Biologists with the state’s Department of Fish and Game will be making their way to Wrangell this weekend to explain how the ongoing survey of Southeast Alaska’s bat population is going.
Staff wildlife biologists Tory Rhoads and Steve Lewis will be visiting local schools through Friday, teaching about the different species prevalent to the area and explaining how monitoring actually works. A presentation open to the public that evening at 6:30 p.m. has also been scheduled, to be held inside the Forest Service Ranger’s office.
Of particular interest will be results from last year’s acoustic bat monitoring program, which enlists the aid of volunteer “citizen scientists” in an effort to track bats around the region. Though ADFG itself has been tracking the flighty mammals with radio tags since 2004, since 2014 it has been employing this new strategy, which attaches a monitoring device to the rooftops of everyday vehicles. Driving slowly just after sundown along predetermined routes from April to September, volunteers are able to collect the echolocative sounds emitted by bats passing overhead. Later analysis of the recordings can then be used to determine how many are in the area, and even which of the seven species residing in the region each subject belongs to.
The program so far includes volunteers from Gustavus, Haines, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau and Sitka. In 2015, 14 local volunteers participated in the program, conducting eight surveys and registering 45 different subjects from four species.
The information collected will help researchers with the agency better understand the timing of bats’ reproduction and migration habits, hibernation intervals and estimated population densities. This collected data goes toward informing population management decisions, including disease control. Though as yet unaffected by “white-nose syndrome” – a fungal affliction which has devastated bat populations on the East Coast – better understanding of Alaska’s species can help keep tabs on its potential spread.
Though not directly involved in the monitoring, the USFS has facilitated the state’s effort here in Wrangell. The aims of Friday evening’s presentation will be twofold, explained USFS interpreter Corree Delabrue, to drum up help for the vehicular monitoring surveys and to educate.
“We’re looking for volunteers, but they’re also looking to do a follow-up. Even if people don’t want to volunteer, they can come and learn about this research,” she said.
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