Little Brown Bat Survey

AERC staff hang bat detection microphonesLittle Brown Bat Survey
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson

Nationwide, little brown bats are suffering massive die-offs associated with a fungal disease known as White Nose Disease Syndrome. The State of Alaska identified little brown bats as a species of special concern and federal protections under the Endangered Species Act could follow.  Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) is known to host little brown bat populations that were previously unmonitored. AERC implemented a bat survey on JBER to determine the presence of bats, estimate their abundance, and identify their preferred habitats. Methods pioneered during this survey give JBER land managers the tools to better monitor and, if necessary, protect bat populations on base. 

 

 

Project video

Project photos

  • A bat held in a researchers gloved hand
    A little brown bat retrieved during evening surveys on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  • Hanging microphones for bat acoustic monitoring equipment
    An AERC staff member positions a microphone for a bioacoustics recorder during the Little Brown Bat survey on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  • Researchers document bats at night while wearing headlamps
    AERC team members attach monitoring devices to little brown bats to track their movements.
  • researchers stretch a net across the forest during bat surveys on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
    Researchers stretch a net between trees during bat surveying on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  • Bat habitat at low altitude lake on JBER
    Low-altitude Little Brown Bat habitat surrounding a lake on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  • AERC team is dropped off by helicopter for field work at a remote bat monitoring location
    AERC team members are dropped off by a blackhawk helicopter at a remote Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson drop zone in the Chugach Mountains during the Little Brown Bat survey.
  • A researcher hoists an antenna aloft
    A researcher holds an antenna to pick up chirps from little brown bats on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  • AERC team arrives at high altitude bat habitat at a remote JBER drope zone in the Chugach Mountains
    AERC team members are dropped off by a blackhawk helicopter at a remote Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson drop zone in the Chugach Mountains during the Little Brown Bat survey.
  • Noting GPS Location of newly-placed bat monitoring equipment
    An AERC staff member collects GPS data of a newly-placed bioacoustics recorder during the Little Brown Bat survey on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
  • A researcher holds an antenna aloft while standing in the bed of a white truck at dusk
    An AERC researcher holds an antenna aloft to track bat calls at dusk.
  • A little brown bat held in a blue gloved hand
    A little brown bat fitted with a tracking device.

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