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Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Resource Library SPECIES LISTS FROM AUTO-ID SOFTWARE Jump to... SONOBAT KALEIDOSCOPE PRO Photo: Jose Martinez-Fonseca (edited by A. Schuhmann to depict echolocation visual) Kaleidoscope Pro Users must provide a comprehensive list of all species that were considered when identifying acoustic bat recordings via autoclassification software. A new species list can be created, or, the suggested species lists by grid cell (SAWG GRTS 1.0) and the list of existing NABat Species Lists in the database can be viewed from within a user's project via the Species Lists tool of the Plan tab. 1. Refer to guidance provided at Select/Create a Species List 2. Kaleidoscope Pro software includes state-specific classifiers that are customizable. In Kaleidoscope Pro, navigate to the Auto Id for Bats tab, and select the Bats of North America option. Select either the state-based or customized species list for the area of interest. These are the species that should be included in the new species list(s) defined for your Partner Portal project. 6. Following guidance provided at Select/Create a Species List . For example, including your project name or unique identifier will create a unique name formatted as follows: PROJECT_NAME_KPRO_SPECIES_LIST_NAME. The list name must be included in the Name of Species List for Auto Id and, if applicable, the Name of Species List for Manual Id columns of the bulk upload template. The name must match exactly , including spelling and capitalization, for the species list to be correctly referenced. 6. Multiple species lists may be saved within and used by a single project when necessary. SonoBat Users must provide a comprehensive list of all species that were considered when identifying acoustic recordings. A new species list can be created from within a user's project. 1. Log into the NABat Partner Portal. 2. Once logged in, open the My NABat tab at the top menu bar and select a project. 3. Navigate to the Species List tab and click the green Manage Classifiers button to open the species list editor. Click the gray Add+ button and enter the required information to create a new species list. 4. SonoBat 30 has preselected species lists based on the region pack and subregion that are selected when opening the software. After selecting the desired region pack and subregion, navigate to the button with a question mark [?] in the upper right corner. The button is located between the file drop and guides buttons. A pop-up will appear with information regarding the species lists of the region pack. Use the species listed in the subregion of interest to create your new species list in your Partner Portal project. 5. Provide a unique name for the species list that includes the version number of the region pack's classifier. The classifier version number is indicated when the region pack and subregion pack is selected (e.g. Region Pack: GrBas[c20241214], Subregion Pack: north Great Basin). For example, a unique species list name for your project could be formatted as follows: PROJECT_NAME_SONOBAT_GRBAS_NORTHGREATBASIN[c20241214]. The newly created or selected species list name must be included in the Name of Species List for Auto Id and, if applicable, the Name of Species List for Manual Id columns of the bulk upload template. The name must match exactly , including spelling and capitalization, for the species list to be correctly referenced. 6. Multiple species lists may be saved within and used by a single project when necessary.

Create Account Plan Project Collect Data Prep/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Quick Links PROCESSING ACOUSTICS IN KALEIDOSCOPE PRO Select the acoustic survey type for which you have data STATIONARY POINT SURVEYS MOBILE TRANSECT SURVEYS Important Update to the Kaleidoscope Pro Workflow O lder versions of the NABat xml form for Kaleidoscope Pro required two separate processing steps using two separate xmls: first, embedding metadata to the acoustic files, and second, reading those processed data to a meta.csv output file. The new NABat xml form and updated workflow completes everything in one step. Updated versions of Kaleidoscope Pro now provide SAWG GRTS 1.0 as a classifier option and processing outputs now report MLE scores. Updates to the NABat Stationary Acoustic Upload Template are coming soon to ingest MLE scores. Processing Stationary Point Surveys 1. Open Kaleidoscope and click Browse to select the input directory of the folder containing your .wav/.zc files. Select the box beside the type of input files (WAV files or ZC files ). Select a folder containing all data for a single detector deployment (all nights at a single site). This is the broadest selection for which all files will share the same metadata (site name, latitude, longitude, etc.). NOTE: Download the required NABat metadata form here . Use NABat STATIONARY Survey Metadata Form for Kaleidoscope Lite + Pro (v2026).xml for use when processing stationary acoustic data. 2. Click the drop-down menu beside Default Project Form and select Add or Replace a Project Form . Navigate to NABat STATIONARY Survey Metadata Form for Kaleidoscope Lite + Pro (v2026).xml and select the file. The NABat metadata form will now load in the bottom of the INPUTS section (the left half of the Kaleidoscope window). 3. Complete all metadata fields for which you have data. Required fields include: GRTS Cell ID or Latitude and Longitude Site Name Survey Start Time Survey End Time Surveyor(s) Auto ID Software Name of Species List for Auto Id Name of Species List for Manual ID (if manual ID is provided) Audio Recording Name Audio Recording Time Some fields require specific formatting. Hover the pointer over a field for formatting tips and/or a list of accepted entries. CAUTION: Scrolling mouse over drop-down boxes will scroll through options and may result in unintentional selections. Avoid this by scrolling through form using the gray scroll bar on the far right and double-check form entries before processing. 