Habitat associations of bats in south-central West Virginia

Michael R. Schirmacher; Steven B. Castleberry; Mark Ford; Karl V. Miller

Treesearch

Habitat associations of bats in south-central West Virginia

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Michael R. Schirmacher, Steven B. Castleberry, Mark Ford, Karl V. Miller

Year:

2007

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Northern Research Station

Source:

Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the southeastern association of fish and wildlife agendcies. 61: 46-52.

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Abstract

We conducted acoustic surveys at National Park Service and state park properties in south-central West Virginia to create bat habitat association models across a large, topographically complex and relatively intact Appalachian Hardwood landscape representative of the Allegheny Plateau portion of the central Appalachians. We developed generalized and species-specific groups of a priori habitat association models to predict bat presence using various microhabitat and landscape features linked to body-size, wing morphology, food habits and echolocation call characteristics for seven species. Habitat associations for the species generally followed expectations based on previous research in the region.

Keywords

acoustical sampling, bat, foraging, central Appalachians, habitat model, West Virginia

Citation

Schirmacher, Michael R.; Castleberry, Steven B.; Ford, W. Mark; Miller, Karl V. 2007. Habitat associations of bats in south-central West Virginia. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the southeastern association of fish and wildlife agendcies. 61: 46-52.