National Park Service releases regional NABat protocol for Pacific Northwest

The National Park Service recently published the first region-specific protocol for implementing NABat stationary acoustic surveys, a plan that will be implemented by the Northwestern Hub for Bat Population Research and Monitoring (NW Bat Hub) at Oregon State University-Cascades. The document provides field-level guidance and protocols for one component of NABat while ensuring consistency of efforts across the entire region. The protocols outlined are compatible with NABat guidance but specifically tailored to the needs of NABat partners in the Pacific Northwest and can serve as a reference guide for other regions. Authors of the document hope it will demonstrate that region-specific modifications, needed to accommodate local variation, can maintain compliance with general NABat guidance and protocols. However, the authors caution that changes should be made with careful consideration and only after consulting with the NABat Coordinating Office.

The primary document provides a detailed overview of the entire protocol — including training, selecting locations, deployment, data management, analyses, and data delivery — and is designed for coordinators, team leaders, and crew leads who require a thorough understanding of background and decision making. However, separate, standalone SOPs f