National Park Service Grant: Investigating WNS Impact on Bats in NCR Parks

This proposed work leverages 2014-2018 NPS-sponsored summer work in NCR parks, but it would fund work that would otherwise not be done. If northern long-eared bats and other WNS-impacted bats are persisting in Rock Creek Park and Prince William Forest Park  are avoiding WNS by using aberrant hibernacula locally or migrating to coastal area/southeastern Virginia, the conservation implications are immense.  First and foremost, this may show that the eastern portion NCR is one of the last remaining active/reproductively viable locations for federally-listed as threatened northern long-eared bats and/or serves as the maternity area for bats overwintering further to southeast (anecdotal evidence suggests little maternity activity in southeastern Virginia/northeastern North Carolina where the bulk of overwinter occurrences have been documented). Accordingly, if the NCR is critical to species survival, this may prevent uplisting to endangered (or help delist from threatened). Overwinter survival, whether in traditional cave hibernacula or forests still requires periods of intensive foraging for in the spring in preparation for migration and pregnancy. In the rapidly urbanizing NCR, these NPS parks represent a considerable acreage of remaining bat day-roost and foraging habitat in the region.  We predict HAFE and CHOH within 30-40 km are WNS-infected, from there to DC a mix and from DC to Prince William Forest Park and Manassas National Battlefield Park, uninfected.  Management strategies that optimize habitat conditions for WNS-impacted bats have yet to consider fall, spring or potential overwinter habitat needs in the mid-Atlantic.  At the park level, these are needed to craft effective conservation guidelines with regard to forest/field management, hazard tree removal, and prescribed fire use.

This proposed work leverages 2014-2018 NPS-sponsored summer work in NCR parks, but it would fund work that would otherwise not be done. If northern long-eared bats and other WNS-impacted bats are persisting in Rock Creek Park and Prince William Forest Park  are avoiding WNS by using aberrant hibernacula locally or migrating to coastal area/southeastern Virginia, the conservation implications are immense.  First and foremost, this may show that the eastern portion NCR is one of the last remaining active/reproductively viable locations for federally-listed as threatened northern long-eared bats and/or serves as the maternity area for bats overwintering further to southeast (anecdotal evidence suggests little maternity activity in southeastern Virginia/northeastern North Carolina where the bulk of overwinter occurrences have been documented). Accordingly, if the NCR is critical to species survival, this may prevent uplisting to endangered (or help delist from threatened). Overwinter survival, whether in traditional cave hibernacula or forests still requires periods of intensive foraging for in the spring in preparation for migration and pregnancy. In the rapidly urbanizing NCR, these NPS parks represent a considerable acreage of remaining bat day-roost and foraging habitat in the region.  We predict HAFE and CHOH within 30-40 km are WNS-infected, from there to DC a mix and from DC to Prince William Forest Park and Manassas National Battlefield Park, uninfected.  Management strategies that optimize habitat conditions for WNS-impacted bats have yet to consider fall, spring or potential overwinter habitat needs in the mid-Atlantic.  At the park level, these are needed to craft effective conservation guidelines with regard to forest/field management, hazard tree removal, and prescribed fire use.