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Project ID: 10-1-06-1

Year: 2010

Date Started: 06/01/2010

Ending Date:  06/30/2014

Title: Fire and Foraging Habitat Quality for Endangered Bats in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park

Project Proposal Abstract: Prescribed fires in the mixed-oak forests of the eastern US are hypothesized to have positive effects on foraging and roosting habitat that may outweigh the risks to forest bats from smoke and heat exposures during fires. Published data on fire and bat foraging habitat are few for this ecosystem, however, particularly for the critical periods before and after hibernation. Our project will focus on testing hypotheses about the relationships between fires effects on insect prey availability and canopy structure and their relationship to bats selection of foraging areas during the pre- and post-hibernation periods at Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP) in Kentucky. Habitat quality pre- and post-hibernation is critical because bats must go into hibernation with sufficient fat reserves and they often leave hibernation in poor condition. Bat condition may become even more important with the arrival of the White-nose Syndrome (WNS) epidemic. Feeding patterns will be verified with a diet study based on DNA barcoding techniques. Insect prey availability will be quantified with passive sampling techniques and bat activity will be characterized with echolocation (Anabat) sampling. Diet choice work will focus on the federally listed Indiana and gray bats, but our insect prey availability and foraging surveys will encompass all species using forests in which prescribed fires are used. MCNP provides a range of bat foraging habitat conditions created by their prescribed fire program including a time-since fire series, re-burns, and burns in ice-storm-disturbed forest. In addition to the above work, in response to the expected arrival of WNS at MCNP, we will monitor general population trends of bats at caves, trends in herbivorous insect abundances, and trends in levels of forest herbivory in an effort to assess any ecosystem service bats may provide through top-down control of insect populations. Our study will help MCNP assess the effects of their prescribed fires on forest bats and will provide information relevant for fire management on other land ownerships in the region. The information from our project will provide a stronger scientific basis for fire management planning at MCNP and for consultation between MCNP and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and others on endangered species management.

Principal Investigator: Michael Lacki

Agency/Organization: University of Kentucky

Branch or Dept: Department of Forestry

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Matthew B. Dickinson	Forest Service	NRS-Forest Health-Sustaining Forests
Co-Principal Investigator	Lynne K. Rieske-Kinney	University of Kentucky	Department of Entomology
Co-Principal Investigator	Nicholas S. Skowronski	Forest Service	NRS-Silas Little Experimental Forest
Federal Cooperator	Michael T. Rains	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station
Federal Fiscal Representative	Debbie L. Giovanopoulos	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

Oak Woodlands

Level	State	Agency	Unit
STATE	KY	NPS	Mammoth Cave National Park

Project Deliverables

There is no final report available for this project.

	ID	Type	Title
	10303	NonRefereed Publication	Using LiDAR to Link Forest Canopy Structure with Bat Activity and Insect Occurrence: Preliminary Findings
	10302	NonRefereed Publication	Seasonal Occurrence and Habitat Affiliations of Trichoptera at Mammoth Cave National Park
	9059	NonRefereed Publication	Fire and Foraging Habitat Quality for Endangered Bats in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park
	10304	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Using LiDAR to Link Forest Canopy Structure with Bat Activity and Insect Occurrence: Preliminary Findings
	10056	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Pre- and Post-Hibernation Changes in the Body Condition of Bats Susceptible to White-Nose Syndrome at Mammoth Cave National Park
	10055	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Using LiDAR to Link Forest Canopy Conditions with Diversity Patterns of Lepidoptera at Mammoth Cave National Park
	9435	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Direct and Habitat Effects of Fire on Forest Bats
	10307	Poster	Investigating the Relationships Between Bats, Insects, and Fire at Mammoth Cave National Park
	10306	Poster	First-Year Responses of Forest Bats and Their Arthropod Prey to Prescribed Fire During the Swarming Period at Mammoth Cave National Park
	10305	Poster	Seasonal Occurrence and Habitat Affiliations of Trichoptera at Mammoth Cave National Park

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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