4. Once all required metadata fields and any additional fields for which you have data have been completed, select the desired output directory to save processed files by clicking Browse in the top right of the window. 5. Once the output directory has been selected, choose Nightly from the Create subdirectories drop-down menu to keep new files organized by detector night. Next, select the type of output files you intend to create, WAV or ZC (ZC files cannot be converted to WAV). Users with zero crossing files that end in the .# extension rather than .zc should select the 8.3 file names and Use .zc instead of .??# options below ZC files. Otherwise, Kaleidoscope will remove the seconds from the filename, increasing the likelihood of duplicate filenames (resulting from distinct files recorded within the same minute) which will create errors when uploading metadata to the NABat database. 6. Next, click the Auto ID for Bats tab at the top of the window. Select Bats of North America from the Classifiers drop-down menu. Select + 1 More Accurate (Conservative) from the drop-down menu at the top right and select your state/region from the drop-down menu below the list of species. Species can be manually added or removed based on specific knowledge of species assemblages in your area, but this must be reflected in your NABat species lists used for Auto Id and for Manual Id. NOTE: Updated versions of Kaleidoscope Pro now provide SAWG GRTS 1.0 as a classifier option via the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) species lookup by GRTS ID field. Under this field, select your sampling frame in the drop-down menu and enter your GRTS ID in the open field. Leave the above Select by region option blank. 7. Click Process Files in the bottom right corner of the window. 8. Manual verification of auto-identified species is not required for upload to the NABat Partner Portal. Users who intend to manually verify auto-identified species may review audio files when Kaleidoscope Pro has finished processing. NABat guidance recommends manual verification of a minimum of one audio file per species per night to establish presence-absence. 9. If your detector model automatically embeds a date/time stamp into call files, these data should auto-populate and appear in the Audio Recording Time column of the Kaleidoscope Pro id.csv output. If so, you may skip the renaming process. However, before uploading metadata to NABat, ensure that the Audio Recording Time column contains data. Otherwise, file names must adhere to NABat's naming format (e.g., GRTSCellId_SiteName_Timestamp.wav or .zc) and users should follow the guidance in step 10. If the Audio Recording Time column successfully auto-populates, you may skip to step 11. 10. To rename files, follow the instructions in NABat's R script for renaming acoustic files . Rename all files to ensure they are consistent with NABat naming format. NABat naming format: GRTSID_SITENAME_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.wav/zc. NOTE: Kaleidoscope will append '_000' to the end of filenames. The '_000' filename suffix is how Kaleidoscope marks a distinction between raw audio files vs audio files that have been processed in Kaleidoscope to embed metadata and/or processed to auto-classify. It is okay to retain the '_000' suffix in filenames. 11. Navigate to the current output directory folder and open the id.csv file. Check to ensure all fields for which you entered data are filled and ensure one or both of the Auto Id/Manual Id columns are filled. 12. Rename the id.csv file with a descriptive and unique name and save. The NABat system will automatically overwrite duplicate file names in a given project with the most recent version, so it is critical that your file name is unique. NOTE: Extra columns/field names are included in the id.csv containing call metrics and as a byproduct of the MLE calculation. It is okay to delete these fields before uploading data, it is also okay to leave them, they will be ignored and not ingested into the NABat database. Additionally, the MLE scores will be ignored and not ingested into the NABat database until corresponding updates to the data upload template are completed (coming soon). Processing Mobile Transect Surveys 1. Open Kaleidoscope and click Browse to select the input directory of the folder containing your .wav/.zc files. Select the box beside the type of input files (WAV files or ZC files ). Select a folder containing all data for a single detector deployment (all nights at a single site). This is the broadest selection for which all files will share the same metadata (site name, latitude, longitude, etc.). NOTE: Download the required NABat metadata form here . Use NABat MOBILE Survey Metadata Form for Kaleidoscope Lite + Pro (v2026).xml for use when processing stationary acoustic data. 2. Click the drop-down menu beside Default Project Form and select Add or Replace a Project Form . Navigate to NABat MOBILE Survey Metadata Form for Kaleidoscope Lite + Pro (v2026).xml and select the file. The NABat metadata form will now load in the bottom of the INPUTS section (the left half of the Kaleidoscope window). 