- NABat Coordination Team
April 2023 Newsletter
Join us April 11th-13th for two acoustic survey trainings and a Community of Practice Call
________________
April 11th: Stationary Acoustic Survey Training (12-1pm MDT)
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 288 924 114 931 Passcode: 96foQh
________________
April 12th (12-1pm MDT): Join us for the April 2023 NABat Community of Practice call! Ted Weller will explain the Stationary Acoustic Working Group's efforts to improve species lists for auto ID analysis. Learn how you can help us with species or areas needing more input from experts on the ground. Contact Andrea Schuhmann to be added to the CoP mailing list.
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 253 963 540 811 Passcode: y7ak5i
________________
April 13th: Mobile Acoustic Survey Training (12-1pm MDT)
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 224 593 217 78 Passcode: E8qWnS
Save the dates for events coming in May including a two-part workshop on large datasets and the Community of Practice Call
________________
May 9th: NABat Virtual Workshop - Managing large datasets part 1 (11-1pm MDT)
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 219 781 135 202 Passcode: jv2RXk
May 11th: NABat Virtual Workshop - Managing large datasets part 2 (11-1pm MDT)
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 259 100 665 689 Passcode: x97N2b
________________
May 10th: Community of Practice - Bat Banding Data (12-1pm MDT)
Contact Andrea Schuhmann to be added to the CoP mailing list.
Find more information on these and other events here!
Fungus that causes White-Nose Syndrome detected in British Columbia
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats has been detected in bat guano in the Grand Forks area. Read more about the detection here.
Â
USFWS: Range-Wide Indiana Bat and Northern Long-Eared Bat Survey Guidelines Updated
The Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) was originally listed as being in danger of extinction under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 (32 FR 4001, March 11, 1967), and is currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended. This survey protocol provides the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) recommended guidance on survey methods and outlines additional reporting requirements for surveyors for Indiana bat and Northern Long-eared Bat. Fine the updated guidelines here.
Â
Call for Abstracts: NAWEA/WindTech 2023
The NAWEA/WindTech conference (30 October - 1 November; Broomfield, CO) is the premier scientific and interdisciplinary conference on wind energy in North America. It aims to bring together wind energy students, faculty members, and researchers, along with industry, government, and nonprofit representatives from around the world. Abstracts are being accepted through May 5th. Submit yours here.
Â
Call for Abstracts: TWS 30th Annual Conference
The Wildlife Society's 30th Annual Conference (5-9 November; Louisville, Kentucky) will include workshops and trainings, symposia, panel discussions, contributed oral presentations, contributed posters, and student research in progress posters. Abstracts are being accepted through May 7th. Submit yours here.
Â
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, UW-Madison and USGS Collaborate on Immune-Based White-Nose Syndrome Treatment
Through grants from the National Science Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are teaming up to develop a new treatment to boost bats’ immunity to the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome as part of an all-hands-on-deck effort to battle this disease. Learn more about their efforts here!
Â
Interim Consultation Framework for Northern Long-Eared Bats
November 29, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a final rule in the Federal Register to reclassify the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered, nullifying the existing 4(d) rule. USFWS delayed the effective date of the final rule to March 31, 2023, and developed guidance and tools to help stakeholders transition to the reclassification. These products are now available and include an interim Section 7 framework, a determination key, interim guidance for wind energy operations, and interim guidance for forest habitat modification. The interim wind guidance, interim habitat modification guidance and interim Section 7 framework will be in place until April 1, 2024. Although USFWS is not currently seeking public comment on the interim guidance and framework, they plan to seek stakeholder input before finalizing tools or guidance.
Â
Participate in the IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group Survey on Fieldwork with Bats
The IUCN SSC Bat Specialist Group is conducting a worldwide survey on field hygiene practices among those handling bats. Please consider taking the time to fill out their survey. Only complete this survey if you have worked in close proximity (< 2m) to bats in the past 2 years, or if you plan to do so within the next year. Please also forward to colleagues, students, and basically anyone working with bats. Your anonymous participation in this survey will greatly help the Bat Specialist Group in gaining a better understanding on this matter. Find the survey here!
Â
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative Bat Health Program Quarterly Report
This report describes activities of CWHC’s national bat health program from October to December 2022, which includes surveillance for white-nose syndrome. CHWC also established a national bat action team to help inform the direction of the national bat health program and a working group of primarily FPT government partners to work on better protecting bat maternity colonies or roosts. This past quarter, CHWC published a list of funding opportunities for bat health related projects, delivered monthly NABat community sessions in Atlantic Canada and helped deliver Bat Week across Canada. See the full quarterly report here.
Bats increased foraging activity at experimental prey patches near hibernacula
Winter Observations of Allen’s Big-eared Bat (Idionycteris phyllotis) in New Mexico
Alopecia in Two Species of Insectivorous Bats during the Critical Time Period of Female Reproduction
Opportunistic Offshore Sighting of a Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus)
NABat Technical Liaison - Fort Collins, Colorado
The CNHP NABat Technical Liaison will be responsible for providing and improving user support for the US Geological Survey’s North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat). The Liaison will perform technical outreach to partners and practitioners of NABat protocols and methodology as well as support the development of data submission, management and dissemination tools. The Liaison will assist with conduction monitoring of bats at sites to document declines and conduct acoustic analysis of bat recordings collected by NABat partners and CNHP. The incumbent will be experienced with the bat species of Colorado and North America. This position will be supervised by CNHP Zoology Team Leader. Learn more here!
Mammal Specialist - American Museum of Natural History
The Museum Specialist will assist in the care and management of nearly 300,000 mammal specimens in the collections of the Department of Mammalogy. Duties and responsibilities will include specimen data management, assisting scientific visitors in the collections, processing and packing loans, dealing with international specimen shipments including IATA, USFW, and CDC compliance, cataloging specimens, participating in environmental monitoring and pest management, assisting with collection moves and upgrades, georeferencing, assisting with fieldwork, and other collection management duties as assigned. Apply here!
In case you missed it...
NFWF Grant: Bats for the Future Fund
The National Fish and Wildlife Fund is seeking grant proposals to protect a crucial friend of farmers—bats! Bats play critical roles in the U.S. providing pest suppression. Recent studies estimate that the pesticide services of bats are worth more than $1 billion annually to the U.S. corn industry alone, and more than $3 billion annually to all agricultural production. Unfortunately, millions of bats have died over the past decade from the white-nose syndrome (WND) disease spread. In some sites where WNS has been detected, up to 100 percent of bats have disappeared. The Bats for the Future Fund is offering up to $1 million in grant funding to slow or halt the impacts of WNS, with support from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), AVANGRID Foundation, NextEra Energy Resources Foundation and Southern Company.
Â
Have feedback on content? Have content you wish to contribute for consideration? Email Rachel Shively