Bat survey along the Norris-Madison Junction Road corridor, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1999 PDF
Preview Bat survey along the Norris-Madison Junction Road corridor, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1999
LA<J$H(^#urr^u-$ Bat Survey Along the Norris-Madison Junction Road Corridor* Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1999 A Report to: National Park Service P.O. Box 168 Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190 Submitted by: Paul Hendricks May, 2000 / MONTANA YrT~ \y% Natural Heritage ^ub Program MontanaStateLibrary 3 0864 1004 3985 3 CcW * S 599.4 N11BSNMJ 2000 1 ^jojc{-*«-*- ;\l< 2000 MontanaNaturalHeritageProgram Thisdocumentshouldbecitedasfollows: Hendricks.P. 2UU0.BatsurveyalongtheNoms-MadisonJunctionRoadcorridor.YellowstoneNationalPark. Wyoming. 1999. MontanaNaturalHeritageProgram Helena.MT. 15pp. ABSTRACT An assessment ofbat presencewasconducted along the Norris-Madison Junction Road corridor in Yellowstone National Park, Wyomingduring20-25 September 1999 Twenty-three siteswere monitored forbat activity, 21 sitesweremonitored overnight with electronic bat detectors, and two sitesweremist-netted for2.0-2.5 hraftersunset. Five bridges(includingone just outsideoftheprimary road corridor study area) were inspected forevidenceofuseby bats (droppingsorroosting individuals), and oneadditional elevated wooden road structure spanning theoutflow at athermal featurewas inspected forsimilarbat spoor Oneundeveloped thermal area uaschecked forbat spooraround bouldersbecausethearea isa known maternity site by an unidentified bat species Batswererecorded at 17of21 sites monitored with bat detectors, equipment malfunction occurredat onesite Speciestentatively identified included Western Long-eared Myotis(Myotis evotis) at 3 sites. Big Brown Bat (Eptesicusfuscus) at 3 sites, and Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)at 5 sites Unknown bat species were recorded at 1 1 sites, unidentified Myotisat 10sites, and indistinguishable BigBrown/Silver-haired bat at 1 1 sites. Theamount ofbat activity (numberofrecorded passes) wasrelatively low at the majority ofsites where batsweredetected, ranging from 1-40 passes Twelveorfewerpasses were recorded at 12 of 17 sites. 20ormore passeswere recorded at theremaining 5 siteswherebatswere detected Twospeciesofunidentified bats(one Myotisand one largerspecies) wereobserved foragingat crown level among lodgepole pinesat the NorrisCampground (B Loopand entrance area) between 19 40-21 15 MDT A few batswere observed at thetwomist-netting sites, but only one bat wascaptured, a male Little Brown Myotis(A/, lucifugus) along theGibbon Ri\ci below the TuffCliffs picnic area Batsobservedat the second netting site(a small pond) were eitherBigBrown or Silver-haired bats Three ofsix bridgesorbridge-like structures had evidenceofbat use Threeoffour bridges with steel beamsand concreteor stone pilings had concentrationsofbat droppingson theirundersides Thewooden structureat Beryl Springsand theconcretebridge spanningthe Gibbon River at MadisonJunctionareprobably used little ifat all asa roost siteby bats. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thisprojectwasconceivedand promoted by RoyRenken(YellowstoneNational Park)to supplementthe scant information onbats inthepark, especially alongthehighway corridors. Roy supportedthecurrent effort inall aspects, and his interest, foresight and enthusiasm aregreatlyappreciated. Thanksalsoto RoyRenken andBobProctor(Royal Society fortheProtection ofBirds;Nethybridge, Scotland) forparticipating inthe most productive eveningofmist-nettingbats The studypresented inthisreportwasconductedunderResearch AuthorizationPermit Number5024. INTRODUCTION Little information iscurrently availableon thebats inhabiting Yellowstone National Park (YNP) The most recent comprehensiveaccount ofthe mammalsofWyoming (Clark and Stromberg 1987) provides