Habitat suitability mapping using logistic regression analysis of long-term bioacoustic bat survey dataset in the Cassadaga Creek watershed (USA).

Bat species show global ecological importance, yet their numbers are declining worldwide. Understanding bat-habitat interactions is crucial in terms of developing effective conservation plans. In an effort to model bat habitat suitability in the Cassadaga Creek watershed, long-term bioacoustic bat data (spanning 2009-2020) was compiled, georeferenced and statistically analyzed using logistic regression techniques. In total, 1600 bat occurrence records from five species of bat (559 Eptesicus fuscus, 560 Lasionycteris noctivagans, 143 Lasiurus borealis, 260 Lasiurus cinereus, and 78 Myotis lucifugus) were paired with pseudo-absence points to study the relationship between bat calling behavior and land cover. All bats but Myotis lucifugus had a statistically significant relationship with forested land cover, and all bats had negative interactions with agricultural habitats. Geospatial data was coupled with the statistical output to create maps of habitat suitability and echolocation calling density. This work provides a model that can be employed worldwide to evaluate bat habitat needs or patterns in echolocation behavior. Future research will incorporate a more recently collected dataset that is of greater geographic diversity with a larger number of environmental variables in the species distribution model.

Chiropteran chatter in Chautauqua, NY (USA): Using acoustic sampling and geographic information systems to create a baseline bat habitat dataset.

Understanding bat habitat use and how bat activity changes in response to differing habitats across time and space is critical in developing and implementing effective bat conservation actions. To investigate the utility of geographic information systems (GIS) in studying bat habitat interactions, habitat delineations and bioacoustic sampling were conducted along two transects in Chautauqua County, NY (USA) from mid-May until the end of August 2013. Surveys were vehicular, and driven between 29 and 32 kmph in order to match bats' flying speed. They were conducted starting 30 min after sunset on nights where the temperature was greater than 13 °C. In total, twenty surveys were completed, and 1248 bat calls were identified to species. Mixed models regression analysis revealed significant interactions among all of the species of bat analyzed in the model. The model was supported with a secondary analysis comparing bat call density with land cover. This study supports the hypothesis that bats forage in different habitats at the species level and indicates the importance of forested areas to bats. Additionally, the methodology for this study has the potential to gather large data sets in a short period of time, while collecting data on several species of bat at once and has been shown to be useful in identifying important habitat features for bats using bioacoustics and geospatial analysis. Since the data has been collected following state guidelines, the dataset and its analysis establish a baseline for future data collection campaigns and in performing a similar analysis for other regions within the state of New York or areas worldwide.