Guidelines for Defining Biologically Important Bat Roosts: A Case Study from Colorado

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Publication Date

January 2017

Abstract

Conservation of roosts is regularly recommended as a strategy to decrease the risk of threats to local bat populations (e.g., white-nose syndrome). Determining whether a roost site plays a meaningful role in maintaining a local bat population can be difficult given the variability found in roost structure type, and use by season, duration, and sex. Here we provide land managers and biologists with guidelines to aid in the decision process for determining which roosts are biologically important in maintaining healthy bat populations at a local scale. We define methods for determining biologically important roost sites and provide a case study of their use on bat roosts in Colorado. To be considered biologically important, we suggest that a roost meet two primary criteria: 1) it is considered a hibernaculum, maternity roost, transient roost, colonial bachelor roost, or fall swarming site used by bat species that are gregarious roosters, hibernators, or are known to swarm, and 2) if the site is disturbed or lost, it could affect 5% or more of the local population of the species, as defined by the investigator. Additive measures to further evaluate the importance of the roost and assign higher conservation value include: 1) a roost used by a special status species and 2) large aggregations of bats where an estimated 20% or more of the local population is roosting or swarming at the site. We also provide definitions for the seasonality of roost types, examples of several real-life scenarios where management decisions have been made for roosts, and a worksheet that helps guide users through the process.

Keywords

Bat, Biologically Important, Local Population, Cave, Roost, Scope Of Roost, White-Nose Syndrome

Document Type

Article

Notes

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, Vol. 8, no. 1 (2017).

Identifier

SFS0073018_00001

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