3. Complete all metadata fields for which you have data. Required fields include: GRTS Cell ID or Latitude and Longitude Site Name Survey Start Time Survey End Time Surveyor(s) Auto ID Software Name of Species List for Auto Id Name of Species List for Manual ID (if manual ID is provided) Audio Recording Name Audio Recording Time Some fields require specific formatting. Hover the pointer over a field for formatting tips and/or a list of accepted entries. CAUTION: Scrolling mouse over drop-down boxes will scroll through options and may result in unintentional selections. Avoid this by scrolling through form using the gray scroll bar on the far right and double-check form entries before processing. Spatial information for the route should be uploaded or drawn prior to completing these steps and uploading metadata. Guidance for providing spatial data for the route is available here . Ensure that the Site Name you provide with call metadata matches the name of the spatial object you upload or create. If your mobile transect passes through > 1 cell and you have a record of the X, Y location where each call was recorded (using an external GPS or a GPS enabled detector), leave the GRTS Cell ID field blank. The NABat system will use the X, Y locations to auto-assign the correct GRTS cell to each call. Otherwise, calls recorded outside the primary cell will produce a Latitude-Longitude/GRTS ID mismatch error. If Latitude and Longitude are embedded in your call files, the Kaleidoscope metadata form will extract those values and auto-populate the metadata output. If Latitude and Longitude values were downloaded from a GPS unit, see step 13. If you are unable to provide the X, Y location where each file was recorded, the NABat system can estimate the location based on user-provided spatial information for the route, timestamps of each file, and the start/end times of the survey. In this case, it is critical that users provide a spatial object for the route prior to uploading metadata, ensure timestamps are provided for each file, provide start and end times of the route, and leave the GRTS Cell ID column of the metadata upload blank. 4. Once all required metadata fields (and any additional fields for which you have data) have been completed, select the desired output directory to save processed files by clicking Browse in the top right of the window. 5. Once the output directory has been selected, choose Nightly from the Create subdirectories drop-down menu to keep new files organized by detector night. Next, select the type of output files you intend to create, WAV or ZC (ZC files cannot be converted to WAV). Users with zero crossing files that end in the .# extension rather than .zc should select the 8.3 file names and Use .zc instead of .??# options below ZC files. Otherwise, Kaleidoscope will remove the seconds from the filename, increasing the likelihood of duplicate filenames (resulting from distinct files recorded within the same minute) which will create errors when uploading metadata to the NABat database. 6. Next, click the Auto ID for Bats tab at the top of the window. Select Bats of North America from the Classifiers drop-down menu. Select + 1 More Accurate (Conservative) from the drop-down menu at the top right and select your state/region from the drop-down menu below the list of species. Species can be manually added or removed based on specific knowledge of species assemblages in your area, but this must be reflected in your NABat species lists used for Auto Id and for Manual Id. NOTE: Updated versions of Kaleidoscope Pro now provide SAWG GRTS 1.0 as a classifier option via the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) species lookup by GRTS ID field. Under this field, select your sampling frame in the drop-down menu and enter your GRTS ID in the open field. Leave the above Select by region option blank. 7. Click Process Files in the bottom right corner of the window. 8. Manual verification of auto-identified species is not required for upload to the NABat Partner Portal. Users who intend to manually verify auto-identified species may review audio files when Kaleidoscope Pro has finished processing. NABat guidance recommends manual verification of a minimum of one audio file per species per night to establish presence-absence. 9. If your detector model automatically embeds a date/time stamp into call files, these data should auto-populate and appear in the Audio Recording Time column of the Kaleidoscope Pro id.csv output. If so, you may skip the renaming process. However, before uploading metadata to NABat, ensure that the Audio Recording Time column contains data. Otherwise, file names must adhere to NABat's naming format (e.g., GRTSCellId_SiteName_Timestamp.wav or .zc) and users should follow the guidance in step 10. If the Audio Recording Time column successfully auto-populates, you may skip to step 11. 10. To rename files, follow the instructions in NABat's R script for renaming acoustic files . Rename all files to ensure they are consistent with NABat naming format. NABat naming format: GRTSID_SITENAME_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.wav/zc. NOTE: Kaleidoscope will append '_000' to the end of filenames. The '_000' filename suffix is how Kaleidoscope marks a distinction between raw audio files vs audio files that have been processed in Kaleidoscope to embed metadata and/or processed to auto-classify. It is okay to retain the '_000' suffix in filenames. 11. Navigate to the current output directory folder and open the id.csv file. Check to ensure all fields for which you entered data are filled and ensure one or both of the Auto Id/Manual Id columns are filled. 12. Rename the id.csv file with a descriptive and unique name and save. The NABat system will automatically overwrite duplicate file names in a given project with the most recent version, so it is critical that your file name is unique. NOTE: Extra columns/field names are included in the id.csv containing call metrics and as a byproduct of the MLE calculation. It is okay to delete these fields before uploading data, it is also okay to leave them, they will be ignored and not ingested into the NABat database. Additionally, the MLE scores will be ignored and not ingested into the NABat database until corresponding updates to the data upload template are completed (coming soon). 13. Users who saved latitude and longitude of recordings with an external GPS unit must manually add X,Y locations to the bulk metadata spreadsheet. To begin, download the locations file from your GPS unit. This is typically in the form of a text file with columns for filename, latitude, and longitude. Users with GPS enabled detectors that embed X,Y locations into call files (the latitude/longitude columns of your CSV will already contain data) can skip to step 20. 