Summer habitat for the female Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus) in Tennessee, United States

The Tricolored Bat is an imperiled species due to white-nose syndrome. There is limited information available on roosting and foraging area use of the species to support planning and management efforts to benefit recovery in the Southeastern United States. Female tricolored bats exit hibernation and allocate energy toward disease recovery, migration, and reproduction. Providing and managing for summer habitat is 1 strategy to promote recovery. We sought to: (1) determine local- and landscape-scale factors that influence female Tricolored Bat roost selection; (2) quantify land cover use in core and overall foraging areas; and (3) define foraging area size and distances traveled by female tricolored bats in Tennessee. Bats in this study roosted in trees of variable sizes, in multiple tree species with large canopy volumes, and almost always roosted in trees with dead leaf foliage suspended in the canopy. Forest plots used by bats had trees averaging 30 cm diameter at breast height, basal areas averaging 27 m2/ha, contained multiple tree species, and comprised around a 50:50 ratio of canopy and subcanopy trees. Bats did not roost in coniferous forest areas and were only located in deciduous and mixed forest areas. Bats foraged near and directly over water, in open areas, and along forest edges. This study increases our knowledge on habitat requirements of the species in a temperate region dominated by unfragmented forests and many large water bodies and serves a baseline for management and efforts to benefit survival, reproduction, and population recovery. This study tracked female tricolored bats in Tennessee, United States, to add to our understanding of roosting and foraging requirements of the species. Tricolored bats used foliage roosts in deciduous trees. Roost areas were small, and all roost trees used by an individual were near each other. Core foraging areas concentrated near and over water sources. El murcielago tricolor es una especie amenazada por el Sindrome de la nariz blanca. Existe poca informacion sobre las areas de refugio y forrajeo que informen los esfuerzos por la recuperacion en los Estados Unidos. Al salir de la hibernacion, las hembras deben distribuir su energia entre recuperarse de la enfermedad, migrar y reproducirse. La proteccion del habitat veraniego es critico para promover la recuperacion de la especie. Para este trabajo, queriamos (1) determinar los factores locales y de escala del paisaje que influencien la seleccion de refugios; (2) cuantificar el uso del paisaje en las areas de forrajeo; y (3) determinar las distancias maximas de los murcielagos en Tennessee. Los murcielagos usaron refugios en arboles de tamano variable con grandes volumenes de dosel. El sitio preferido de percha fue entre las hojas muertas aun suspendidas de las copas de los arboles. Las parcelas mas utilizadas incluian: arboles con diametros de 30cm, areas basales de 27 m2/ha y con gran diversidad de arboles tanto en el dosel como en el subdosel. No se encontraron individuos refugiados en coniferas. Las principales areas de forrajeo fueron sobre cuerpos de agua, en areas abiertas y en las zonas de borde. Nuestro estudio amplia el conocimiento del habitat veraniego en una region dominada por bosques que no estan fragmentados, grandes lagos y arroyos. Esta informacion es clave para informar esfuerzos de manejo forestal y las estrategias de recuperacion de la especie.