recordsofonly three bat species in the park Western Long-eared Myotis {Myotis evotis), Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus), and Townsend's Big-eared Bat (( 'orynorhinus townsendii) Six additional specieswere predictedtooccurin YNP Todate, at least oneofthese, the Silver-haired Bat {Lasionycteris noctivagatis), has now been confirmed with specimen documentation (R Renken personal communication) In the last fiveyearsat least twoinvestigationsofbats haveoccurred within limited areas ofYNP Bogan and Geluso (1999)studied summerroosts(especially maternity roosts)ofbats in human-made structuresat several sites Little Brown Myotis wastheonly bat speciesthev documented in YNP duringtheir study An inventory ofbat useofthe Mammoth-NorrisGrand Looproad corridor by Martinez(1999), usingelectronic bat detectorsand mist-nets, reported six bat species including Fringed Myotis(A/, thysanodes), Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus), and Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus) With theexception ofTownsend's Big-eared Bat, none ofthese specieswerecapturedoridentified visually, so species identifications should beconsidered tentative (see Study Area and Methods foradiscussion ofusing bat vocalizations forspecies identifications) Aspan ofa prelimmarv inventory and assessment ofbat distribution in YNPthesurvey reported herecompliments previous inventory efforts Inthecurrent survey the focusofthe inventory wasthe section ofhighway and adjacent landscapebetween Norrisand Madison Junction in the northwest portion ofthe park, a continuation tothe south ofthe previous road corridorsurvey ofMartinez(1999) Primary objectiveswereto identify areasofbat activitv and provide speciesdeterminations wherepossible STUDY AREA AND METHODS Theportion ofhighway in YNP covered bythe bat survey reported here(Norristo MadisonJunction, see Fig 1-4) falls within the Yellowstone Volcanic Plateau ofthe Yellowstone Highlands Section (Nesseret al 1997), and ischaracterized by a cold continental climatewith warm dry summersand cold dry winters Therearea numberofthermal features in thearea, addingto thediversity ofhabitatsdominated by extensive standsofconifers Sites Mirveved during the inventory ranged in elevation from 6800-7600 ft (2073-2316 m) Most sites were in terrain dominated by lodgepole pine[Pinus contorta) Fieldwork wasconducted from 20-25 September 1999 Overnight low ambient temperaturesweremeasured with a Taylor maximum-minimum thermometer Daily minimum temperatures ranged from 26°Fon 21 and 22 Septemberto 39°F on 24 September Dailv temperature maximawereabout 65-75°F Bat detectors(AN \B \ I II. Titley Electronics. Ballina. Australia) or mist nets were deployed near water, cliffsorotheroutcrops, open corridors in forest, forest-meadow edges, and bridgeswhere bats might be likely to forage Multiple survey techniques are recommended for morecompleteandaccurateinventory (O'Farrell and Gannon 1999) Detectorunits(consisting ofan ultrasound detector, timer tape-driver, and a voice-activated cassettetape recorder) were set Figure 1. Sites 1-7 alongtheNorris-MadisonJunctionRoad corridor, YellowstoneNational Park, surveyed forbatsin September 1999. BaseMapfromUSGS 7.5' topographicquadrangle "NorrisJunction, Wyoming" 1986Provisional Edition Figure2. Sites8-12 alongtheNorris-MadisonJunctionRoad corridor, YellowstoneNational Park, surveyed forbatsin September 1999 B1-B3 arebridges inspected forbat sign. The"X" isthe site intheGeyser Springs GroupoftheGibbonGeyserBasin wherebat signwas found. BaseMap fromUSGS 7.5' topographic quadrangle"NorrisJunction, Wyoming" 1986 ProvisionalEdition. Figure3. Sites 13-16 alongtheNorns-MadisonJunctionRoad corridor, YellowstoneNational Park, surveyed forbatsin September 1999. BaseMapfromUSGS 7.5' topographic quadrangle "MadisonJunction, Wyoming" 1986 Provisional Edition.
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