SOW NRL Bat Survey 2021.docx

NRL Statement of Work fFor 2021 Bat Survey

“Bat Survey Work on the Naval Research Lab’s Washington, DC, Chesapeake Bay Detachment, MD, Pomonkey, MD, and Midway Research Center, VA Installations.”

1.0 PURPOSE. The purpose of this effort is to conduct bat surveys aton four four Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) installations near Washington, D.C.: (1) NRL-DC, 2) NRL-Pomonkey (POM), 3) NRL-Chesapeake Bay Detachment (CBD), and 4) NRL-Midway Research Center (MRC).

2.0 BACKGROUND. The northern long-eared bat (NLEB; Myotis septentrionalis) iswas recently listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Installations are are now required to conduct surveys to determine the presence/absence of this species before initiating activities that may impact their habitat. This survey will determine the presence or absence of the species on NRLthe installations. Documentation of NLEB presence or absence during the surveys according to the USFWS survey guidelines can be incorporated into the installation’s Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans. The survey will be conducted by Bat Conservation and Management, Inc. (BCM) Dr. Eric Britzke., Wildlife Biologist at the US Army, Engineer Research and Development Center, Environmental Laboratory (ERDC-EL). Dr. Britzke will ensure that all appropriate permits are obtained before work will be initiated.

Technical Point of Contact (POC) Eric Britzke

Research Wildlife Biologist

US Army ERDC Building 3270, Room 1218 3909 Halls Ferry Road Vicksburg, MS 39180 Phone: 601-634-3641 Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:Eric.R.Britzke@usace.army.mil" Eric.R.Britzke@usace.army.mil

Technical POC Neil Chartier, PhD Wildlife Biologist / Natural Resources Manager Environmental Section (Code 3546) U.S. Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, S.W.

Washington, DC 20375 Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:Neil.Chartier@nrl.navy.mil" Neil.Chartier@nrl.navy.mil Office: (202) 404-4866 Fax: (202) 404-7203

Financial POC Michael Gaul US Army ERDC Building 3270 3909 Halls Ferry Road Vicksburg, MS 39180 Phone: 601-634-7420 Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:Michael.A.Gaul@usace.army.mil" Michael.A.Gaul@usace.army.mil

Financial POC Mike Crowley Administration (Code 3502) U.S. Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, S.W.

Washington, DC 20375 Email: HYPERLINK "mailto:mike.crowley@nrl.navy.mil" Mike.Crowley@nrl.navy.mil Office: HYPERLINK "https://pipeline.nrl.navy.mil/users/mike-crowley-35022" 202-767-2520 Fax: HYPERLINK "https://pipeline.nrl.navy.mil/users/mike-crowley-35022" 202-404-7696 HYPERLINK "mailto:mike.crowley@nrl.navy.mil"

3.0 OBJECTIVES. The objective of this project is to determine the presence or absence of federally listed bats aton NRL-DC, NRL-POMPomonkey, NRL-CBD, and NRL-MRC.

4.0 SCOPE OF WORK. The current USFWS guidelines for endangered bat surveys during the summer maternity season will be followed for this project.

4.1 Task 1. Habitat assessment

Upon arrival to the project, BCMDr. Britzke will conduct a habitat suitability assessment of each installation. If the installation is deemed as having suitable habitat, it will must be surveyed following the protocol below; however if it is determined that suitable habitat is not present, additional surveys will not be warranted.

4.2 Task 2. Conduct acoustic survey

In order to ensure a higher probability of determining >90% bat species occupancy within each of the four NRL installations, a minimum of 11 acoustic sites will be distributed between the four installations:

2 acoustic sites will be placed at NRL-DC 3 acoustic sites will be placed at NRL-POM 3 acoustic sites will be placed at NRL-CBD 3 acoustic sites will be placed at NRL-MRC

Each site will be surveyed a minimum of 10 nights in Summer and Fall. The minimum total level of effort from two seasons will be 40 detector nights at NRL-DC and 60 detector nights at each of the remaining three installations; NRL-POM, NRL-CBD, and NRL-MRC. A detector night is one bat detector placed at one location (acoustic site) from sunset to sunrise. Equipment failures and weather conditions may dictate longer actual field deployment times. All acoustic survey sites within the project areas will be separated by at least 200 meters unless restricted by the project area size.

Each section that is deemed to have suitable bat habitat will be surveyed using an Anabat bat detector system. Sampling will be conducted at 2 sites for 2 nights within each 123 acre block of suitable habitat. Sampling will only be conducted when weather conditions are appropriate (e.g., no rain, high winds, etc.). Equipment will be housed in a weatherproof container to limit the potential for damage during deployment. GPS units will be used to mark locations of each sampling point. After 2 nights of suitable sampling, the detectors will be collected, batteries replaced, and data downloaded from the compact flash card.

