Conservation Target : Bats - some federally listed species Management Goal: Conserve the diversity and abundance of native bats. Biological Conditions Contributed Service
Conservation Strategies
Impacts from disease, habitat priority
Biodiversity, Supporting, Regulating, Cultural
Inventory, Research, Management
History and Adaptive Process: Cherokee stories hold bats (Tsa-Me-Ha ᏣᎺᎭ ) in high regard as a species that represents diversity and inclusion for the game stickball. Bats are the primary consumers of nocturnal insects, consuming thousands of potential agricultural and forest pests daily. They are incredibly important to the ecosystem yet often misunderstood as a nuisance animal. Previous mist-netting surveys of bats between 2004-2015 on the Qualla boundary have resulted in captures of the federally listed Northern-long eared bat and Indiana bat on EBCI lands. National/local populations of bats have been impacted by White-nose syndrome (WNS) and habitat degradation. Mist-netting for bats has occurred on EBCI lands since 2005 for both regulatory and research purposes. Long-term netting surveys have been supplemented with mobile and stationary acoustic surveys since 2011. The unknown effects of COVID-19 on bats and the loss of federal permitting caused us to initially switch exclusively to monitoring bats non-invasively using acoustics. Upon re-evaluating our methods in the adaptive process, we found that low recapture rates were enough reason to reduce stress and switch exclusively to acoustic sampling. Protections on bats have also impacted Tribal development and forestry practices on the boundary. Surveying of trees before and after removal and performing acoustic studies and mist-netting was previously a requirement of USFWS which often resulted in delays in housing and development projects on the boundary. However, in 2021 an agreement with USFWS (Programmatic) was put in place to allow development projects to continue with fewer restrictions regarding bat habitat.
MANAGEMENT ACTIONS
Current Methodology for Conservation Strategies Inventory: Conducting passive acoustic surveys via a stationary bat detector across the boundary. Conducting mobile acoustic surveys across the boundary. Research: Performing analyses on acoustic data, working towards peer reviewed publication. Management: Continued efforts working with BIA Forestry to maintain accurate records of all timber removal per Programmatic reporting requirements. Performing pre- and post- tree removal surveys as needed. Working through data management techniques for large number of acoustic files. Results and Discussion for Information Transfer and Processing Ecological: Acoustic evidence suggests that EBCI lands continue to support, up to 11, different species of bats. Management: Large amounts of data produced are difficult to manage. Social & Cultural:
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