Locating Suitable Summer Roosting Habitat for Endangered Bats Using Geographic Analysis

Abstract

Abstract Bats provide many ecosystem benefits like pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, and controlling pest insects for agricultural crops (Jones et al., 2009). Insectivorous bats are so importance to humans (Heim et al., 2015; Jones et al., 2009) that insectivorous bat conservation has been suggested as vital for sustainable land management (Heim et al., 2015). Bat populations in North America are facing multiple threats in addition to habitat fragmentation. Since it was introduced in the eastern U.S. in 2006, a disease called White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) has decimated bat populations (Alves et al., 2014), including Ohio’s four state-endangered bat species: the Indiana Bat (INB), Northern Long-Eared Bat (NLEB), Little Brown Bat (LBB), and Tri-Colored Bat (TCB) (ODNR, 2020). To give these species the best chance for survival, summer roosting habitat must be protected and created for them (Tuttle, 2021). In order to secure suitable habitat for these species, conservationists should work with landowners using the tools of habitat protection, habitat restoration, and installing bat boxes and houses, along with communicating the benefit of bat presence. This research aimed to design an analytical procedure for finding suitable habitat sites in Northeast Ohio for Ohio’s Endangered bat species, but that can be used for conservation planning of any species. I used map analysis produced with GIS software to create a habitat suitability layer for each species in question. Then, all four suitable habitat maps were overlaid to find suitable habitat sites for all four species in Northeast Ohio. Variables used to find suitable habitat for each species include percent canopy cover, edge habitat, distance to waterways, and distance from busy roads. After locating suitable habitat, the next question I addressed is where disconnected clusters of suitable habitat sites can be connected, using the tools of restoration and bat box installation, by comparing suitable habitat locations with cropland and deciduous forest locations. Overall, most suitable habitat for all four bat species exists in the eastern half of Northeast Ohio. Of all the suitable habitat sites for all four Endangered species of bat in Northeast Ohio, Ashtabula County contains 52 of the top 100 largest sites and seven of the ten largest. Trumbull County has the next largest number of sites with 18 of the top 100 largest and one of the top ten largest suitable habitat sites. Overlaying the suitable habitat sites with cropland and deciduous forest cover revealed where corridors of more dense forest cover in combination with the installation of bat boxes can be created to connect clusters of suitable habitat sites disconnected from one another. The most effective conservation plan for all four of Ohio’s endangered bat species would be a cross-county initiative incentivizing the restoration of deciduous forest in target locations identified by this research. Where forest cannot be restored or where landowners do not want forest cover, the installation of effective bat houses should be incentivized. Even within counties, significant connections can be made between clusters of now disconnected suitable habitat.