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Collaborators: Bryce Maxell, Susan Lenard, Braden Burkholder, and Shannon Hilty

http://mtnhp.org. 3 June 2014. Acoustic Assessment of Bat Species Presence and Activity Levels at the Signal Peak Mine in the Bull Mountains. Collaborators: Bryce Maxell, Susan Lenard, Braden Burkholder, and Shannon Hilty Montana Natural Heritage Program

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Collaborators: Bryce Maxell, Susan Lenard, Braden Burkholder, and Shannon Hilty

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  1. http://mtnhp.org 3 June 2014 Acoustic Assessment of Bat Species Presence and ActivityLevels at the Signal Peak Mine in the Bull Mountains Collaborators: Bryce Maxell, Susan Lenard, Braden Burkholder, and Shannon Hilty Montana Natural Heritage Program Michael Glenn and Chris Yde, Montana Department of Environmental Quality Ellen Pfister Ranch, Bull Mountains, Montana Sean Ellington, Signal Peak Mine QUESTIONS? Please contact, Bryce Maxell at: (406) 444-3655 (office) (406) 461-1279 (cell) bmaxell@mt.gov

  2. Bats of Montana - 6 Species of Concern - 4 Potential Species of Concern

  3. Major Conservation Issues • White-Nose Syndrome caused by the introduced fungus Pseudogymnoascusdestructanswhich is spreading westward • Loss of natural roost habitats in trees and cracks and crevices in rock outcrops • Wind turbine collisions and barotrauma • Drowning hazards at artificial watering sites • Loss of prey species (pesticides)

  4. Wind Energy Development and Bats • 50% of fatalities associated with direct contact with turbine blade • 90% of fatalities associated with internal hemorrhaging • Pressure drops of 5-10 kPa with tip speeds of 55-80 m/s (Baerwald et al. 2008, Current Biology 18(16): R695-R696) (Kunz et al. 2007, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 5(6): 315-324)

  5. White-Nose Syndrome http://whitenosesyndrome.org - 24 States - 5 Canadian Provinces

  6. (Images from USFWS and Frick et al. 2010, Science 329: 679-682)

  7. Ongoing Efforts • Statewide bat acoustic surveillance • Statewide bat and WNS roost surveillance • WNS response plan • Deploying artificial bat roosts to serve as sentinel sites

  8. Roost Surveillance

  9. Establishment of Bat Roost Monitoring Database

  10. Working with Cavers Map and Photo by Hans Bodenhamer

  11. Annual Estimates of Cave Visitation Most Visited Caves (estimated 100+ visits per year) Lewis and Clark Caverns* Lick Creek Cave* Big Ice Cave* Poia Lake Cave* Mill Creek Crystal Cave* Ophir Cave* Bighorn Caverns* Snowy Mountain Ice Cave Yakinikak Creek Cave #1 Yakinikak Creek Cave #2 Blacktail Ranch Cave * Bat Use Documented

  12. Numbers of Bats at Montana Hibernacula Azure Cave - 1751 Myotis species - 6 Townsend’s Big-eared Bats Whitaker Sink - 84 Myotis species Old Dry Wolf Station - 63 Unidentified bats Silver King Mine (36 Townsend’s Big-eared Bat) • Mystery Cave • 500 Myotis species • 3 Townsend’s Big-eared Bat • 1 Big Brown Bat • 1 Long-eared Myotis • Bull Mountains Coal Mine • 22 Townsend’s Big-eared Bat • 14 Western Small-footed Myotis • Lewis & Clark Caverns • 14 Townsend’s Big-eared Bat • 3 Western Small-footed Myotis • 12 Myotis species Little Ice Cave - 45 Myotis species

  13. Montana Bat Winter Roost Temperatures Western Small-footed Myotis (N = 1, n = 2) Long-eared Myotis (N = 1, n = 1) Myotis sp. (N = 7, n = 16) Townsend’s Big-eared Bat (N = 14, n = 34) N = Number of caves/mines , n = number of unique clusters of roosting bats Blehert et al. 2007 Microbe 6(6): 267-273.

