Date of Graduation
Fall 2002
Degree
Master of Science in Biology
Department
Biology
Committee Chair
Lynn Robbins
Abstract
During the summers of 1998-2000, the Anabat II bat detector system was placed in a mosaic of habitats within Springfield, Missouri and surrounding rural areas in southern Missouri to compare the activity indices of nine bat species between urban and rural environments. A total of 1,876 echolocation call sequences was recorded, identified to species and analyzed; 1,066 were from 42 Springfield sites, and 810 were from 22 rural locations. For all species combined, urban bat activity tended to be higher than rural activity, but those differences were only significant at the reading taken 3 hours after sunset. Eptesicus fuscus activity was significantly higher in the urban environment while Myotis septentrionalis activity was significantly higher in rural environments. For Myotix lucifugus, M. grisescens, M. sodalis, Lasiurus borealis, L. cinereus and Nycticeius humeralis there were no significant differences between urban and rural bat activity scores. Springfield was divided into five different habitat types in which passive boxes were placed from sunset until 07:00 hours. The five habitat types included: parks, parks with caves, ponds, residential neighborhoods, and commercial areas. Eptesicus fuscus activity was recorded over all the microhabitats within Springfield, and there were no significant differences among habitats. Lasiurus cinereus and Myotis septentrionalis activity was recorded over residential neighborhoods. Lasiurus borealis and Myotis grisescens were recorded over all but commercial areas, with activity for M. grisescens being highest in parks with caves. Myotis lucifugus activity was over residential ponds and parks with and without caves, and M. sodalis was recorded over parks with caves. Pipistrellus subflavus activity was highest over parks with caves even though activity was recorded over all the sampled microhabitats. Radio telemetry was employed during the summers of 1999 and 2000, and the foraging habitats and roosting sites were determined for six Eptesicus fuscus, four Lasiurus borealis, one Pipistrellus subflavus and one Myotis grisescens.
Subject Categories
Biology
Copyright
© Sarah Jane Robertson
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Sarah Jane, "Habitat Use of Urban Bats in Springfield, Missouri" (2002). MSU Graduate Theses. 614.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/614
