DoD Environmental Planning and Conservation Webinar.
Presented by Patrick Wolff, Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, and Joy O’Keefe, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Bat boxes are artificial refugia commonly deployed to aid bat populations. However, these increasingly popular conservation tools can pose an unintended risk to bat safety and health in certain environments, and natural resource managers lack empirical data to guide appropriate use. Over two years, the project team evaluated the temperature suitability and use of different bat box designs in Minnesota (focused on little brown bats) and in south Florida (focused on Florida bonneted bats). They also tested the effects of paint color and material on internal temperatures of unoccupied bat boxes in Illinois. In this presentation, they will provide data-driven guidance to land managers to improve the efficacy of bat boxes as a conservation and management tool on DoD lands.