  14. Acoustic Surveillance

  15. Establishment of Long-term Passive Bat Acoustic Detection Array Funders/Status 2 detectors were deployed within the bounds of the Signal Peak Mine’s mineral rights on 23 August 2012

  16. Image from Joe Szewczak Library of Bat Calls of Known Species Identity Used in Automated Analysis Software SONOBAT 3.0 and Kaleidoscope Pro

  17. Analysis Process • Convert compressed WAC files into WAV format and archive original WAC files for potential future analysis • Compensate for SMX-US weatherproof ultrasonic microphone using Sonobat Batch Compensator • Eliminate nonbat noise files using Sonobat Batch Scrubber and, if necessary, by hand review • Auto-analyze files using Sonobat 3.0 and Kaleidoscope Pro batch analysis utilities • Hand check automated analyses using 2014 Montana Bat Call Identification Key (based on Szewczak et al. 2011) a. confirm species monthly presence b. check all calls below 0 degrees Celsius c. check other calls of interest (e.g. activity pulses) • Analyze results of automated and hand analyses in site specific Microsoft Access databases • Archive WAV files for potential future analysis

  18. What We Have Learned from Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Bats at the Signal Peak Mine so far?* *Although current results have greatly expanded our knowledge of bat species temporal distribution and activity patterns, automated analyses procedures are still being refined and only a small portion of the data has been reviewed by hand. Thus, other than hand confirmations, results should be regarded as tentative. It is very possible that future automated analyses of the same data may document additional species or species during time periods where they have not yet been documented.

  19. Bat Species Present or Potentially Present in the Bull Mountains

  20. Signal Peak Mine Bat Detectors

  21. Reservoir 1 (T6NR27ESec33SW)

  22. Reservoir 1 – Site Photos

  23. Deployment History and Analysis Status • 23 August 2012 – Detector installed. • Memory Card Download Dates • 5 November 2012 • 10 December 2012 • 10 January 2013 • 20 May 2013 • 13 June 2013 • 27 July 2013 • 12 September 2013 • 15 October 2013 replaced microphone • 28 October 2013 • 16 December 2013 • 20 March 2014 • 30 April 2014 • 19 May 2014

  24. Files (Bat Passes) Processedthrough 28 February 2014 • 44,819 Total number of bat passes(perhaps 1-2% are noise files that make it through scrubbers) • 6,815 (15%) identified to species by auto-analysis • 808 reviewed by hand (1.8% of total and 11.9% of those identified to species by Sonobat 3.0)

  25. Detector Status as Measured byPercent of Calls Auto-Identified to Species * Microphone sensitivity appears to be satisfactory throughout deployment

  26. Monthly Bat Species Documentation – Reservoir 1Previous (gray shading), Automated Analysis (black), Hand Verified (red) 1 1 Hand verification is in progress and additional confirmations of species’ monthly presence is likely 2 Silver-haired Bat, Big Brown Bat, Pallid Bat, and some Hoary Bat calls overlap and definitive differentiation to species is often not possible. 3 Species is relatively quiet and often does not trigger recordings on bat detectors. 4 Long-legged Myotis call recordings often lack the definitive call characteristics needed to definitively identify the species.

  27. Hand Confirmation Rates of Automated Analyses To-Date * A great deal of hand analysis remains

  28. Bat Passes Summarized by Month - Regardless of Species

  29. 2012 Total Bat Passes Per Month

  30. 2012 Total Passes Per ClassificationPer Month from Automated Analysis

  31. 2012 Total Passes Per SpeciesPer Month from Automated Analysis

  32. 2013 Total Passes Per Month

  33. 2013 Total Passes Per SpeciesPer Month from Automated Analysis

  34. 2013 Total Passes Per Species Per Month from Automated Analysis

  35. 2014 Total Passes Per Month

  36. 2014 Total Passes Per SpeciesPer Month from Automated Analysis

  37. Total Passes on Sampling Nights with DataFall / Winter 2012

  38. Total Passes on Sampling Nights with DataWinter / Spring 2013

  39. Total Passes on Sampling Nights with DataSummer and early Fall 2013

  40. Total Passes on Sampling Nights with DataFall / Winter 2013

  41. Total Passes on Sampling Nights with DataWinter / Spring 2014

  42. Timing of “Winter” Bat Activity 2012-2014Total No. Bat Passes by Hour After Sunset

  43. Timing of Active Season Bat Activity 2012-2014Total No. Bat Passes by Hour After Sunset

  44. Nightly Background and Bat Pass Temperatures Summarized by Month * Temperature at the detector is recorded every 5 minutes each night and each bat pass is assigned the nearest recorded temperature.

  45. Bat Species Pass Temperatures Summarized by Month – Slide 1

  46. Bat Species Pass Temperatures Summarized by Month – Slide 2

  47. Bat Species Pass Temperatures Summarized by Month – Slide 3

  48. Bat Species Pass Temperatures Summarized by Month – Slide 4

  49. Bat Species Pass Temperatures Summarized by Month – Slide 5

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