Site-occupancy of bats in relation to forested corridors

Although use of corridors by some wildlife species has been extensively examined, use by bats is poorly understood. From 1 June to 31 August (2004–2005), we used Anabat II detectors to examine bat activity and species occupancy relative to forested corridors on an intensively managed forest landscape in southern South Carolina, USA. We compared bat activity among corridor interiors, corridor edges, and stands adjacent to corridors. We also compared models relating occupancy of bat species to site-level characteristics using an information theoretic approach. We identified 16,235 call sequences of 8 species and detected bat presence at 89% (n = 320) of sites sampled. Our results indicate higher occupancy rates for bats along corridor edges compared to interior corridor or adjacent stands. Although we found few differences among species with respect to site-level characteristics, occupancy of all bat species was positively associated with corridor overstory height and negatively associated with adjacent stand age. The presence of roads adjacent to corridors positively influenced occupancy of Eptesicus fuscus, Lasiurus seminolus, and Perimyotis subflavus. Our results suggest management practices designed to create and enhance corridors may represent an ecologically sound method for maintaining important bat habitat features (i.e., edge) across managed forest landscapes.