laura Ellison– ellisonl@usgs.gov

• Susan Loeb– sloeb@clemson.edu

Questions?