North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)

Core Team & Supporters

• Susan Loeb, USFS-SRS• Jeremy Coleman, USFWS• Laura Ellison, USGS• Tom Rodhouse, NPS• Tom Ingersoll, DoD• Cori Lausen, WCS Canada• Wayne Thogmartin, USGS• Kathi Irvine, USGS• John Sauer, USGS• Jonathan Reichard, USFWS

The Need to Monitor

1) Bat Banding Program (BBP)– US Biological Survey/USFWS

The Need to Monitor

1) Bat Banding Program (BBP) US Biological Survey/USFWS

2) Endangered Species Monitoring

The Need to Monitor

1) Bat Banding Program (BBP) US Biological Survey/USFWS2) Endangered Species Monitoring

3) Estes Park

National State, Federal, Tribal Response Plan

National Plan Working Groups

National Plan Working Groups

National Plan Working Groups

Goal 1: Develop and validate rapid-assessment monitoring plans to determine differences in susceptibility among species, and identify which species are most vulnerable to extinction due to WNS.

Loeb & Winters 2013

Humphries et al. 2002

Indiana Bat Summer Distribution Little Brown Bat Winter Distribution

North American Bat Monitoring Program -- NABat

Vision: A coordinated effort that promotes effective decision-making and long-term viability of NA

bats

Mission:Provide architecture for coordinated bat

monitoring to support local, regional and range-wide inferences about trends in bat populations and abundances

North American Bat Monitoring Program -- NABat

Vision: A coordinated effort that promotes effective decision-making and long-term viability of NA

bats

Mission:Provide architecture for coordinated bat

monitoring to support local, regional and range-wide inferences about trends in bat distributions and abundances

NABat

Fundamental Question:How do trends in NA bat distributions & abundances vary over geographic extents and time periods in relation to WNS, wind energy, CC & conservation actions?

Application:Evaluation of extinction risk and

population status at local and regional scales to support conservation planning

NABat

Fundamental Question:How do trends in NA bat distributions & abundances vary over geographic extents and time periods in relation to WNS, wind energy, CC & conservation actions?

Application:Evaluation of extinction risk and

population status at local and regional scales to support conservation planning

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

• 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” DoD lands

Response Design

Respose Design-Acoustics

--25-48 km transect -2 nights

--2-4 point surveys -4 nights

Response Design-Colony Counts

• Short-term approach– Strengthen current monitoring efforts by states– Standardized protocols & co-variates– No attempt to fit into grid

• Long-term approach– Use grid to search for new colonies

Implementation

Implementation

Grid Assignment Example

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?

Data Management

• Bat Population Data (BPD) Project– USGS, Fort Collins– https://my.usgs.gov/bpd/

Data Management

• Data Partnerships– Allow NABat access– Restrict other access

Analysis & Products

• Plan General Technical Report• Analyses– State, regional, and rangewide

analysis– Distribution & abundance

• State of North American Bats Report