FBB Prepping Colony Count Data

Prepping External Roost Data

NOTE: Read this section carefully and in its entirety before preparing your external roost data.

After all data and metadata are collected for an external roost survey, it must be formatted into a CSV spreadsheet for uploading into the NABat Partner Portal. The “FBB_DB_Bulk_External_Count_Full_Template.csv”, found in the Data Resource Package, is the same as the template you can download online from NABat, with the exception that it includes four extra columns (Figure 3).

These columns are for dominant plant species and pup count data:

“Dominant Plant Species” (string data)
“Pups Observed” (logical data – TRUE/FALSE)
“Count Pups” (integer data)
“Pups Comments” (string data)

The template is set up with three non-data rows (Figure 3): the column headers (first row); a description of what kind of field the column is, and if applicable, examples of accepted formatting or values (second row); and finally, where appropriate, a brief description of what information is expected for the field (third row).

Photo credit: Roxanne Pourshoustari

Figure 3. Three extra pup columns present in the CSV template for external roost surveys and a “Dominant Plant Species” column. These columns are the last columns in the template and will beflagged as “Extra Columns” in the uploading process. The first three rows of this template are 1) columnheaders, 2) description of data type and accepted values, and 3) brief description of the field, if applicable.

If desired, the second and third rows can be deleted before upload, but this is not necessary.

When entering data and metadata into the spreadsheet, there needs to be one row per roost per
species/group (more details about “Species” field given below). This means if more than one
species/group is recorded in a survey, then there needs to be a row for each species with all appropriate roost data repeated in each row. If only one species or group identification is made, a single row per roost is appropriate (this includes single sites with multiple possible exits). Enter data into this template for every potential roost structure surveyed for bat occupation, even if there are no signs of bat use. If a site is surveyed for FBB use but no potential roost structures are found that survey should still be submitted, but the site’s centroid (center-most point of the site) coordinates should be used for the “Latitude/Longitude” fields, and a note of this should be made in “Survey Event Comments” field.

Data entered into the metadata spreadsheet should not include commas, as this can cause issues during data upload (due to the spreadsheet being a Comma-Separated Values file). For any restricted categorical fields, the accepted value options are listed in the second row of the CSV separated by “ | ”, and it can be an easy option to copy and paste the values from the second row directly into the data cells to ensure that the values are formatted and spelled correctly for upload.

Enter data into each of the fields as appropriate for your survey. As noted above, information and details about each field are contained in the 2nd and 3rd rows of the template and in the “Metadata fields, descriptions, and accepted entries” PDF, but the following listed field information is specific to the submission process associated with FBB regulatory surveys:

GRTS Cell Id: Optional to include, as this will be auto assigned when uploaded into the Partner Platform. If desired to include in the metadata CSV, determine GRTS ID for each site by using the NABat GRTS Cell Finder.

Figure 4. How to find the Location Obfuscation tool to obtain GRTS ID by coordinates on the NABat organizational website. Scroll to the “Count data” section found in the “Prep + Process Data” resource page.

Location Name: An official or unofficial name of the site. Provide a unique name for every roost structure surveyed within a project.

Latitude/Longitude: WGS 1984 coordinates of either the roost structures themselves, or of project site centroids if no potential roosting structure is found.

Survey Start/End Time: Include full timestamps in the format yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss.

Observer: Include surveyor name and company name. (e.g., “John Doe/Consulting Firm Inc.”)

Exit Identifier:
- If no possible exit/entry identifiable on potential roost structure (or no roost structure found), leave blank.
- If only one identifiable exit/entry found on a roost structure, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter its unique ID.
- If multiple exits/entries identified on a potential roost structure in which there were no bats counted/observed, list all identified exits, separating each exit IDwith “ | ” (e.g., Exit-1 | Exit-2 | Exit-3).
- If multiple exits/entries identified on a roost structure in which there were bats counted/observed, list exit IDs as indicated above, only including those that were used by the bats.

Roost Location Method: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template (even if no roosts are found).

Broad Habitat Type: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template.

Roost Type: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template. If no roost structures found, leave blank unless a particular type of roost was being surveyed for (enter that roost type if so).

If no roost structures found, skip the following 16 columns (from Roosting Location to Depth Breast Height).

Roosting Location: Provide some detail of the identified potential roost, even if no sign of bat use observed.

Roost Exit Points: Enter the appropriate value if an emergence survey was conducted. If no emergence survey was conducted, leave blank.

Seasonal Use: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template.

Maternity Stage: Select the appropriate option if “maternity” was selected for the “Seasonal Use” field. Otherwise, leave blank.

