“Bat Blitz” Conducted in Bankhead National Forest,
Alabama by Southeast Bat Diversity Network
Biologists recently banded and radio-tagged bats that are an
important part of our night-time wildlife. During the first week of August
2022, the Alabama Bat Working Group hosted the Southeastern Bat Diversity
Network’s Bat Blitz (SBDN) on the Bankhead National Forest in Alabama. A Bat Blitz is a
coordinated, intensive survey designed to sample the bat community in an
extensive area. These events generally involve a substantial, voluntary
contribution of time and materials from bat experts. Bat biologists from across the southeast, and
even from another country this year, descended on Bankhead National Forest to
sample bats over roads and streams in the Forest using mist nets and at caves
using harp traps. An educational event
was hosted to raise awareness about the value of bats and their role in our
environment. For instance, did you know
that bats consume insects that would have caused billions of dollars in
agricultural damage in the USA every year? Bats also prey on insects that are
vectors of diseases to other animals and humans.
The goal of the 2022 Alabama Bat Blitz was to conduct a
comprehensive survey of the bat community of Bankhead National Forest and
surrounding environments to continue
learning where bats occur on Bankhead National Forest, their habitat use and
about trends in presence. SBDN
held its Bat Blitz at Bankhead in 2008, prior to the advent of White-Nose
Syndrome (WNS) in Alabama, a disease that has devastated bat populations in the
United States. WNS was first documented at Bankhead in 2014. The 2022 Alabama
Bat Blitz replicated the 2008 Blitz and will directly compare the composition
of the bat community at Bankhead 6 years before and 8 years after the arrival
of WNS. Importantly, the intensive
survey, along with other ancillary data collected in the State, revealed the
impact of the fatal WNS bat disease on once prevalent federally listed Indiana
bats (Myotis sodalis) and Northern
long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis), in a critical forest
habitat like the Bankhead NF. The
partners also documented feeding activity and roosting sites of bat species of
concern using radio-tracking. Rare bats and species in decline from the WNS were tagged with light-weight (0.25grams)
radio transmitter that emits a radio signal to portable radio receivers for
radio tracking the bats’ locations night and day. This information will guide the future
management of Bankhead National Forest by the US Forest Service (USFS).
Ten teams of biologists surveyed bats
over a three-night period. The
biologists netted or trapped 29 sites across Winston and Lawrence counties,
including both upland and riparian sites, pine, hardwood and mixed
pine-hardwood forests, and caves. Bats
were captured with a fine-mesh mist net and were then quickly removed by a
trained biologist. They were weighed, measured, identified and health status
was quickly assessed. Most bats were released within a few minutes where they
were captured. The biologists captured 189 bats of five species,
including red bat, big brown bat, tricolored bat, evening bat, and seminole
bat. No federally listed bats, Indiana,
Gray, or Northern long-eared bats were captured this year. The biologists
attached radio transmitters to four rare tricolored bats in attempts to conduct
a radio telemetry project to learn more about their use of the forest. A small team of biologists attempted to
radio-track the four bats from the ground and the air for the life of the radio
transmitters, a period of about 12 days.
One radio-tagged tricolored bat was located over eight miles from its
initial capture point.
In comparison, in 2008 before the arrival of white-nose
syndrome, at the same sites and with less netting effort, biologists at the Bat
Blitz captured 385 bats of seven species including big brown bat, red bat, gray
bat, Northern long-eared bat, Indiana bat, evening bat and tricolored bat. The
impact of WNS on the northern long-eared bat was especially evident when 101
were captured in 2008, but none were captured in 2022. The declines in other
federally-listed bat species that hibernate in northern Alabama caves
demonstrates the need to protect these species and their critical habitats.
About 70 individuals including
biologists and students from around the southeast and representing multiple
federal and state agencies, power companies, consultants, and universities
participated in the Bat Blitz. Camp
McDowell graciously served as Bat Blitz headquarters. Generous donations from sponsors
helped defray participant registration, supplies, refreshments and other costs
associated with conducting a Bat Blitz. Sponsors
of the event include the US Forest Service, Alabama Bat Working Group, US Fish
and Wildlife Service, Alabama Power Company, Alabama Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources – Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries,
Copperhead Environmental Consulting, TVA, Alabama Chapter of The Wildlife
Society, Northwest RC&D Council, Vanasse-Hangren-Brustlin, Inc, CCR
Environmental Consulting, and Alabama Conservation Enforcement Officer Association.
