Project Grant F26AP00046

WHITE NOSE SYNDROME HAS CAUSED TREMENDOUS LOSSES OF BATS IN NORTH AMERICA. FLORIDA DOES NOT HAVE WNS NOW BUT THE DISEASE OCCURS IN BOTH NEIGHBORING STATES. THE FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION (FWC) HAS SHOWN THE TRI COLORED BAT HAS ALREADY EXPERIENCED SUBSTANTIAL DECLINES AT ROOST SITES IN FLORIDA FOR UNKNOWN CAUSES. TO BE FULLY PREPARED TO RESPOND TO IMPACTS FROM WNS AND CONSERVE BAT POPULATIONS THE FWC NEEDS TO CONTINUE TESTING FOR WNS TO KNOW WHEN THE DISEASE ARRIVES IN FLORIDA AND TO BE PREPARED TO RAPIDLY CARRY OUT RESPONSE ACTIONS TO SLOW ITS SPREAD. FWC NEEDS TO CONTINUE COLLECTING LONG TERM MONITORING DATA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE STATUS OF BAT POPULATIONS. FWC NEEDS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHERE TRI COLORED BATS ROOST AND HIBERNATE DURING THE WINTER TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE POPULATIONS DURING THE TIME WHEN THEY ARE MOST VULNERABLE TO WNS. PREVIOUS WORK BY FWC HAS FOUND BATS ROOSTING IN BRIDGES AND CULVERTS UNDER ROADWAYS DURING WINTER. THAT WORK HAS ALSO SHOWN THAT BATS BETWEEN STRUCTURES AND TREE ROOSTS IN WINTER. ADDITIONAL RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND HOW BATS USE AVAILABLE ROOSTS AND MOVE BETWEEN ROOSTS DURING THE WINTER. THE WORK CONDUCTED FOR THIS PROJECT TO MONITOR WINTER ROOST SITES WILL BUILD UPON WORK BEING CONDUCTED THROUGH THE FWC LONG TERM BAT MONITORING PROGRAM. THIS PROGRAM EMPHASIZES ACOUSTIC MONITORING BY RECORDING THE CALLS THAT BATS MAKE TO DEVELOP A MORE COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE STATUS OF WNS SUSCEPTIBLE BAT SPECIES DURING THE WINTER AND OTHER TIMES DURING THE YEAR. THESE DATA ARE CRITICAL FOR DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE WNS RESPONSE STRATEGY AND INCREASING THE RESILIENCE OF WNS SUSCEPTIBLE BAT POPULATIONS IN FLORIDA. THIS WORK WILL INFORM HABITAT MANAGEMENT DECISIONS AND HELP MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN ROOSTS WHERE BATS CAN SUCCESSFULLY OVER WINTER IN AREAS WHERE THERE ARE NO CAVES FOR BATS TO HIBERNATE IN. FWC WILL CONTINUE WNS SURVEILLANCE WHICH WILL AID IN EARLY DETECTION AND MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO REDUCE IMPACTS FROM AND SLOW THE SPREAD OF WNS. LONG TERM MONITORING OF HIBERNACULA WILL CONTRIBUTE TO BASELINE POPULATION DATA AND HELP DETERMINE TRENDS AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL TREATMENT LOCATIONS. BY CONTINUING TO COLLECT ACOUSTIC DATA FWC WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND THE LONG TERM CHANGES IN DISTRIBUTION RELATIVE ACTIVITY AND TRENDS OF WNS SUSCEPTIBLE SPECIES IN THE STATE WHICH WILL GIVE US BETTER INSIGHT INTO POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO THOSE SPECIES FROM WNS WHEN IT REACHES FLORIDA. THESE DATA WILL BE USED TO UPDATE THE FLORIDA WNS RESPONSE PLAN AND STRENGTHEN CONSERVATION STRATEGIES FOR WNS SUSCEPTIBLE SPECIES. RADIO TELEMETRY OF TRI COLORED BATS IN WINTER WILL PROVIDE DATA THAT WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE HOW AND WHEN BATS MOVE BETWEEN ROOSTS AND THE DISTANCES MOVED. RADIO TELEMETRY WILL ALSO ALLOW FWC TO IDENTIFY IMPORTANT WINTER ROOSTING HABITAT AWAY FROM CAVES WHERE BATS MAY NOT BE IMPACTED AS MUCH BY WNS. COMMUNICATION COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION WITH BAT BIOLOGISTS IS IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF WNS. THIS GRANT WILL ENABLE FWC STAFF TO ATTEND REGIONAL AND NATIONAL MEETINGS DEDICATED TO BAT CONSERVATION AND WNS SURVEILLANCE TO COMMUNICATE AND COORDINATE WITH OTHER EXPERTS. THE FWC STAFF WILL CONTINUE TO PARTNER WITH RESEARCHERS OF OTHER AGENCIES AND PUBLISH RESULTS IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS TO SPREAD THE RESULTS FROM THIS WORK. FWC WILL SUBMIT PROJECT DATA TO THE NATIONAL NABAT PROGRAM TO CONTRIBUTE TO BAT MONITORING ON A NATIONAL SCALE. THE PROJECT DATA WILL BE DISTRIBUTED TO LAND MANAGERS TO CONTINUE ENCOURAGING POSITIVE MANAGEMENT ACTIONS THAT WILL REDUCE THE SPREAD OF WNS AND PROMOTE CONSERVATION OF BATS IN FLORIDA. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT BY MORE EFFECTIVELY CONSERVING BAT POPULATIONS IN FLORIDA POTENTIALLY ALL THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE WILL BENEFIT.