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Bats of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: Composition, Reproduction, and Roosting Habits
- Source :
- Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist. 5:1-19
- Publication Year :
- 2011
- Publisher :
- Western North American Naturalist, 2011.
-
Abstract
- We determined the bat fauna at Mesa Verde National Park (Mesa Verde) in 2006 and 2007, characterized bat elevational distribution and reproduction, and investigated roosting habits of selected species. We captured 1996 bats of 15 species in mist nets set over water during 120 nights of sampling and recorded echolocation calls of an additional species. The bat fauna at Mesa Verde included every species of bat known west of the Great Plains in Colorado, except the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). Some species showed skewed sex ratios, primarily due to a preponderance of males. Thirteen species of bats reproduced at Mesa Verde. Major differences in spring precipitation between the 2 years of our study were associated with differences in reproductive rates and, in some species, with numbers of juveniles captured. Reduced reproductive effort during spring drought will have a greater impact on bat populations with the forecasted increase in aridity in much of western North America by models of glo...
- Subjects :
- Microbiology (medical)
geography
animal structures
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
Ecology
National park
media_common.quotation_subject
Fauna
Immunology
Human echolocation
Myotis lucifugus
biology.organism_classification
Arid
Spring (hydrology)
Immunology and Allergy
Reproduction
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15450228
- Volume :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........330def793f03b18a23d7a6411c74fe83