14. Import the GPS text file into Excel: Open a new spreadsheet. Click the Data tab and then select Get Data , then From File , and finally From Text/CSV . Navigate to your GPS text file and click Open . A dialogue box will appear with a preview of the data to be imported. The GPS text files are typically tab delimited. If your data are properly sorted into columns, click Load . If not, use the Delimiter drop-down menu to select the appropriate delimiter and click Load . 15. When your data are loaded into an Excel spreadsheet, click the Sort and Filter button (under the Home tab) and select Custom Sort . 16. In the dialogue box, select the column containing your filenames to sort by. 17. Next, open the CSV containing your survey metadata (the renamed id.csv file) and sort by the Audio Recording Name column. 18. The two Excel documents (survey metadata CSV and GPS spreadsheet) should now be sorted by chronological order. Double check to ensure that the sorted columns match based on chronological order. 19. If the documents are sorted properly, you can now copy and paste the latitude and longitude columns from the GPS file into the metadata CSV. Select the latitude and longitude columns of the GPS document. Highlight the latitude and longitude columns, right click, and select Copy . Next, select the Latitude cell of the first call for the deployment, right click, and select Paste. The Latitude and Longitude columns should now be filled with the corresponding values. 20. The metadata file is now ready to be uploaded to your NABat project

f0079a48-7891-403e-b3e0-3741b0dcba69 Photo credit: Bureau of Reclamation USFWS Next WNS & Listing Status Lasiurus frantzii Order: Chiroptera Suborder : Yangochiroptera Family : Vespertilionidae Call characteristics: High frequency caller (36-54 kHz) Weight 1/3 - 1/2 oz (10 - 15 g) Body Length 3 9/10 - 4 1/3 in (10 – 11 cm) There are various sources for bat species range maps including IUCN , NatureServe , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ECOS , and the National Atlas of the United States . US SWAP National List IUCN Red List Canada Species at Risk Mexico Desert Red Bat The desert red bat has red fur, bicolored, with white tips; males often appearing more vibrantly pigmented than females. The species is slightly smaller than the closely related eastern red bat. Desert red bats are often found in riparian habitats, particularly those associated with cottonwood trees. During the active season it roosts in the foliage of trees and shrubs; however, little is known about the species' winter activity or roosting sites. Favorite foods include beetles, flies, and moths. Mothers typically birth twins but can deliver up to 5 pups in a litter! In the wild desert red bats may survive to over 12 years in age. Information used to populate this page was obtained from the following sources: NatureServe Explorer United States Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System Bat Conservation International Bat Profiles National Atlas of the United States. (2011). North American Bat Ranges, 1830-2008. National Atlas of the United States. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/pz329xp4277. Taylor, M. 2019. Bats: an illustrated guide to all species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Conservation Status Previous Next

f5bf17b6-75d6-4e08-86b6-941cf32388a3 Photo credit: Jordi Segers USFWS Next WNS & Listing Status Lasiurus borealis Order: Chiroptera Suborder : Yangochiroptera Family: Vespertilionidae Call characteristics: Higher frequency caller (38 - 50 kHz) Weight 1/4 - 1/2 oz (7 - 13 g) Body Length 3 5/8 - 4 5/8 in (9.3 - 11.7 cm) There are various sources for bat species range maps including IUCN , NatureServe , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ECOS , and the National Atlas of the United States . US SWAP National List IUCN Red List Canada Species at Risk Mexico Eastern Red Bat The eastern red bat has light gray-brown fur on the upper side of its body and more whitish fur on the under side, with an orange-red face. Females are more likely to exhibit paler coloring. This species prefers to live within more remote, forested areas. Males are more likely to occur in cooler regions, with females tending to occur in warmer, lowland areas. This bat will roost amongst the foliage of deciduous or occasionally evergreen trees. In winter, this species hibernates by burrowing into leaf litter and bunch grass. Their diet consists primarily of moths but other insects such as beetles and members of Hemiptera are also featured on the menu. Females commonly have more than a single pup (baby bat), twins or triplets, but can have liters of up to five pups. Information used to populate this page was obtained from the following sources: NatureServe Explorer United States Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System Bat Conservation International Bat Profiles National Atlas of the United States. (2011). North American Bat Ranges, 1830-2008. National Atlas of the United States. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/pz329xp4277. Taylor, M. 2019. Bats: an illustrated guide to all species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Conservation Status Previous Next