Aspect of Emergence:
- If no possible exit/entry identifiable on potential roost structure, leave blank.
- If only one identifiable exit/entry found on a roost structure, whether determined to be used by bats or not, select the appropriate aspect value. If degrees are also known, include in the “Survey Event Comments” column.
- If multiple exit IDs were listed in “Exit Identifier”, whether determined to be used by bats or not, use the “multiple” option and then include the aspects of the different exits/entries in the “Survey Event Comments” column.

Vegetation Obstruction: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template.

Emergence Point Height:
- If the “Exit Identifier” field was left blank, leave blank.
- If only one exit/entry was identified, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter its height (m).
- If multiple exit IDs were listed in “Exit Identifier”, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter the height above ground (m) of the first exit/entry listed. The heights of the rest will be saved in the “Survey Event Comments” field. Emergence Opening Width:
- If the “Exit Identifier” field was left blank, or if this value is unknown, leave blank.
- If only one exit/entry was identified, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter its opening width (cm) if known.
- If multiple exit IDs were listed in “Exit Identifier”, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter the opening width (cm) of the first exit/entry listed. The widths of the rest will be saved in the “Survey Event Comments” field.

Emergence Opening Width:
- If the “Exit Identifier” field was left blank, or if this value is unknown, leave
  blank.
- If only one exit/entry was identified whether determined to be used by bats or
  not, enter its opening width (cm) if known.
- If multiple exit IDs were listed in “Exit Identifier”, whether determined to be used
  by bats or not, enter the opening width (cm) of the first exit/entry listed. The
  widths of the rest will be saved in the “Survey Event Comments” field.

Emergence Opening Height:
- If the “Exit Identifier” field was left blank, or if this value is unknown, leave blank.
- If only one exit/entry was identified, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter its opening height (cm) if known.
- If multiple exit IDs were listed in “Exit Identifier”, whether determined to be used by bats or not, enter the opening height (cm) of the first exit/entry listed. The heights of the rest will be saved in the “Survey Event Comments” field.

Structure Height: Leave blank if unknown. Enter appropriate value if known.

Structure Width: Leave blank if unknown. Enter appropriate value if known. Do not use this field for tree DBH.

Building Occupancy: Leave blank if not a building roost type.

Building Type: Leave blank if not a building roost type.

Tree Species: Leave blank if not tree roost type.

Tree Decay: Leave blank if not tree roost type.

Depth Breast Height: Leave blank if not tree roost type. Diameter at Breast Height (cm).

If no roost structures found, continue at the Guano Amount column after skipping the previous 16 columns (from Roosting Location to Depth Breast Height).

Guano Amount: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template.

Species: It is important to select the appropriate designation here. If no bats found, even if other wildlife are found in the roost, use the “NoBat” option. Any other wildlife using this roost should be noted in the “Survey Event Comments” column. Remember that if more than one species/group is found in a single roost, there needs to be a repeat row for each species. Refer to Appendix 2 for the expected species list per county within the FBB consultation area.

Identification Method: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template.

Count Species In: The count of individuals that fall into the designation in the “Species” column. If no emergence survey was conducted and no individuals seen entering the roost, leave blank.

Count Species Out: The count of individuals that fall into the designation in the Species column. If no emergence survey was conducted and no individuals seen exiting the roost, leave blank.

Estimate Min: Provide this value, do not leave blank.

Estimate Max: Provide this value, do not leave blank.

Bats In Roost: Enter if known, whether checking after an emergence survey or conducting some other in-roost survey. If unable to confirm this, leave blank.

Count Confidence: The goal is to have high count confidence, but in circumstances where this is not possible, enter as appropriate based on observer’s methods.

Observation Method: Select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template.

Distance From Roost: Enter the appropriate value if known.

Reason Survey Ended: If an emergence survey was conducted, select the appropriate option from the preselected options in the second row of the template. If no emergence survey was conducted, leave blank.

Survey Event Comments:
- If no roost structures were found, note this here with a brief description of the site.
- If other wildlife besides bats were found, note this here.
- If multiple exits/entries are being described, list the notes for them in the order they were listed in the “Exit Identifier” field, in the following format:
  - “Exit-1: aspect direction/degrees; any extra notes. Exit-2: aspect direction/degrees; emergence point height (m); emergence opening width/height; any extra notes. Exit-3: …”

Note that there should not be as many notes for the first listed exit as some information should be in the appropriate columns (e.g., “Emergence Point Height”)

Enter the appropriate values for all the Starting and Ending weather parameters (Temperature, Relative Humidity, Cloud Cover, Wind Speed, Weather Event).

Dominant Plant Species: List one to three dominant plant species by their scientific name.

If listing more than one, use “ | ” in between species names.

Pups Observed: Leave blank if this is unconfirmed. Restricted categorical field. Accepted entries: TRUE | FALSE

Count Pups: Number of pups observed.

Pups Comments: Observer comments about the pups.