| Insectivorous bats provide vital ecosystem functions and services, including insect control
and plant pollination. However, declines in North American bat populations put these essential
services and functions at risk with potentially negative economic and ecological consequences.
Several threats pose a danger to bat populations in North America, but the most recent threats are
white-nose syndrome, wind energy development and climate change. With the increase of these
threats throughout North America, understanding habitat use and bat community composition in
regional bat populations is critical for future bat management. Little work has been done to
document bat spatiotemporal occurrence and bat community composition at caves, riverine
systems, and montane habitats in southeastern Idaho. We quantified bat occurrence in 2022 and
2023 for eight species of bats of conservation concern at 17 sites in southeastern Idaho in
important habitats. Our results showed that the cave sites were most important for hibernating
bats and riverine sites most important for the tree-roosting bat species. Mean peak bat activity
occurred between July 8 and September 10. Bat community composition differed significantly by
habitat type and was not influenced by climate or diet factors. Our work provides important
spatiotemporal and bat community baselines to help inform management decisions for bat
conservation efforts and multiple use projects.
Keywords: Idaho, bat, occurrence, community, white-nose syndrome, wind energy |