025d9411-1f71-42f8-8a0b-0652c7222a88 Photo credit: Ernest Valdez USFWS Next WNS & Listing Status Tadarida brasiliensis Order: Chiroptera Suborder: Yangochiroptera Family : Mollosidae Call characteristics: High frequency caller (~25 kHz range) Weight 1/4 - 1/5 oz (7 - 12 g) Body Length 3 - 4 in (7.9 – 9.8 cm) There are various sources for bat species range maps including IUCN , NatureServe , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ECOS , and the National Atlas of the United States . US SWAP National List IUCN Red List Canada Species at Risk Mexico Brazilian Free-tailed Bat Brazilian free-tailed bats are named for the long tails that extend beyond their uropatagium (membrane surrounding the tail). Like other species of the family Molossidae, Brazilian free-tailed bats have distinctive large, rounded ears that form a semicircle around the face and nearly meet on the forehead. They are a fast flying bat and have been clocked at speeds up to 60 mph. This species is know for its extremely large colonies; the largest, Bracken Cave, is home to more than 15 million individuals. Brazilian free-tailed bats commonly roost in caves, bridges, and buildings. They are generalist feeders, preying on moths, beetles, flies, and insects in the order Hemiptera. Females typically give birth to a single pup each summer. The average lifespan of Brazilian free-tailed bats is 8 years. Information used to populate this page was obtained from the following sources: NatureServe Explorer United States Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System Bat Conservation International Bat Profiles National Atlas of the United States. (2011). North American Bat Ranges, 1830-2008. National Atlas of the United States. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/pz329xp4277. Taylor, M. 2019. Bats: an illustrated guide to all species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Conservation Status Previous Next

a6800b82-f03a-40b3-a0de-068e6e1456a8 Photo credit: BLM California USFWS Next WNS & Listing Status Lasiurus xanthinus Order: Chiroptera Suborder: Yangochiroptera Family: Vespertilionidae Call characteristics: High frequency caller (~50 kHz range) Weight 1/3 - 4/5 oz (9.2 - 22.5 g) Length 4 - 4 1/3 in (10 – 11 cm) There are various sources for bat species range maps including IUCN , NatureServe , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ECOS , and the National Atlas of the United States . US SWAP National List IUCN Red List Canada Species at Risk Mexico Western Yellow Bat The western yellow bat has blonde fur, darkened in the vicinity of its ears. Found throughout Mexico and the southwestern United States, it occupies a large range of habitats including riparian woodlands, desert regions, and tropical forests. The western yellow bat roosts in trees and within dead palm fronds, well-camouflaged by its yellowish fur. This bat migrates south for the winter but does not hibernate. Beetles are the main food source of western yellow bats though they will eat other insects. Mothers usually rear two to four pups annually. Information used to populate this page was obtained from the following sources: NatureServe Explorer United States Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Conservation Online System Bat Conservation International Bat Profiles National Atlas of the United States. (2011). North American Bat Ranges, 1830-2008. National Atlas of the United States. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/pz329xp4277. Taylor, M. 2019. Bats: an illustrated guide to all species. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. Conservation Status Previous Next

Status & Trends Measures of where North American bats occur, in what numbers, and how these metrics change over time. Photo credit: Jordi Segers NABat uses multiple lines of evidence to understand where, when and how bat populations change over time. Bats are challenging to monitor and not all survey types work well for all species. Additionally, different response types are more or less sensitive to observing changes in populations. Looking at multiple status variables informed by several data streams provides a more complete view into population status and trends. Summer Abundance the number of bats occupying summer roosts and surrounding habitats each year and how this changes over time. NABat Summer Abundance Analysis 2012 - 2020 Estimating the abundance of unmarked animal populations from acoustic data is challenging due to the inability to identify individuals... Jul 26, 2024 Summer Occupancy where bats occur across the summer landscape and how this changes over time. NABat Summer Occupancy Analysis 2010-2019 We have made available our first set of results for one of three status variables for North American bats. Through this work we developed... Mar 11, 2022 Winter Abundance the number of bats occupying winter sites each year and how this changes over time. Winter abundance estimates coming soon! Winter abundance analyses are underway. Stay tuned! Mar 11, 2022

METHODS & SAMPLE DESIGN NABat relies on a probabilistic, yet flexible sampling approach. Our protocols and guidance ensure data standards are integrated across the multiple lines of evidence that are employed to inform status and trends analyses of North American bats. Photo: Melissa McGraw The Protocol consistent yet flexible Bats have diverse and complex life histories and behaviors, making a 'one size fits all' approach to monitoring impractical. Our protocols were conscientiously designed with this in mind, providing clear but adaptable guidance for bat monitoring efforts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Plan > The Master Sample a probabilistic sampling approach NABat monitoring follows a master sample approach in which North America is divided into a series of 10 x 10 km (100 km) grid cell frameworks. The generalized random-tessellation stratified (GRTS) survey design algorithm then assigns a spatially balanced and randomized ordering (GRTS order) to each cell within its respective framework. Grid cells are prioritized numerically; the lower the number, the higher the sampling priority. Cells can then be selected for monitoring following the GRTS order, ensuring both randomization and spatial balance. Monitoring within this standardized framework allows statistical inference to non-surveyed locations and ensures the validity of analyses at regional and range-wide scales using data collected by dozens of partners across the continent. Master Sample > Master Sample (Offshore) > Survey Types a weight of evidence Acoustic surveys along mobile driving transects Acoustic surveys at stationary point locations Roost emergence counts Internal roost counts Capture Surveys Transportation structure surveys Guidance >