4.3 Task 34. Analyze data and complete reports

After retrieval of the acoustic field data a senior biologist will analyze call files. All echolocation call recordings will be analyzed with both Kaleidoscope Pro (Maynard, MA) and SonoBat (Arcata, CA) bat call analysis software. All recordings that are automatically classified as the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and the federally threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) by either program will be vetted (manually reviewed) to determine the accuracy of the automatic classification. A subset of SonoBat recordings of all species at each acoustic site will be vetted to verify species occupancy at that site.

Once data is downloaded, data will be analyzed using the automated analysis program EchoClass that was developed by ERDC-EL. This program cleans, filters, identifies, and summarize the results from all of the recordings made on the project. It has also been approved by the USFWS for use in bat surveys. A report will then be written that summarizes the results obtained for each installation during the summer survey efforts. This report will be prepared within 30 days of the end of the season. In addition to the reports, Dr. Britzke will serve as a resource for information to support communications between the USFWS and NRL.

5.0 COST.

56.0 SCHEDULE. Two monitoring sessions are proposed to most likely capture bats using the Project Area at various times of the active season. Ideally, a session would start 5 nights after a full moon, however, weather and other logistics may require flexibility. The approximate target start date windows are:

Summer session: June 28-July 19, 2021 – Full Moon + 5 days is June 29 Fall session: September 1-15, 2021 – Full Moon + 5 days is August 27

Weather conditions will meet USFWS Summer Survey Guidelines for at least 7 monitoring nights of the Summer session effort. Sampling will occur during other sessions regardless of weather, but will be suspended if unseasonably cool or wet weather occurs for an extended period (>40% of the sampling effort).

This survey effort will be conducted from 1 June through 31 July 2016. Thirty days after completion of the bat survey a draft report of the results will be provided to the Navy. A final report will be submitted within 30 days of receiving comments back from the sponsor on the draft review.

Exact dates for surveys within the range established by USFWS Protocol shall be at ERDC-EL's discretion based on local weather conditions and NRL mission requirements.

67.0 DELIVERABLES. BCM will prepare a technical report based on the acoustic data results. The report will include acoustic survey methodology, acoustic data analysis, summary of results pertaining to target species, summarized capture data, and figures. The report will be submitted to the client and can be utilized for future consultation with USFWS. BCM will deliver a draft report to the client for one round of comment review 60 days after completion of data analysis, or sooner. BCM will incorporate client comments and submit a final report to the client 30 days after draft comments are received. If no comments are received after 30 days then the report will be considered final and all payments for services will be due. All deliverables will be electronic format.

This project will result in a draft and a final written report being submitted to NRL describing the results of the acoustic bat surveys at NRL-DC, NRL-Pomonkey, NRL-CBD, and NRL-MRC as both MS Word and Adobe Acrobat files containing the body of the document and all relevant data, maps, and appendices. The written report shall be in scientific format, to include an abstract, introduction, methods, discussion and conclusions, management suggestions, references cited, and appendices.

All bat species detected during the survey shall be reported.

Maps showing locations of all sampling sites and results shall be submitted in both ArcGIS (geo-referenced layers prepared at 1:4,000 scale in the standard military grid reference system) and AutoCAD formats.

Electronic copies of all data collected, documents, maps, photographs, graphics, acoustic recordings, analyses, and the like developed by ERDC-EL while completing the requirements of the SOW are NRL property and will be delivered to the NRL POC upon completion of this project.

ERDC-EL shall not release any data, reports or materials collected and/or developed during this project without the expressed written consent of the NRL POC or his designated representative.

78.0 RESPONSIBILITIES of ERDC-EL RESPONSIBILITIES.BCM

a) Briefing Meeting - BCMERDC-EL shall meet with the NRL POC prior to the start of field work in order to conduct site visits to select specific sampling locations, schedule survey times/dates, and review security procedures.

b) All personnel working on the installation must be U.S. citizens.

c) BCMERDC-EL shall coordinate with the NRL POC to obtain permission to access NRL installations.

d) All surveyors conducting acoustic site selections and deployments will have attended appropriate training courses in acoustic inventory and echolocation call analysis techniques and have excellent working knowledge of the detectors.

e) Personnel shall strictly adhere to NRL safety and use policies.

89.0 RESPONSIBILITIES of NRL. To allow the survey to be successful, ERDC-ELBCM depends on the NRL to provide some important information. NRL will provide a list of high priority sites for sampling. In addition, GIS layers of the area (aerial photographs, parcel maps, and others as requested) will also aid in site selection.access to installations and expertise as needed.

910.0 PROGRESS REPORTING. BCMERDC-EL will be in regular communication with the NRL in planning the project as well as throughout the project concerning the progress being made toward completion of the survey.