Brian Moyer, M.S., 1997
(Environmental Biologist, Kentucky Department of Transportation)

Department of Biology
Murray State University, Murray KY 42071
 


Diversity, and spatial, temporal, and diet characteristics of bat species in a southern deciduous forest: TVA's Land-Between-The-Lakes. 

ABSTRACT:

A mist-netting survey for endangered, threatened, and proposed listed species of bats on Tennessee Valley Authority's Land Between the Lakes (TVA- LBL) was conducted during summer 1994.  Twenty sites throught the 17,000 acre area were sampled for a total of 74 mist-net nights.  Data were collected on the height and time of capture, and fecal pellets were collected for diet analysis.  Land Between the Lakes was occupied by a diverse array of species of bats, including one federally-listed species and two state-listed species.  A total of 254 bats representing nine species was captured.  Myotis grisescens was the only federally-listed species of bat captured (n=8; 3.3% of total capture).  Lasiurus borealis was the most commonly captured species (68.6% of total capture); the remaining species each accounted for less than 10.0%of the total capture.  Females of all species of bats, when analyzed collectively, were captured earlier in the night during May and June than during July and August.  The most abundant orders of insects found in stream corridors (Lepidoptera, Colepotera, Diptera, and Homoptera) corresponded to the most abundant orders of insects in the diests of four species of bats (L. borealis, M. septentrionalis, P. subflavus, and N. humeralis), indicating opportunistic foraging.  Opportunistic foraging was limited, however, only to the selection of the four most commonly-occuring orders of insects.  When diets of each of the four species of bats were compared, a signifcantly different quantity of Lepidoptera, Opleoptera, Diptera, and Homoptera were found in the diets; indicating selection within the most commonly-occuring orders of insects for specific prey taxa. 
 
 



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