Population dynamics of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) at summer roosts: Apparent survival, fidelity, abundance, and the influence of winter conditions

Abstract

Abstract White‐nose syndrome (WNS) has caused the death of millions of bats, but the impacts have been more difficult to identify in western North America. Understanding how WNS, or other threats, impacts western bats may require monitoring other roosts, such as maternity roosts and night roosts, where bats aggregate in large numbers. Little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) are experiencing some of the greatest declines from WNS. Estimating survival and understanding population dynamics can provide valuable data for assessing population declines and informing conservation efforts. We conducted a 5‐year mark–recapture study of two M. lucifugus roosts in Colorado. We used the robust design model to estimate apparent survival, fidelity, and abundance to understand population dynamics, and environmental covariates to understand how summer and winter weather conditions impact adult female survival. We compared the fidelity and capture probability of M. lucifugus between colonies to understand how bats use such roosts. Overwinter survival increased with the number of days with temperatures below freezing (β > 0.100, SE = 0.003) and decreased with the number of days with snow cover (β 0.90), and based on survival estimates and fungal‐swabbing results, we believe these populations have yet to experience WNS. Recapture of M. lucifugus using antennas that continuously read passive integrated transponder tags allows rigorous estimation of bat population parameters that can elucidate trends in abundance and changes in survival. Monitoring populations at summer roosts can provide unique population ecology data that monitoring hibernacula alone may not. Because few adult males are captured at maternity colonies, and juvenile males have low fidelity, additional effort should focus on understanding male M. lucifugus population dynamics.

Keywords

• abundance
• fidelity
• little brown bat
• mark–recapture
• maternity roost
• Myotis lucifugus