Products Explore what is being produced by the NABat community. Our Information Pipeline Photo Credit: Paul Cryan Status & Trends Explore > Publications Don't see your product here? Share it with us! Results and Code from the North American Bat Monitoring Program's (NABat) Integrated Species Distribution and Trend Models for Hoary Bat and Silver-haired Bat These data contain results and model code from the North American Bat Monitoring Program's (NABat) integrated species distribution and... Sep 30, 2025 Integrated distribution modeling resolves asynchrony between bat population impacts and occupancy trends through latent abundance Monitoring populations is challenging for cryptic species with seasonal life cycles, where data from multiple field techniques are... Jun 17, 2025 Bridge Roost Discovery Application This application was developed to bring accessibility and interpretability to BART predictions as a supplement to Oram et al. 2025 (... Jun 17, 2025 Predicting bat roosts in bridges using Bayesian Additive Regression Trees Human-built structures can provide important habitat for wildlife, but predicting which structures are most likely to be used remains... Jun 17, 2025 NABat R Package Updates The nabatr package was originally developed to query and analyze data contained within the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)... May 2, 2025 North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) OneHealth USGS staff with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) recently released a new dataset. This dataset documents the results of... Apr 17, 2025 North American Bat Monitoring Program Knitted Grid and Multi-scale Grid Covariates USGS staff with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) have released knitted grid and multi-scale grid covariates. This data... Apr 17, 2025 A novel method for estimating pathogen presence, prevalence, load, and dynamics at multiple scales The use of quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to monitor pathogens is common; however, quantitative frameworks that consider the... Mar 14, 2025 The state of the bats in North America The North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) contributed to a manuscript recently published in the Annals of the New York Academy of... Oct 21, 2024 North American Bat Monitoring Program: R Data Connection Package (NABatR) Version 1.1.0 USGS staff with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) have released version 1.1.0 of the North American Bat Monitoring... Sep 24, 2024 NABat Summer Abundance Analysis 2012 - 2020 Estimating the abundance of unmarked animal populations from acoustic data is challenging due to the inability to identify individuals... Jul 26, 2024 Summer Roost Site Suitability Analyses of Four North American Bat Species in the Eastern United States USGS Fort Collins Science Center staff completed a data release containing the spatial raster outputs from analyses of summer roost site... May 30, 2024 North American Bat Monitoring Program Predicted Northern Long-Eared Bat Occupancy Probabilities USGS Fort Collins Science Center staff with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) completed a data release containing the... May 29, 2024 Vignette Bayesian Site Occupancy Model Bat Acoustic Data U.S. Geological Survey Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center staff with the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) have released... Mar 26, 2024 NABat R Package (nabatr) Update NABat just released the updated NABat R Package (nabatr)! The North American Bat Monitoring Program: R Data Connection Package can be... Feb 20, 2024 The AFWA Bat Working Group Passed Its First Resolution The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Bat Working Group (AFWABWG) recently passed a resolution that supports a more consistent... Feb 15, 2024 Getting started with the NABat R package: The NABat R package can be used to extract and summarize data from NABat projects and data requests. This package includes functions that... Feb 14, 2024 Attributed North American Grid-Based Offshore Sampling Frames We have made available a sampling frame set of grid-based, finite-area frames spanning the offshore areas surrounding Canada, the United... Apr 13, 2023 NABat ML: Utilizing deep learning to enable crowdsourced development of automated, scalable solution Bats play crucial ecological roles and provide valuable ecosystem services, yet many populations face serious threats from various... Aug 22, 2022 Training dataset for NABat Machine Learning V1.0 Bats play crucial ecological roles and provide valuable ecosystem services, yet many populations face serious threats from various... Jul 6, 2022 NABat Summer Occupancy Analysis 2010-2019 We have made available our first set of results for one of three status variables for North American bats. Through this work we developed... Mar 11, 2022 Statistical assessment on determining local presence of rare bat species Abstract from Ecosphere article: Surveying cryptic, sparsely distributed taxa using autonomous recording units, although cost-effective,... Mar 9, 2022 Status and Trends of North American Bats Summer Occupancy Analysis 2010-2019 Data Release This data release contains the results from the North American Bat Monitoring Program's report titled 'Status and Trends of North... Feb 23, 2022 North American Grid-Based Offshore Sampling Frames This sampling frame is a set of grid-based, finite-area frames spanning the offshore areas surrounding Canada, the United States, and... Jan 25, 2022 Analytical assessments in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 3-bat species status assessm Beginning in February of 2020, researchers and staff of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Bat Conservation International (BCI),... Jan 7, 2022 Acoustic and Genetic Data Can Reduce Uncertainty Regarding Populations of Migratory Tree-Roosting... Wind turbine-related mortality may pose a population-level threat for migratory tree-roosting bats, such as the hoary bat (Lasiurus... Dec 31, 2021 