Relationships of three species of bats impacted by white-nose syndrome to forest condition and management.
Abstract
Forest management activities can have substantial effects on forest structure and community composition and response of wildlife therein. Bats can be highly influenced by these structural changes, and understanding how forest management affects day-roost and foraging ecology of bats is currently a paramount conservation issue. With populations of many cave-hibernating bat species in eastern North America declining as a result of whitenose syndrome (WNS), it is increasingly critical to understand relationships among bats and forest-management activities. Herein, we provide a comprehensive literature review and synthesis of: (1) responses of northern long-eared (Myotis septentrionalis) and tricolored (Perimyotis subflavus) bats-two species affected by WNS that use forests during summer-to forest management, and (2) an update to a previous review on the ecology of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis).