Bats and trees in a managed forest

Hoppenworth, Josie Clare

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132700 Copy

Description

Title

Bats and trees in a managed forest

Author(s)

Hoppenworth, Josie Clare

Issue Date

2025-12-11

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

O'Keefe, Joy M

Committee Member(s)

• Stickley, Samuel F
• Benson, Thomas J
• Haulton, G. Scott

Department of Study

Natural Res & Env Sci

Discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Bats
• Forest management
• Roosting ecology
• Foraging ecology: Eptesicus fuscus
• Myotis sodalis
• Myotis septentrionalis

Abstract

Many North American bat species rely heavily on forests for roosting and foraging habitat. Especially in the face of drastic population declines, understanding how forests can be managed to support local bat assemblages is crucial for bat conservation. We worked in two managed hardwood state forests in southern Indiana to investigate how forest management, employed to meet a variety of social and environmental objectives, impacts bats. In Chapter One, I introduce the focal species and information relevant to their roosting and foraging ecology. In Chapter Two, I present the results of a study in which my field assistants and I revisited historical roost trees used by Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) and northern long-eared bats (M. septentrionalis) discovered over 11 years to characterize the drivers of roost tree detection and longevity. I used a multistate mark-recapture analysis to evaluate how characteristics of the tree, stand, and landscape impacted our ability to locate historical roost trees and the probability of a snag roost falling. I found we were more likely to detect larger trees with taller surrounding vegetation and that tree species resistant to decay were more likely to remain standing, providing potentially usable habitat for bats. My results demonstrate the need to account for imperfect detection in analyses of snag dynamics and confirm that snag roosts are an ephemeral resource with species-specific longevities. In Chapter Three, I explore the roosting and foraging ecology of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). We captured and tagged male and female big brown bats and used radio telemetry to identify their roosts and track their foraging movements. I used logistic regression to compare the characteristics of roost trees and random trees and evaluate their use of habitat for foraging. Maternity-roosting big brown bats were more likely to roost in trees with plots dominated by American beech trees, and solitary roosting big brown bats used trees closer to linear features. Further, the foraging behavior of maternity and solitary roosting bats differed. Though both primarily foraged in the forest, maternity roosting big brown bats foraged away from their roosts and used thinned forest more than expected; solitary roosting bats foraged around their roosts and used all habitat categories approximately according to their availability. These results expand our understanding of how a common species uses managed forests and indicate that forest management may create preferred foraging habitat. Especially because big brown bats are often characterized as an urban species, their use of trees for roosting in the Midwest demonstrates their flexible habitat use and expands current perceptions of this species. In Chapter Four, I summarize the two studies and conclude that forest management is a useful tool that can be employed to provide roosting and foraging habitat for bats.

Graduation Semester

2025-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132700

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Josephine Hoppenworth

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