The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative National Bat Health Report - 2021 The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) has released a report characterizing some of the major threats impacting bat species... Aug 26, 2021 Spatial Gaussian processes improve multi-species occupancy models when range boundaries are uncert.. Species distribution models enable practitioners to analyze large datasets of encounter records and make predictions about species... Jun 13, 2021 White-Nose Syndrome Killed Over 90% of Three North American Bat Species New Study Unveils the Impacts of the Disease on Native Bat Populations White-nose syndrome has killed over 90% of northern long-eared,... Apr 21, 2021 NABat: A top-down, bottom-up solution to collaborative continental-scale monitoring Collaborative monitoring over broad scales and levels of ecological organization can inform conservation efforts necessary to address the... Jan 17, 2021 NABat featured in new BCI publication A recently published book from Bat Conservation International, Bat echolocation research: A handbook for planning and conducting acoustic... Sep 19, 2020 NABat acoustic monitoring allows inferences about bat populations at multiple scales North American bats face unprecedented risks from continuing and emerging threats including white-nose syndrome, wind energy development,... Sep 1, 2020 Analysis of Colorado NABat data from 2016 and 2017 We analyzed detection/non-detection data from acoustic surveys of bat species in Colorado during the summers of 2016 and 2017. The goal... Jan 2, 2020 Researchers evaluate the efficacy of NABat in Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management A 2019 article published in the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management found that North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) summer... Dec 2, 2019 New study models decline in hoary bats using NABat monitoring data A collaborative research effort based at Oregon State University – Cascades has concluded that summer hoary bat populations in the... Sep 12, 2019 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. Sep 3, 2019 Texas culvert study utilizes NABat sample design A recent Texas study, published in the Journal of Mammalogy, used the NABat generalized random-tessellation stratified (GRTS) survey... Jun 11, 2019 Nebraska bat activity examined using NABat monitoring protocols A recent master's thesis by Baxter Seguin of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources implemented NABat monitoring... May 31, 2019 North American Bat Monitoring Program: Alberta 2019 Final Report Executive Summary for the Final Report Nine species of bat occur in Alberta with at least five species considered to be susceptible to... Mar 30, 2019 Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro use NABat Data to Disentangle Effects Past research has shown that certain bat species respond differently to degraded water quality or urbanization on local scales. However,... Oct 3, 2018 A goodness-of-fit test for occupancy models with correlated within-season revisits Occupancy modeling is important for exploring species distribution patterns and for conservation monitoring. Within this framework,... Jul 4, 2018 Occupancy modeling species–environment relationships with non-ignorable survey designs Statistical models supporting inferences about species occurrence patterns in relation to environmental gradients are fundamental to... May 25, 2018 North American Bat Monitoring Program: Alberta 2018 Final Report Executive Summary for the Final Report Nine species of bat occur in Alberta with at least five species considered to be susceptible to... Mar 30, 2018 American Bat Monitoring Program: Alberta 2017 Final Report Executive Summary for the Final Report Bats across North America are facing unprecedented decline from existing and emerging threats, ... Mar 29, 2018 Decoupling the effects of water quality and urbanization on bats Authors Han Li and Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell employ the North American Bat Monitoring Program mobile acoustic transect protocol to study... Dec 3, 2017 North American Bat Monitoring Program: Alberta 2016 Final Report Executive Summary for the Final Report Bats across North America are facing unprecedented decline from existing and emerging threats, ... Mar 30, 2017 North American Bat Monitoring Program: Alberta 2015 Final Report Executive Summary for the Final Report Bats across North America are facing unprecedented decline from existing and emerging threats, ... Mar 30, 2017 Establishing conservation baselines with dynamic distribution models for bat populations facing... Bat mortality rates from white-nose syndrome and wind power development are unprecedented. Cryptic and wide-ranging behaviours of bats... Sep 20, 2015 A plan for the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) The purpose of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) is to create a continent-wide program to monitor bats at local to... Jun 1, 2015

Create an Account Plan Your Project Collect Data Prepare/Process Data Upload Data Data QA/QC Get Data Species Codes Quick Links Credit: Flickr/Mroach Saving transect routes as spatial objects NABat partners can provide spatial information for mobile transect routes by (1) uploading routes as a .kml or .geojson file, or (2) drawing mobile transect routes using NABat's web-based mapping tools. i have a kml/geojson i do not have a kml/geojson Back: Resources Home Back: Plan your Project Have KML Uploading mobile transect routes as a .kml or .geojson file Users who use a GPS unit to record a mobile transect survey route can upload those routes as a KML or GeoJSON file. Most GPS units produce data in the GPX file type, but many free online conversion tools are available . 1. Log into the NABat Partner Portal . First-time users will need to create an account . 2. Once logged in, navigate to the My Projects tab (top menu bar) and select a project to work in. Scroll down to the project map. 3. Click the KML|GeoJSON button (top right of map) to browse for the desired route file. 4. After uploading a dialogue box will appear. Click Edit and name the transect route. 5. The newly uploaded route is not automatically connected to a survey event; the user must link transect routes and survey events together in one of two following ways. If uploading mobile survey metadata via the Bulk Upload Tool, simply enter the route’s name into the “Location Name” column of the bulk upload CSV file before uploading. If working in the reverse order (i.e., survey metadata uploaded prior to transect route upload) the user should simply click Reprocess to update metadata CSV file in the Bulk Uploads tab. Note that entries in the “Location Name” column of the CSV must still match the transect route name. Alternatively, mobile survey metadata may be entered manually. Navigate through the list of GRTS cell survey data located beneath the project map. Click the target GRTS cell to expand its current survey data. Click the Single Entry button located in the "Mobile Acoustic Survey" dropdown menu, then follow the prompts to create a new survey. Currently uploaded transect routes within the GRTS cell should appear as options when selecting the survey’s location. No KML Drawing mobile transect routes using NABat's web-based mapping tools Users can draw mobile transect routes directly in the Partner Portal . 1. Log into the NABat Partner Portal . First-time users will need to create an account . 2. Once logged in, navigate to the My Projects tab (top menu bar) and select a project to work in. Scroll down to the project map. 3. Click the Mark a transect route button on the left edge of the project map, note the drawing options that expand to the right of the button. Click along the desired mobile transect route and finalize it with the Finish button. 4. A dialogue box will appear. Click Edit assign the survey type and name the transect route. 5. The newly created route is not automatically connected to a survey event; the user must link transect routes and survey events together in one of two following ways. If uploading mobile survey metadata via the Bulk Upload Tool, simply enter the route’s name into the “Location Name” column of the bulk upload CSV file before uploading. If working in the reverse order (i.e., survey metadata uploaded prior to transect route upload) the user should simply click Reprocess to update the metadata CSV file in the Bulk Uploads tab. Note that entries in the “Location Name” column of the CSV must still match the transect route name. Alternatively, mobile survey metadata may be entered manually. Navigate through the list of GRTS cell survey data located beneath the project map. Click the target GRTS cell to expand its current survey data. Click the Single Entry button located in the "Mobile Acoustic Survey" dropdown menu, then follow the prompts to create a new survey. Currently uploaded transect routes within the GRTS cell should appear as options when selecting the survey’s location. 6. Users can export transect routes for use in a GPS unit by clicking the Download KML | GeoJSON button in the top right of the project map.

Threats to Bats Learn more about factors impacting the survival and health of North America's bats Photo Credit: National Park Service The Problem: North American bats are currently facing a range of significant threats that have led to alarming declines in various species. Key issues include diseases such as white-nose syndrome, collisions with wind turbines, and habitat loss and degradation. Understanding species distributions and abundance, as well as how these metrics change over time, is critical to assessing the viability of bat populations and identifying when populations are recovering. A Solution: The North American Bat Program effectively addresses the historical lack of information regarding bat species status and trends through coordinated, standardized, long-term data collection. The data collected as part of NAB will contribute to spatially explicit estimates of bat distributions and abundance, as well as track changes over time. information is vital for filling knowledge gaps and supports proactive management of bat populations. White-nose Syndrome White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a disease caused by an invasive, cold-growing fungus that affects hibernating bats . The fungus grows on bats’ skin, disturbing hibernation and resulting in dehydration, starvation, and often death. First documented in New York in 2006, WNS has since spread to numerous U.S. states and Canadian provinces, causing severe population declines in many bat species. Click on the button below to learn more or explore the WNS publications database . Learn more Wind Energy Current evidence suggest that collisions with spinning wind turbine blades may kill hundreds of thousands of bats each year in North America. Although it has been theorized that barotrauma, internal injuries caused by rapid changes in air pressure, may also contribute to bat fatalities at wind turbines, research shows this is exceedingly unlikely . Given that bats are long-lived and typically limited to 1 or 2 offspring per year, existing fatality rates may not be sustainable for some species . Recent studies indicate population-level declines are possible, particularly with the anticipated growth of wind energy development (see example wind energy future scenarios for the U.S. here ). As a result, significant investments have been made in search of solutions that minimize impacts to bats without impeding the continued deployment of wind energy. Learn more from this webinar recording or click below to explore literature on this topic. Learn more Habitat Loss & Degradation Forests and underground structures like caves and mines are critical bat habitat for roosting, foraging, and reproduction. The growing loss of these habitats, continues to cause substantial impacts on the abundance and diversity of bats at a global scale.